fine art photography Archives - Page 2 of 2

ARTmonday: Signs of Spring

Although it’s rather slushy in Boston, it is indeed late March and there are signs of impending springtime. Buds on the magnolia trees along Commonwealth Avenue, crocuses pushing up in front gardens, street sweeping (well actually, that was cancelled today due to the weather).

If you need a bit of a lift on this less than sunny day, how about some spring art? Here are 15 artworks that depict springtime, from birds to green trees to pastel hues.

Branch and Bird Illustration By Artist Amy Jean Porter At 20x200

Rose-breasted Grosbeak • Amy Jean Porter • 20×200

Spring Abstract Landscape By Britt Bass Turner

Muffin Top • Britt Bass Turner • Artfully Walls

Spring Flowers Still LIfe By Daniela Orlev

Flowers on a Table • Daniela Orlev • Artfully Walls

Birds In the City Painting By Susan Spangenberg at Artlifting

City Park • Susan Spangenberg • Artlifting

Fawn With Butterfly Head By Abby Goodman Spring Art

Animal Hybrid Series (Deerfly) • Abby Goodman • Uprise Art

Edgy Spring Landscape Photograph With Pink Glimmer

Spring • Disparity By Design UK • Society6

Spring Like Acrylic Sculpture By kal Mansur

Grey Murmur Two • Kal Mansur • Uprise Art

Abstract Spring Landscape By Jenna Bauer

from SPRING • Jenna Bauer • Saatchi Art

Spring Trees Abstract Landscape By Karen Barbour At 20x200

Butterfly Chair • Karen Barbour • 20×200

Baby Fox Print By Catherine Ledner

Fennec Fox On Blue • Catherine Ledner • Green Box Art

Spring Cactus Blooms In The Desert By Sarah Eisenlohr

Decor • Sarah Eisenlohr • Society6

spring-tess-atkinson-florals

From the Flora series • Tess Atkinson

spring-tod-seelie-20x200

Green Branches • Tod Seelie • 20×200

spring-yukari-kaihori-saatchi

One Spring Day • Yukari Kaihori • Saatchi Art

Floral Abstract By Northern California Artist Ellen Levine Dodd at Serena & Lily

Adagio • Ellen Levine Dodd • Serena & Lily

ARTmonday: Stefanie Klavens How We Live

Like many of the artists whose work I feature and own, I discovered photographer Stefanie Klavens at the School of Museum of Fine Arts sale in Boston. One year I was eyeing the photo of the two double beds (second photo below). It looks to me like a dreary motel room, though it’s titled Guest Room. I was attracted to the colors and the color fields, along with the general downtrodden, or at least severely outdated, decor. My husband very much didn’t want me to buy it. I didn’t.

That’s ok, because the following year I purchased the gold-hued living room photo of Klavens called Henry’s Paintings. I didn’t make the connection between them then, though now looking at them, it’s obvious these two interior photographs were taken by the same photographer. It’s hanging in a grouping of four photographs in our family room over our sofa, in a sort of compositional echo.

My favorite work of this mostly interior photography series that Klavens calls “How We Live,” is the first image here. To me, the pink and green living room interior really stands up. Swap out the art and preferably the shag rug (though a hip inhabitant could make it work) and you’re all set. Anna’s Parlor could work too, with its Jonathan Adler vibe.

Klavens describes the series as “the small-scale drama of everyday life.” She dubs them “portraits of people through the places they inhabit,” depicting “life captured as still life.” Klavens is inspired by “banal” and “mundane” scenes that hide clues about how people live. She says, “The images are empty and uninhabited, yet one senses a human presence just out of reach.”

In addition to this interior photography and similar exteriors of swimming pools, hotels, and the like, Klavins has photographed a series called “Theaters and Drive-Ins.”

Stefanie Klavens studied at Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts, where she received a BFA and was awarded a Traveling Fellowship. Klavens has an upcoming exhibition this summer at the 555 Gallery in South Boston.

Stefanie Klavens Interior Photograph Pink & Green Living Room

Formal Room

Stefanie Klavens Interior Photograph Motel Room

Guest Room

Stefanie Klavens Interior Photograph Wood Paneled Parlour

Anna’s Parlor

Stefanie Klavens Interior Photograph Gold Living Room

Henry’s Paintings

Stefanie Klavens Interior Photograph Seventies Kitchenette

Kitchenette

Stefanie Klavens Interior Photographs Animal Print Bed

Blue Room

Stefanie Klavens Interior Photograph Pink Tiled Bathroom

Pink Tiles

ARTmonday: Artwork for TroyBoston Model Apt #1409

I love when I have the opportunity in my work to showcase local Boston artists and makers. For the last couple of months I’ve been working on a interior decor scheme for a model apartment at Troy Boston, a brand new, upscale, “green” rental building in SoWa. It’s a little outside my usual scope of projects and it’s been fun. You may have seen the initial post I did about it, when I was determining the color scheme for the apartment—Impressions: Creating a Color Palette of Charcoal + Dusty Rose. The final palette is indeed based on this post, with plenty of textural elements, including velvet, sheepskin, cork, plywood, and copper.

The best part has been curating the artwork. The art collection is the distinctive feature of the overall design and I hope people will view it as an exhibition rather than mere decoration. The pieces, which include paintings, photographs, sculpture, and mixed media pieces, are all done by New England-based female artists. Some of these Boston artists are talented friends (Lee Essex Doyle, Tess Atkinson, Grace Hopkins), others are young artists whose pieces I’ve purchased over the years at the SMFA Art Sale (Laura Beth Reese, Eugenie Lewalski Berg), others are artists I’ve become familiar with through blogging (Cig Harvey, Alicia Savage, Anastasia Cazabon, Anna Kasabian, Rachel Cossar, Winky Lewis, Jenny Prinn), and others are Boston artists who are new to me (Heather McGrath, Linda Cordner).

I knew from the start that I wanted to include a statement artwork of a partially obscured woman; a moody fashion-y photograph of an elusive woman. I was able to get a few, though no oversize pieces due to the prohibitive cost of printing. Nevertheless I think the collection will hold together well. At the end of this post, you can see my current hanging scheme for the main wall, and for over the bed. I also plan to print a few of my own Instagram photos to pin or (washi) tape up.

Here I present to you the Troy Boston Model Apt #1409 art collection featuring over a dozen Boston area artists. I hope you love it and will learn more about these talented women, all of whom have generously lent me their artwork.

alicia-savage-field

Alicia Savage
self-portrait • Panopticon Gallery
Fort Point, Boston, MA

laura-beth-reese-snowy-nude

Laura Beth Reese • self-portrait from Nude series
Boston, MA

dig-harvey-the-goldfinch

Cig Harvey, MidCoast Maine
The Goldfinch • Robert Klein Gallery

anastasia-cazabon-bed

Anastasia Cazabon • From the Secret World series
Boston, MA

grace-hopkins-ca01

Grace Hopkins • CA01
Color photograph on canvas
Truro, Cape Cod, MA

grace-hopkins-nassau06

Grace Hopkins • Nassau06
Color photograph on canvas
Truro, Cape Cod, MA

grace-hopkins-lights-la45

Grace Hopkins • LA45
Color photograph on canvas
Truro, Cape Cod, MA

rachel-cossar-tights

Rachel Cossar • Tights
Instagram photograph backstage
Ballerina, Boston Ballet • Boston, MA

lee-essex-doyle-lantern

Lee Essex Doyle, Boston, MA
Prada I Orange • Childs Gallery • Watercolor and ink

winky-lewis-swimsuit

Winky Lewis, Portland, ME
Black and white photo of the artist’s daughter

eugenie-lewalsk-berg-six-couples

Eugenie Lewalski Berg • Six Couples
Cast concrete relief with graphite and oil pastel
Boston, MA

linda-cordner-bayside-sky

Linda Cordner • Bayside Sky • encaustic
Linda Cordner created this large encaustic for the apartment after seeing my color palette inspiration post.
SoWa, Boston, MA

tess-atkinson-vista-series

Tess Atkinson • Vista Series
Color photograph face-mounted on plexiglass
Boston, MA

iceland-heather-mcgrath

Heather McGrath • Sunset in Iceland
Color photograph printed on sheet metal
SoWa, Boston, MA

anna-kasabian-tide-pool

Anna Kasabian, North Shore, MA
Tide Pool III • stoneware
This many not be the exact piece that will hang. Anna Kasabian is lending me three pieces, which I will see when she drops them off next week.

jenny prinn

Jenny Prinn, Maine
Little Footsteps I • Oil on canvas
This is not the exact canvas I’ll be hanging. Jenny Prinn has graciously offered to paint an original work for the project.

• • •

Main art wall
troy-art-1

• • •

Art over the bed
troy-art-2

• • •

ARTmonday: Winter Trees

Back in April, I published ARTmonday: 22 Trees. When I realized I kept noticing artwork with trees, I decided to feature more wintry subjects. And since we got our first big snow in Boston, now’s the perfect time.

Trees are really great if you’re working with a large space. Landscape murals or digitally printed oversize canvases can make a big impact, especially in a spare space. The icicles hanging from the birch tree in your backyard could look great blown up. Ocean waves for that matter also look cool; very relaxing.

Ikea carries an oversize ocean wave canvas print that my friend Deb, who’s an architect, hung in her Florida condo; it has a funky South Beach effect. I may be getting off track… here are beautiful winter tree artworks that might instill some appreciation of nature and colder temps. Perhaps they’ll inspire you?

Frozen Sky, Philippe Saint-Laudy

Snow Covered Pond, Wyatt Mt. Pond, Gregory Hennen

Courtesy Kenise Barnes Fine Art

Belmont Harbor Tree II, Chicago, Daniel Seung Lee

Elviage Pearl, Jennifer Squires

Alone In the Forest, Robert Farkas/Deny Designs

Robin Trees, Sandra Dieckmann

• • •

ARTmonday: Didier Massard

Today I interviewed interior designer Frank Roop at his studio. But more on that later. Since it’s ARTmonday, I thought I’d show you images by photographer Didier Massard, whose work I discovered hanging in Frank’s living room. (He hosted a Boston Home party there last spring to celebrate the cover story about his place, “Material Witness.” I adore Frank’s work and was excited to see his sumptuous showpiece. And I had a small piece in the magazine too – my first for them – “Some Like It Hot.” ) Here is Frank Roop’s living room. Didier Massard’s photograph I fell in love with is hanging on the left.

Photo by Eric Roth

Today I finally had the opportunity to ask Frank about the work and the artist. Turns out Didier Massard’s work is shown in Boston right on Newbury Street, at the Robert Klein Gallery. I haven’t been in there in quite a while, (my husband tends to prefer painting over photographs) but Robert Klein Gallery represents a number of photographers I love, including Sally Gall, Sally Mann, and Tom Baril.

Didier Massard’s photographs are surreal, romantic, otherworldly landscapes. Contrived landscapes. He builds models in his Paris studio, which he then photographs.

Didier Massard Autumn Tree Photo

Autumn Tree, 2001

Spring Tree, 2002

Didier Massard Tree Top Photo

Tree Top, 2002

Photos courtesy of Robert Klein Gallery

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