Art I Love for May 1-7, 2017.

May 7, 2017

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I am an artist, and over the years, I’ve been honored to meet, follow, and enjoy the artwork from other artists. I also know, as a working artist, how hard it is to get your work out, and how much someone else sharing your work can mean.

So, a few years back, I created the #artilove hashtag, and began sharing any and all art that I loved with that tag. Slowly, other artist friends began using it to share the work of artists THEY loved, and I discovered even MORE artists I enjoyed the work of. It’s a win-win for everyone.

However, Facebook tends to eat posts, and notifications, and sometimes it’s just nice to have a link to save as a reminder that hey, someone else out there loves your work, nope, it doesn’t suck, and keep making it. So, as a giant middle finger to #TheVoiceThatSaysIAmAFailure: this your weekly roundup of Art I Love.

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Ardith Goodwin

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I’ve been a long time fan of Ardith Goodwin’s work. Her use of color has been a not-so-guilty pleasure and her ability to (seemingly) effortlessly dance along the line between representative imagery and abstraction is a visual feast for anyone who appreciates both. This week’s piece, however, represents a departure from her usual bright, vibrant color use, and digs deep with moving contrast and rich, deep tones. As strong of a piece as it is, her story behind it was the clincher, and why she’s opening this week. From her public Facebook post:

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“I debated whether to share this painting here or not, but in my gut I know it is relevant to some. Although I didn’t set out to paint such a piece, it evolved this way so I honored that path.

There are two purposes I have come to understand about this painting, one tells me what the nemesis in my book might look like and the other is the exact moment that depression left the body.

For years I carried around what I called an ‘ick.’ It was a low grade depression over time and after a while I made an agreement that I would always have it. 4 years ago I was fortunate enough to work through this with a great therapist and finally found a way to detach from that. My life has been transformed ever sense.

This painting is exactly what that felt like and looks like to me. I set out to paint a figure with a glowing face, I did not paint the figure behind the light rays. The process was much deeper than I realized it seems. Without darkness there is no light, and I am forever grateful of my light source and that I kept seeking it out even through the tougher days.

Not every painting is pretty, not every part of a story is either. Glad to share a sense of human experience through the paint.”

You can find out more about Ardith Goodwin here: http://www.ardithgoodwin.com/ (She teaches, too.)

Rebecca Stahr

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Rebecca Stahr is one of a small handful of encaustic artists I follow the work of. She works in a wide range of sizes, but her dreamy, ethereal use of color draws me back in. She’s not afraid of color, mind you, but she has been clearly honing a sense of balance in her choices of color, and her use of those colors in her compositions. This developing sense shows beautifully in this piece from one of her recent Facebook Posts, from this week’s #artilove.

Posted simply as “16×16 Encaustic Abstract Artwork” and tagged as for sale on her Facebook Page, this piece is a welcome break of serenity for the eyes.

You can see more of her work at www.rebeccastahr.com.

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Hiroshi Matsumoto

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Hiroshi Matsumoto is a regular in the #artilove circuit, both in my shares and in the shares of friends. With a mastery of color that makes my heart hurt and sing, I rarely come across a piece of his that doesn’t give me a reason to pause and look. This particular piece was a recent post to his 9 x 9 page; a running series of daily works, each measuring 9cm square.

You can see the original post here, as well as see the piece listed for sale here. Hiroshi Matsumoto’s website can also be found here.

Khalid Hameed

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Khalid Hameed is a local(ish) to me photographer with a strong focus on candid photographs of people, and black & white work. Making liberal use of vignetting and high contrast in his work to draw the viewers eye, Khalid presents a unique perspective on life in Florida, particularly in St. Petersburg, FL.

This particular photograph was curated into this week’s #artilove because of the sense of movement that is only paused, and a feeling that if you just held your breath a moment longer, the pianist would come to life, turning the rest of the way towards you, smiling, perhaps, with that cigarette dangling from his lips, and launch into a story of how this particular song came to be.

Khalid Hameed’s work also includes work from Tokyo, and photographs from musical venues. You can see more of his work on his Facebook page or website. Khalid also has a show titled ‘Through My Window‘ opening this Saturday, in St. Petersburg.

Melissa Randolph

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While the majority of the artists this week are 2D visual artists, Melissa Randolph is a regular in my #artilove posts for her quirky, adorable, and well-crafted robot sculptures. As much as I enjoy paintings, her robots are a welcome reminder in my Facebook and Instagram feeds to smile, to find joy in the quirky details, and to not take it all too seriously.

This particular one is named Professor Bot Baxton, and is her latest robot sculpture. Every detail is hand-sculpted, and is, of course, now up for adoption on theawesomerobots.com.

Agustin Castillo

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Agustin Castillo‘s work is a decadent mix of color and line work, with just enough almost-uncomfortable surrealism to suck you in and keep you there. Agustin regularly posts works in progress on Facebook, to the delight of many, and I have yet to not enjoy seeing both the process and the finished pieces. I am far, far from alone in this.

Agustin was an artist I discovered through another artist’s #artilove share – hat tip Michelle Howd – and this particular piece made it into #artilove this week for color use, and for the way that those drastically different sized eyes don’t seem unmatched, just… like you are seeing two sides of someone, at two different times.

Labeled only as “No.903/ 57×72 cms/ oil on opaline paper 250g/ available/ disponible.” in a public Facebook post, I highly recommend going and checking out the larger image.

You can follow Agustin Castillo’s work here on his Facebook Page or visit his webpage here: http://www.agustincas-artist.com/

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And that is this week’s Art I Love Round Up! Feel free to use the #artilove tag to share the work of other artists you love. Spread the love, and share the art.

Until next time – may you find lots of art you love!

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