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Category Archives: Inspiration

sarah jane brown’s witty wire animal farm

Written on August 16, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Inspiration, Metal

When I have an instant reaction to an artist’s work – whether it is to recoil in shock, utter a little groan of awe or to laugh out loud – I know that I’ve found work that I want to explore more fully.

This morning I laughed out loud when I saw Sarah Jane Brown’s wire knit animals. They charmed the laugh right out of me. Brown, who has been creating the diminutive sculptures since 2001, molds the knitted wire into the body of the animals. She began making dogs, but soon added other animals to her menagerie. After she makes the form she wraps, twists and hand stitches the finer points. The details are delightful – characters – each and every one of them.

Sarah Jane Brown’s website

Zoom in for better closeup images of her work on this website

Brown also has a website for her new collection of driftwood sculptures. Check it out here.

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jonathan fuller sea glass

Written on July 20, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Inspiration

When textile print designer Jonathan Fuller decided to return to his home town of Cornwall to raise his family he found that his love of the sea and his eye for color, form and texture brought new opportunities for creative expression.

No. 12, sea glass, wood

No. 24, sea glass, wood

Fuller’s grand sea glass wall sculptures are soothing studies in color, movement and scale. White painted wood panels with vertical or circular channels cut into them provide the structure for each sculpture.

I really like the vertical panels and immediately wondered if they could be made into a water fountain – wouldn’t that be cool?

No. 9, sea glass, wood

“His wall sculptures are assembled from salvaged pieces of sea glass, which are then carefully constructed into deceptively simple shapes. His color graduations are subtle and beautiful; whilst the clever placement of these small frosted shards convey a sense of movement that mirrors the sea. The resultant artworks possess a quality that is strong, pure and elemental.” From Fuller’s website

Jonathan Fuller’s website

Musings on Sea Glass

I’ve been slowly and steadily building my own collection of sea glass. While nothing quite so grand as Jonathan Fuller’s collection I am smitten with each and every piece. It has become a meditative process for me, sitting on the rock beach below the windows of my temporary home. This tiny piece of coastline, with the sound of water rushing the rocks, provides the perfect space to empty my head of worrisome thoughts and immerse myself in the mesmerizing beauty of the area. The meditation happens effortlessly as I begin to gently move rocks and pebbles around, looking for ones that inspire and delight.

This is where the magic happens.

I almost always happen upon a frosted piece of glass with round, smooth borders – no hard edges here. And I have found that where there is one piece of beach glass, there are several: white, amber, cobalt blue, blue-green, green, brown. Each shard a reminder that it is important to become so engrossed in an activity that you leave your thoughts behind.

My sea glass sits in a bottle and I usually carry a few pieces with me to give away to strangers and friends. There is much to be said for the power of transformation and to me, a small piece of sea glass is the perfect talisman of transformation.

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reflections on house and home

Written on June 24, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Ceramic, Featured, Inspiration

I am drawn to the theme of house and home and revisit it often on DAM. Not surprising since I have moved three times in the last four years, each move part of the learning curve as I navigated new terrain like risk-taking, letting go and remaining open to possibilities.

Currently I am living in a semi-nomadic manner, stepping outside of the box of expectations attached to a woman at a certain stage of life (50+). A rather big learning curve for this homebody.

New opportunities, friendships and experiences are mine for the taking and although at times it is frightening to reach so far outside my comfort zone this has been a powerful, liberating, exhilarating experiment and it isn’t over yet. I highly recommend it.

I sometimes look for physical reminders of house and home as a grounding exercise when I get overwhelmed by my experiment – a way to carry it with me and honor what I have come to know – that a house is just a house and home isn’t so much a place as it is a feeling, a knowing, a sense of belonging.

Laurie Poast’s tiny little houses, pictured here, are a perfect reminder. Poast, an American living in Holland, uses only old-world natural pigments and organic clay from the coast of Spain when creating the objects that fill her shop.

For me these humble, charming structures represent the profound impact simplifying my life has had on my outlook, approach and experience.

I don’t know where I will settle and put down roots again but I do know that I am already home – and I am certain you can’t find it with a GPS system or a map.

Perhaps our paths will cross someday as I continue on my nomadic journey. I’d like that. I’ll be the one who embraces change and the wisdom that only comes with age. How will I know you?

Etsy shop

Read an interview with the artist here.

Hope your journeys this weekend end with the thrill of coming home to your true self.

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dam changes coming in june

Written on May 24, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Inspiration

No pictures of lovely inspiration in this post. No links to jaw-dropping, muse-waking art. Only simple, heartfelt words to announce the first of several changes coming to Daily Art Muse next month.

I am reaching for more and giving more; expecting more and sharing more. It is in the spirit of reciprocity that I write today’s post.

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If you receive the DAM newsletter or follow DAM’s Facebook Page you already know about the changes – feel free to stop reading this post and go straight to your newsletter or the FB link and become a member today using the special offer that subscribers received.

For everyone else – here’s the heads up so please keep reading!

{If you want to receive the special price offers in the future, click here to sign up for the DAM newsletter, or go here to ‘like’ DAM’s Facebook Page}

Why Changes?

Creating and growing Daily Art Muse has been a labor of love for almost five years. Sharing my finds with you has brought me great joy and I want to continue to inspire you with the incredible talent and skill of our global community of artists.

The time has come for me to make an income from this work if I am to continue to devote the more than 150 hours it takes each month to research, write and maintain the comprehensive resource DAM has become.

What Changes?

I’ve been developing a members-only area of the blog that adds value to an already rich experience and the first level of membership launches soon.

For those who are ready to take the DAM experience to another level, the brand new, private, members-only area is the place to be.

The first change puts all but the most recent 6 months’ of archived posts in the members-only area of DAM. This means that more than 2,800 archived posts will soon become private, available to members only, officially launching the first membership level:

The Archives Level

As of June 1st, 2011, to gain full access to more than 2,800 of the posts that have inspired you on your journey as an artist, art student, collector, enthusiast, gallerist or art educator, you need to be a member of DAM.

{Everyone will always have free access to all of the daily posts from the most recent 6 months – you don’t need to be a member to view these posts.}

“If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.” Author Unknown

How Can I Change With DAM?

Become a member today.

An Archives Level membership is an easy, affordable way to have complete access to an extensive, growing visual library of inspiration and to ensure the continuation of Daily Art Muse.

Become a member because you want access to the content that moves your muse OR do it to keep Daily Art Muse alive.

Both are DAM good reasons and now is the time.

Become a member today!

More Changes?

Wait – there’s more! Three additional levels of membership are being added later in June to keep you inspired, educated and informed about art, the business of art, resources for artists and more.

Read about these membership levels here.

Once the additional membership levels are open to join you can upgrade at any time or move between membership levels based on your needs at any given time (and if you want the special pricing that will be offered only to subscribers and FB followers when the other membership levels launch, remember to sign up for the newsletter OR ‘like’ the FB Page).

Ready to experience all that DAM has to offer? Ready to keep DAM alive? Do it.

Become a member today.