JENNIFER SANCHEZ

Artist Jennifer Sanchez has a beautiful way of making simple shapes and colors seem complex. I was drawn to her work when I came across it a few months ago, because she mixes her free-hand style of painting with very precise geometric shapes. Her work is original and simple; yet that’s what I love most about it. Sanchez currently lives in New York and has more recently been a part of the gallery scene. When describing her paintings she has said, " I use geometric patterns, improvised marks and vivid color to depict a state of flux. Opaque and transparent shapes mingle to create ambiguous spaces. Clashing colors create new harmonies that vibrate. I approach each painting with general ideas in mind, but I never know where they may lead. All preliminary marks, little catastrophes and drips are visible to show the experimentation and thought that goes into it. Through the marks made, I invite the viewer to see the process of painting".

I can relate to Sanchez's creative approach to making a painting, that you start off with an idea of an image, and it never exactly turns out the way you planned... her experimentation, and willingness to allow her viewers to see her creative process is refreshing and truthful... I would love to order a few dozen of her prints for my wall! They are BEAUTIFUL.

March Madness

It's been over a week since I've posted anything to this blog. So let me first start by saying; where the heck did March go? I've been so consumed by projects for the past two weeks, that I haven't had a moment yet to appreciate the (warmer) weather, and the day-light-savings time change (hello sunlight)!!!

Since last Monday, I've been busy making smaller paintings for my ETSY SHOP. I was lucky enough to have a buyer purchase over 10 paintings in
one day .... Which wiped me clean of whatever extra paintings I had around the house to sell. So in the meantime I'm busy creating small, delicate, and colorful pieces that would be great for SPRING and SUMMER. I've also begun a new painting series of SUNFLOWERS (pictures to follow). Below are current updates of my latest peony painting I'm doing. I love to document my progress and watch an image form as it comes together!

I'm planning to stay dry in LA this weekend, and paint more... I hear it's going to rain... My thoughts go out to all the LA marathon runners! GOOD LUCK!

xx

Completed!

Eye Candy

As a creative person, I need to look at a lot of imagery to be inspired. Other artists, and their work, push me to want to be the best at what I want to do with my life: paint beautiful paintings.

When I was in college, I preferred to paint paintings that were over 5 feet tall and wide, simply because I had the studio space. That task has been difficult lately since I've been limited to using an old table at the moment to create artwork...

I'm dreaming of the day when I finally have a home to fill, so that I'm forced to create LARGE pieces to hang up in my kitchen, living room, and dining areas. Here are a few images from my digital notebook that I have collected. Motivation? Absolutely.

Coral Prints

I'm in love with a new color; Coral. And I'm on a quest to find it in every pattern possible...

I'm hoping to incorporate it into my new painting series, without being too overwhelming... Coral is a color that's bright, but is a little more unusual than your average Pink or Orange. I was such a Pink gal to begin with... But I think for now those days are over.

So I'm sharing my coral love

Pink Rose(s) Painting

A few posts ago I shared some pictures of the rose painting that I'm working on for my 5th grade Teacher. And, after a discussion with her, and a few more hours of adjusting the background colors... I finished! Below is the final result.

This weekend I'm taking a little break from painting and spending time outdoors. Rumor has it that its going to be 80 degrees this Saturday. I'm looking forward to going to the beach and spending time with my friends.

xx

Karlin

Andrew Myers

Most people are drawn to the portraits because they have something different about them (from a distance especially). Seeing them in person is a whole different feel than seeing the photograph. They have a sense of depth that the photo can’t capture.” – Andrew Myers

I had to investigate when I came across Andrew Myers, a local artist from Laguna Beach, CA and his "screw portraits". His work reminded me of my brother Pierce.... and his "penny project" in college when he glued hundreds of pennies onto a wood board and then painted them individually to create a portrait of Buddy Holly. All I could think was " this took a ton of work, time, and energy". This is likely the reason I'm drawn to Myers' 3-D craftsmanship and ability to create artwork with hardware. He starts his pieces with a wood board, draws the portrait, grids his lines, and begins screwing thousands of screws onto the board and finishes off with paint. These works are super cool. Enjoy!

Modern Met met with Myers for a quick interview. Here is what he had to say:

How does this type of sculpture differ from your usual work?
These pieces are definitely a departure from my normal artwork. For years I had been sculpting in bronze, doing figurative, narrative types of work. The screw art was born mostly because I was burnt out on the narrative work, but also because I'm always searching for a "better" sculpture. It has been hard for me to stick to one style of work as I always tend to find something more interesting. In fact, before I got the exposure on the screw art, I had considered taking a break from that to pursue something else.

What do you hope others will get out of these pieces?
When other people look at this work, I hope they can see the amount of thought and work that went into each piece. I feel I have used everything I've learned over the past decade, including sculpture, painting, construction etc, to create something that I had never seen before.

What's next?
Right now I am in a studio transition, so I haven't had much time to work on the art side of things. However, I have some great plans for the future, which include plenty of screws and large scale sculptures (hopefully public art).

To visit his website, click on the title of this post
www.andrewmyersart.com
*images from ModernMet

Leap of Faith

February 29 is a date that occurs every four years, and is called leap day. This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure, because the earth does not orbit around the sun in precisely 365 days..... Well the idea of the calendar and "leaping" had me thinking about time and having a "leap of faith". Now that we are well into 2012, I truly believe we have to "leap" with hope for the future. This Winter didn't give us as much weather as we anticipated and as Spring is right around the corner .... (figuratively and physically) growth is here.

I was out with a few friends last night for a much needed Taco Tuesday (aka girlfriend catch-up), and we were all expressing our hopes of leaping into the rest of the year with anticipation. One friend is getting married in the next month, while others of us are just hoping to spend 2012 with more time traveling, spending time with friends, and perusing our career goals. I'm leaping into my future with excitement for whatever it is that may come, because as I've seen in my 20's; every year is so different.

HAPPY LEAP YEAR!

Anthropologie (my secret art haven)

I'm lucky that I work in Beverly Hills. During lunch time I love walking down the street (not just because I may run into an A-list celebrity at Starbucks ---> which happens quite frequently) but also to window shop at the high-end retail stores.

One of my favorite shops, Anthropologie, has done an amazing job on their store displays. Over the years they have incorporated every material imaginable from paper, to metal, to paint.... to playfully entice people to walk through their artsy shop. I took a few pictures from last week when I went through there. The amount of art, texture, and color they have going on in their space is incredible. And when you stop to take note of all the details.... you realize why this franchise is such a popular place to experience.

Eye-candy-all-round.

I was loving these paper sculptures... so effortless, and yet I would never have come up with them..

*note as I was leaving the store, several of the stores window-display-team-members were installing a new piece... it was all I could do to not ask if I could participate in what looked like an arts and crafts project. Painting, gluing, and pasting all day?!! So fun!