Daily Art Muse » Inspiration

nancy calef’s peoplescapes

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:29:34 +0000

Multi-media artist Nancy Calef takes two dimensional art to the third dimension by slashing the plane of painted canvas and adding sculpture and applied objects.

Out To Lunch, oil, sculpture, fabric, paper, found objects on canvas, 30″ x 40″

Sculpting high relief faces and other details on her Peoplescapes allows Calef to literally add depth to the characters she paints as she addresses cultural, political and spiritual issues facing society today. The last image on this post gives you an idea of scale – I wonder if she is using polymer clay or an air dry clay for the sculpts?

Check, Please, oil, sculpture, fabric, found objects, jewelry on canvas 36″ x 36″

“By juxtaposing people in recognizable places and situations, each painting weaves together a story about contemporary life, filled with layers of detail, symbolism and humor.” Nancy Calef

Live Show, oil, sculpture, fabric, found objects, leather on canvas 24″ x 36″

Read an interview with the artist on The Art List

ulli kaiser’s dramatic beaded and silver jewelry

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:30:54 +0000

Gemstones, vintage beads and silver add drama and color to Ulli Kaiser’s contemporary jewelry. The artist, who is influenced by an interest in bookbinding, Asian jewelry and textile techniques, taught herself bead crochet and recently added silver elements to the designs – a move that opened new opportunities to combine color, shape and technique.

Born and raised in Austria, Kaiser spent many years in Hong Kong after college, eventually settling in England where she maintains a studio. Dramatic. Bold. Dynamic.

nikon’s small world is teeming with inspiration

Susan Lomuto — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:03:26 +0000

If you have been following Daily Art Muse for awhile, you may remember past posts about the inspiration we can find for our art through photomicrography – specifically Nikon’s Small World photography contest [if not, you can find earlier posts here and here].

Gerd A. Guenther, Düsseldorf, Germany
Sonchus asper (spiny sowthistle) flower stem section (150x)

Viktor Sykora, Institute of Pathophysiology, First Medical Faculty,
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, Lichen (10x)

Tong Zhang, McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, African clawed frog tadpole (10x)

The 2009 contest offered up more exciting images of life through the lens of a light microscope. While you are on their site, you might want to look at the archives – 35 years worth of images. And here is a gallery of images that I haven’t seen before – the Nikon MicroscopyU Digital Eclipse Image Gallery. Lots of inspiration there too – below are two of my favorites.

Larva blood vessels

Squash bug mouth parts magnified 40x

ronna sarvas weltman, hacienda mosaico, remembering beginner’s mind

Susan Lomuto — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:09:55 +0000

One of my intentions for 2010 is to nurture my creative self. I’m off to a good start: In January I set up a brand new studio (I’m still organizing and getting used to the wonderful large space), and I took an online class. Next month I head to Baltimore for the Synergy II conference and March will find me in Mexico attending Ronna Sarvas Weltman’s week-long workshop/retreat at Hacienda Mosaico.

Pendants, Ronna Sarvas Weltman

The workshop will include plenty of technique, as Ronna teaches about resins in addition to polymer clay, wire, shaping and texturing fine silver, copper, bronze and brass, but there will also be a strong focus on connecting students to their own artistic voice and helping them ‘hit the sweet spot’ in their work. Students who have taken classes with Ronna say that her classes are empowering – couple that with a spectacular setting and you’ve got a winning combination for nurturing your creative self. Here’s what Ronna says about the week:

“This week-long workshop will help you find your unique artistic voice through polymer clay and wire. We will experiment, play, laugh, create and transform as we explore and expand ideas about art as adornment. Rounding out the experience will be twice-daily optional (but free) guided exercise by Janis Levine, open studio at night, forays into Puerto Vallarta, and gourmet spa food for breakfast and lunch.” Read the entire workshop description here.

Ronna Sarvas Weltman, Pink Ring, polymer clay, wire

The venue is Hacienda Mosaico, a bed and breakfast in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico that specializes in art retreats. In addition to Weltman’s workshop, the 2010 schedule includes workshops with Michael deMeng, Robert Dancik, Hadar Jacobson and Opie and Linda O’Brien.

Hacienda Mosaico

“You will find cobbled streets, where tortillerias and markets catering to the locals rather than the tourists…..craft shops, cantinas, night life and adventure. Hacienda Mosaico is ideal for small retreats and intimate parties as well as a quiet respite from the busy world….a tranquil vacation destination in a tropical environment for adults.” From Hacienda Mosaico’s website

Hacienda Mosaico Workshop

I am excited about attending Ronna’s worshop – and I will approach it in the way that I now move through all of my days – with Beginner’s Mind. Beginner’s Mind is the Buddhist concept of approaching the study of any topic with openness, eagerness and a lack of preconception – even if you are at an advanced level of study. Last week I was listening to Tara Brach’s podcast (she helps me quiet the chatter of my ‘monkey mind’) when Brach related what is widely considered the most famous line in the book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s, there are few.”

I find peace, release and comfort in exploring the world with a beginner’s mind. Won’t you join me – in Mexico, in Beginner’s Mind, in exploration?

Puerta Vallarta, Mexico

andrew zuckerman: the wisdom project and bird, his new book

Susan Lomuto — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:28:41 +0000

For the 2008 documentary film Wisdom, photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman interviewed and photographed 50 of the most influential individuals in the world today. Zuckerman, who was inspired by the idea that the wisdom one generation has gained from experience is “the greatest gift one generation can pass to another”, posed the same seven questions to each of his subjects and captured their candid responses on film (and for the book).

Chuck Close portrait, from the book Widsom

Artists, designers, actors, musicians, writers, political/religious and business leaders – all over the age of 65 – were removed from their context and placed in front of a white background in an effort to keep the dialogue open, honest, revealing. Watch the trailer below for a glimpse of some of the insights the film offers. You can also watch this and a short film about the making of Wisdom here.

Chuck Close shares his thoughts on inspiration for artists:

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction.”

Zuckerman’s New Book

The video promo for Bird, Andrew Zuckerman’s most recent book is simply stunning – take a look below, or on his website here. And please go to the book’s website to see images (look for the Blue Throated Macaw…wow!) and more videos, including one about the making of Bird – breathtaking.

Zuckerman photographing an owl for the book Bird

Wisdom: The Greatest Gift One Generation Can Give To Another and Bird are both on Amazon

challenged creatively? maybe it’s time to try a creative challenge

Susan Lomuto — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:46:32 +0000

Jewelry designer Nina Dinoff challenged herself to make a ring a day, every day this year. No matter where she is, using whatever materials she has nearby, with whatever time she has available each day.

Nina Dinoff – watch a short video clip of the see saw in action here.

I don’t think it really matters if she makes 365 rings. Dinoff explains that the challenge “could possibly force me to come up with creative solutions I never would have considered in the studio. But more importantly, it is like a gestured drawing. Something to help get the day warmed up, or even just something consistent to mark the day.”

D Dee Wilder, polymer clay

More than 150 jewelers have joined her in this creative challenge. The project started two weeks ago and collectively they have already uploaded almost 1,000 photos to the Ring A Day Flickr pool. So much creative energy ! There are rings made of sandpaper, metal, plastic, twigs, polymer clay, keys, paper, paint chips, acrylic paint, bird skulls, saltine crackers, leaves, foam, credit cards and many other materials.

Here are a few of my favorites so far. Are you up for a creative challenge like this? Yes? What kind of challenge would interest you?

Victoria Takahashi, twig, sterling silver

Danielle Miller, saltine cracker

Victoria Takahashi, briolette, sterling silver

Clare Stoker, sandpaper, wire

Ponsawan Sila, polymer clay, resin, paint, bling, wire

Brooke Medlin, paint swatch

Get Your Bone, fine silver, African coin, jade

Emily Watson, paper

bruce mau’s incomplete manifesto for growth

Susan Lomuto — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:09:32 +0000

I’m switching it up a bit today. Take a break from the visual feast you usually find here and read Bruce Mau’s Incomplete Manifesto For Growth. In 1998 Mau, a design visionary and global innovator, wrote a document that consolidated his beliefs, strategies and motivations - 43 ideas and suggestions that he and his design team use as they approach every project. I’m sure you’ve heard some of them before, but they are so good that they are worth repeating often.

Here are three that resonated with me today:

#9. Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

#28. Make new words. Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.

#39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces – what Dr. Seuss calls “the waiting place.”

Read the rest of them here. Which ones got your attention today?

via Tejae’s Art

giving thanks: big and little

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:52:32 +0000

I am taking next week off (yes, we are moving!) so my Thanksgiving post is a bit early this year. Tom has been working around the clock for almost four months to make this happen and we look forward to now making our house a home. We still have much to do before the work is complete, but moving in is a huge milestone and I am deeply grateful to all who helped us make our dream a reality.

{click image to see large version}

When I return, I will be writing Daily Art Muse from a warm, sunny studio space in our new home. I am like a giddy school girl in love…in love with A Room of One’s Own. Yes, this. It’s easy to be thankful for the big things, and I am - new home, good health today, loving relationships, loyal readers – but I am equally thankful for the little things that add texture and color to my days:

crispy frost on fallen leaves; a moment with the startled and curious woodpecker that flew to my window ledge this morning; realizing that I can still hear the sound of my father’s laughter in my head more than three years after he died; the sun warming my face on a cool November day; the way chocolate truffles melt in my mouth; the afternoon light hitting the last of the fall leaves clinging to the trees…I am thankful for these and countless other tiny moments in my every day. And you? What little things are you thankful for today?

Happy Thanksgiving!

{See you in a week?}

damusings: dry wells, dry spells

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:41:01 +0000

Sometimes the well is dry. You know the well I mean. The one we dip into to nourish our creative self, to replenish our physical self, to buoy our spiritual self. I’ve been feeling parched for weeks – could you tell?

SurFeRGiRl30 on Flickr, Wishing Well

If my posts seem stiff lately – if the writing lacks a certain depth of feeling you’ve come to enjoy – it is because my creative self is lurking around feeling undernourished, bogged down and locked out.

Do you remember this post about locked up creativity?

I have exciting art to share, but little energy to write. In a few weeks I will post pictures that explain why my energy is low, why my words don’t flow. {If you follow me on Facebook, you might know what I am hinting at. What’s that you say? You aren’t following daMuse on Facebook? Oh dear, why not?}

Or this one about attitude, intention and unlocking your creative treasures?

This morning as I struggled to write a post, wishing for more energy, dreaming of less chaos, praying for more clarity, I browsed the archives looking for a glimpse of my creative self and found two posts that I wrote a year ago. Oh, how I needed to read them again and take my own advice! Then I realized that maybe you might find inspiration again too, inside those paragraphs and images. You can find them here and here.

Thank you for understanding if I’m not on time these days; if my words don’t echo my joy in sharing the handcrafted beauty I find on the worldwide web. I hope you continue to be patient as I slowly refill the creative well and then drink until drunk. Today, my visual voice needs rest and quiet. See you next week?

susan etcoff fraerman: narrative shoes

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:41:58 +0000

I have a small collection of vintage shoe forms – they are part of a larger collection of objects that provoke my curious nature and provide silent companionship in my studio. I started collecting the shoe lasts more than a year ago and continue to be charmed by the character of the wood, the variety of shapes, stretching mechanisms and range of sizes.

Bound For Glory III, glass beads, semi precious stones, found object

Susan Etcoff Fraerman used several vintage shoe forms in her beaded Narrative Shoes series, 14 different shoes that each tell a story, ranging from well-worn toe shoes to Chinese slippers. They are all lovely, but the shoe forms are what pulled me in.

Bound For Glory III, detail

The Blues

Fraerman works intuitively and you won’t find looms, patterns or graphs in her studio. She explains that, “the beads, varying in texture, size, degree of translucency and hue, are woven in a free form interpretation of a classic stitch – right angle weave.”

Lotus Shoes

My work often speaks of contemporary issues that have touched me deeply: children in need, mutability of the body, the vicissitudes of life. Susan Etcoff Fraerman

Bound For Glory I, glass & metal beads, nylon thread, found object

Shoes are not the only objects that Fraerman transforms with her intricate, tactile beadwork. Be sure to check out Bra Books, “intimate repositories of dreams, thoughts and poetry” and her latest work, The Language of Hands, where the hand in closed fist, open palm and other gestures is used to express a metaphor of universal signals.

More about Susan Etcoff Fraerman at WomanMade.

I’m headed down to NYC to spend time with my daughter. I think the weekend calls for sensible shoes – no heels or beads for me. Have a cozy, comfy, art-filled weekend!

scott radke: from puppets to pendants

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:29:16 +0000

In June, 2008 we looked at Scott Radke’s animal-human hybrid sculptures and marionettes. This year the illustrator and sculptor has expanded his reach and moved into the world of jewelry. His 2009 work includes a series of epoxy clay pendants that are amazing and creepy at the same time. Love them, but instead of hanging them on my neck, I think I would hang them on the wall instead.

Pendants, epoxy clay, paint, 5-6″ tall

Radke’s studio table

Scott Radke’s blog and website

Read this interview with Radke on Ruby Winkle

photoshop, fran forman, jess follows her bliss – all in one post!

Susan Lomuto — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:03:52 +0000

Remember this post back in November 2008? I was trying my hand at photo manipulation in Photoshop with a picture of my daughter that was too dark, but otherwise really nice? I invited DAMuse readers to grab the picture and make their own changes to it.

Original image, untouched

Fran Forman, a new Daily Art Muse reader, happened upon the post several days ago. Forman, an accomplished ‘digital painter’ who is currently a Resident Scholar at The Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, took me up on the invitation and sent along this image. I love it – thanks Fran!

Fran Forman’s digital manipulation magic!

Fran’s story is great inspiration and her email was perfectly timed – it gives me the opportunity to congratulate my daughter, who left the corporate world behind this month to attend graduate school. This marks the beginning of her journey to fulfill a long-held dream.

She’s following her bliss. Congratulations Jess!

August 2009: Jess and Andrejs celebrate her new path

What are you doing to follow your bliss this month? I’m knee deep in renovations, then off to a workshop in Philly this weekend…see you Tuesday?

tory hughes in france, in print, in life: practicing creative action

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:07:02 +0000

You get to a certain place in your work, where you have been essentially expressing who you are for a really long time and you realize that even if somebody else tried to express you, they will never be able to, because they are not you. When we as artists or creators are willing to be really present in the moment, then there is an integrity, an authenticity. Tory Hughes, Ornament Magazine, Volume 32, No. 4

Best known for her groundbreaking imitative work in polymer clay, Tory Hughes’ real gift is the way she approaches art, life and the journey of blending the two.

Tory Hughes

In the current issue of Ornament magazine, Jill DeDominicis explores The Path From Nothing to Something with Hughes, including what DeDominicis’ describes as Hughes’ philosophy of “creativity as both a highly personalized act and a common drive that unifies humanity across time and place.” Articulate and well-informed, Hughes’ wise-sage wisdom, playful nature and generosity of spirit are evident throughout the four page spread.

Ornament Magazine

In September Hughes heads to France to lead a small group of artists in Perception and Play, a creativity retreat for artists working in any medium. With a genuine curiousity about the world that spills over into her art and her thoughtful words, she is the consummate workshop leader. This time she puts away her polymer clay tools and techniques and instead, engages participants in an exploration of how to “connect you more deeply to your own creative, innovative abilities, goals and resources” as only she can.

Still need convincing? Four years ago I attended a five day workshop with Hughes and today I still draw on the tangible and intangible gifts I received while studying her art, absorbing her vast knowledge about polymer clay and her deep understanding of the artistic process.

I was told that there are only a few seats left in her upcoming retreat. If you are looking to break down self-imposed barriers, navigate uncharted waters or simply relax into a new understanding of your journey, don’t miss this opportunity to revisit your childlike sense of wonder with Hughes.

For more information about the September retreat, Perception and Play, click here (there it is – the start of practicing creative action – clicking on the link is where it begins!).

Read more about her own journey of play and risk here.

La Cascade, France. Are you ready for the adventure?

sand mandalas: expressing the here and now

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:25:21 +0000

This morning I am practicing balance, being in the moment and impermanence. This video is a good reminder for all of that. I hope to be back late this afternoon with another post.

“There is nothing in existence that is not a speckle creating never ending circles around itself.”

rosemarie fiore’s pyrotechnics collage: do NOT try this at home!

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:40:24 +0000

Visual artist Rosemarie Fiore explodes live fireworks on blank sheets of paper, moving the containers around on long poles, seeping saturated color on to the paper. Fiore then adds blank paper circles, explodes more fireworks and repeats this process several times, resulting in a deeply layered collage, thick with color and circular motion.

Fireworks Drawing #7
lit firework residue on paper, collage, 65.75″ x 82.5″

Fireworks Drawing #9
lit firework residue on paper, collage, 82.5″ x 66.75″

Want to see what might be the largest spyrograph-type artwork? Click here to see what happened when the artist secured a gas generator, an air compressor and buckets of paint to an amusement park ride and let her whirl!

If you haven’t already voted in the current poll (sidebar) I hope you will take a moment to do so. This is your chance to let me know what new features you would like to see on DAMuse – I’m listening! Watch for a new poll next week.

Hope your weekend explodes with color, warmth, light and fun! Thanks to Tory Hughes – an artist who brings color, warmth, light and fun to all that she does – for the link (via Make).