A retrospective exhibition at Aix-en-Provence’s Granet Museum of Fabienne Verdier’s monumental paintings and creative explorations left me intrigued and impressed. Her fertile questing mind, allied to inventive technical creativity, is an example of what can be achieved when an artist dedicates him or herself to new ways of expressing often abstract and intellectual concepts - whilst at the same time, creating expansive, harmonious beauty.
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Art, Science and Politics equal Western Australian Beauty /
Western Australian artist, Philippa Nikulinsky, is not only a superb botanical artist, but allies science, dedicated field observations and enormous skill to a passion for celebrating all the ecosystems of Western Australia. Her long years of art-making allow her to record the ever-changing landscapes, flora and fauna in a fashion that goes beyond environmental issues and political concerns, ultimately to achieve an incredible body of beautiful work that enriches Australia.
Read MoreHans Hoffman - an Artist in Constant Evolution /
From his early exposure to Cubism and Fauvism, Hans Hoffman evolved through a lifetime of experimenting in painting to an extraordinarily inventive approach to creating art that is often as relevant today as it was when it was created in the 1960s. Seeing his evolution in the large exhibition, ”Hans Hoffman - The Nature of Abstraction” at BAMPFA, Berkeley, reinforces my own belief in each artist’s need, and capacity, to remain open and flexible to growth and change.
Read MoreHow a New Display can Transform Art /
Staying at The Chetwood, an artist’s residency in Oakland, California, and evaluating my art with fresh eyes as it hangs at Subrosa Coffee, also in Oakland, is an interesting process. It is all thanks to photographer, Terri Lowenthal, who has hosted me here at The Chetwood.
Read MoreUsing Art to Remind /
Symbols of past glory, of empire and and global reach, caravels and carracks still sail in Lisbon, woven in Persian 17th century carpets, painted on Japanese screens or even depicted in pavement cobblestones. All reminders of nearly six centuries of empire, for good or for bad. Seeing these emblematic ships at a moment when the Brexit furore is reaching a crescendo in England made me ponder the parallels of the erstwhile Portuguese and British Empires.
Read MoreWhen Art and Embroidery United - Part 2 /
Visiting master embroiderer Alain Dodier in Sainte Valiere, Southern France, was like straying into a medieval scriptorium, save that Alain is very much of our time Nonetheless, as he creates intricate vivid scenes in silk embroidery threads, using Bayeux stitching that harks back to the 11th century, his passion and dedication to historical detail and fidelity reminded me of the slow and painstaking creation of illuminated manuscripts that tell stories of great import to Western culture. His seven-meter panel about the Pilgrims’ Route to Santiago de Compostela is one such work.
Read MoreArt and Friendships /
Art is the most wonderful passport to making friends around the world. Sharing, learning, agreeing, disagreeing - friendships flourish and deepen over time. Many a time, art has been the bridge to making that friendship, just as it has down the ages for so many people.
Read MoreCamille Claudel, so talented, so heart-wrenching /
Camille Claudel lived in Nogent sur Seine as a teenager, and from there, she was launched into her career as a sculptor, her talent carrying her to Auguste Rodin’s studio and into another complex world. The recently-opened Museum in Nogent sur Seine holds an important number of her sculptures, and offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of late 19th and early 20th century French sculptors.
Read MoreHow to Translate Travel into Art /
When you travel to a country so entirely new, different and utterly amazing, how does one even start to translate those experiences into art? This is the conundrum with which I am grappling after a recent trip to Western Australia.
Read MoreWhen an Artist shares her Thoughts /
Reading Anne Truitt's Daybook; The Journal of an Artist underlines the subtle use of lines as a metaphor to depict how our lives evolve and change so imperceptibly. The balance and intervals she uses in her drawings, such as her drawing, Remember No. 6 of 1999, teach us all about the elegant possibilities of spareness in art.
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