Kirsty Mitchell’s late mother Maureen was an English teacher who spent her life inspiring generations of children with imaginative stories and plays. Following Maureen’s death from a brain tumour in 2008, Kirsty channelled her grief into her passion for photography.
She retreated behind the lens of her camera and created Wonderland, an ethereal fantasy world. The photographic series began as a small summer project but grew into an inspirational creative journey.
‘Real life became a difficult place to deal with, and I found myself retreating further into an alternative existence through the portal of my camera,’ said the artist. (read the rest here).
(chowsgomooから)
Imme van der Haak - Beyond the Body (2012)
Artist’s statement:
“My work focuses on altering the human form by affecting its figure with just one simple intervention. Photos of the human body are printed onto translucent silk which will create the possibility of physically layering different body’s, ages, generations and identities.
In a dance performance, the moving body manipulates the fabric so the body and the silk become one, distorting our perception or revealing a completely new physical form. The movement then brings this to life.”
4/19 Blog Entry
So far, I am focusing on one painting at a time. The reason why is because I’m trying out a new style (more linear/abstracted) focusing on lines, colors and shapes. I’m also enjoying this project a lot more than others because these places I am painting are normal everyday location. I am having the most difficulty with picking color combination but I am probably leaning toward more contemporary colors. I am currently working on the walmart painting. I think I’m going to paint Kroger and Best Buy next, perhaps only choosing 3 colors for each of them and just work on changing the value and intensity.
Katsushika Hokusai - “Weeping Cherry and Bullfinch” Woodblock print {c. 1834} (via Michelle / Pinterest)
“Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins” by Judy Fox, 2007, terra cotta and casein
4/5 Blog Entry
For this triptych project, I would like to work with colors and lines. It may be representational or nonrepresentational but I am leaning toward nonrepresentational. I like to see which colors go together so I will spend my time experimenting with that. I also want to look at minimal artists because I think their works are nonrepresentational yet still able to evoke some type of feelings because of the way they use colors and lines. That is what I am also aiming for.
I might….want to make surrealism style paintings..because I enjoyed painting salvador dali’s work.
3/29 Blog Entry
At the beginning, I was not very comfortable with painting. I feel that out of all the skills I learned during these years of school, painting is the one skill I lack the most. I feel that paint in (in general) is a difficult medium to work with because it requires a lot of color relationship and also the actual oil paint itself is something I do not work with everyday. As I was working on each new project I slowly began to understand that painting requires a certain degree of letting go and just have fun but also a feeling of confidence when I make each artistic decisions. I am an art education major and I want to be able to learn the balance of letting but also control. So that when I teach my students art, I can work with each person’s abilities without conforming them and making them into someone I want rather than someone they want to be. I feel that I am slowly improving with my paintings because I am trying to accept that I can always go back and fix it and that I should just make a strong mark with a lot of paint. I like that we are not trying to paint what we see but we are MAKING a painting.
