August 2011 | Daily Art Muse

Monthly Archives: August 2011

breathe

Written on August 12, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Uncategorized

Breathe. Sometimes we need a reminder. By mid-August we are thinking about the end of summer, getting kids off to college, gearing up for the k-12 school year ahead, soaking up the last few weeks of sun and fun before the hustle and bustle begins again. So sometimes we need a reminder to breathe. Just breathe.

Breathe, from my TextMessages Collection, is the August Bonus for DAM Archives Level members. Breathe is ready for members to download – the image is 8″ x 8″, 300 dpi – ready for printing or to use any way they like.

CLICK HERE to become a member and receive full access to the archives and a new high resolution image download each month.

Have a great day!

P.S. The Artist Online program begins on August 15th – I will be behind the scenes all weekend getting lots of work done in preparation for our first week. If you are thinking about signing up for the program, registration closes on Sunday (click HERE to register). If you registered and did not receive your invitation to the virtual classroom please email me and I will send it again. It’s going to be awesome!

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apologies

Written on August 11, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Uncategorized

I am testing a new email service for DAM subscribers and sent out my first email last night – still learning their format and goofed by sending a plain text only version of the message, which looks spammy and ugly. My apologies. The correct email will go out later today or tomorrow – it’s all a learning curve, eh?

Have a great day!

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living treasure leon niehues

Written on August 11, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Fiber

Leon Niehues first learned how to make baskets by reading an Arkansas Cooperative Extension booklet about making white oak baskets. No small feat when you consider that in 2005 Niehues was named as an Arkansas Living Treasure by the Arkansas Department of Heritage, proving that there is a place for both the self-taught artist and the University trained artist.

Several years after quitting his job at a sawmill, he began to alter the traditional forms that had previously defined his work, eventually earning him the distinction of being one of the top twenty eight fiber artists making the “new basket” in the US (2002).

The biggest shift in his work came when Niehues started bolting the split oak splints onto the baskets, rather than tying them with linen thread. The forms are sensual, with an industrial edge.

“Color was introduced by soaking the splints in tubs with a few rusted nails, and later in his career, Niehues began to use ferrous oxide and walnut hulls.” From The Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Leon Niehues website

Read more about the artist, including how he collaborated with his wife and children, here

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ana hagopian: her paper forest

Written on August 10, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Paper

It’s been four years since I posted here about Ana Hagopian’s paper jewelry. The Barcelona based artist still uses recycled paper that she colors and manipulates into nature-inspired shapes – and the work is still interesting. Lovely to revisit her collection and see so many new pieces.

Raspberry Necklace

Bracelets

“i play with paper, cutting and sticking to create volumes and shapes. my source of inspiration is nature and its infinite creations, its limitless colours, its surprising textures. paper is contradictory, provocative and humble because it is ephemeral. using it as a material has its roots in the philosophy of arte povera, which restores the value of the idea, intuition, thought and the individual.” ana hagopian

Flat Necklace

Rings

Accordion Bracelets

“when i’m creating my works, i unconsciously seek primal contact, the constant wonder of childhood, the magical vision that transforms the prosaic and everyday into something new and marvellous. my process is intuitive, through my hands i come into contact with the material, which guides me towards the final form.” ana hagopian

Seeds Necklace

Ana Hagopian

Ana Hagopian’s website

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art liestman: the academic artist

Written on August 9, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Wood

Art Liestman is a Ph.D Professor in the School of Computing Science at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, where he conducts research in “theoretical computing science, focusing on the interaction between network structure and communication problems.”

Tower for JP, 14 3/4″ x 5 3/4″ x 4″, big leaf maple, charred surface

Also a musician, his decision to make hand-made instruments put him on a path towards the sculpture he now creates. When an entry into a 2×4 contest led him to try his hand at wood turning, a new passion was ignited.

Inga, 7″x 5.5″ x 3.5″, big leaf maple burl, ebony, acrylics

Zut Alors, quilted big leaf maple, acrylics

Today, Liestman strives for a delicate balance between his passion for mathematics, music and wood. His experimentation with surface design has resulted in hand coloring with alcohol-based dyes sprayed with thinned black acrylic ink (a striking combination), pyrography, carving and bleaching the sculptures to enhance the natural features of the wood.

Ancient Tower, 14″ x 4 7/8″ x 4 1/2″, big leaf maple, bleached surface

“I have a particular interest in making pieces on the lathe that do not necessarily appear to be turned. I’m not opposed to working off of the lathe, but virtually every piece that I make is based on a turned form.”

Three Pillars of Correct Homophone Usage
each piece approximately 22 5/8″ x 3 1/2″ x 2 1/8″
big leaf maple, acrylic stand-off mounts, charred surface

“The tower forms celebrate the structure of the wood. They are shaped on the lathe and then textured. The texture is produced by cutting into the wood and breaking off chunks. The breaking exposes a new surface, revealing the actual fibers in the wood. This is enhanced either by bleaching or charring the surface.”

Read more about Liestman in an article on WoodWorkWeb.com

Art Liestman’s website

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