Nantucket-based artist (and all around lovely person), Lauren Marttila is known for her dreamy photographs of Nantucket. If you don’t follow her Instagram (@laurenmarttilaphotography), you should! Marttila’s ocean waves, beach grass, island sunsets, and dune shacks are a salve in the midst of winter.
Serena & Lily has carried large-scale Lauren Marttila photographs for about three years. This month, the home furnishings shop expanded their offerings with acrylic shelfies. They are perfect to nestle on a bookshelf, with your favorite books and other collectibles. Shelfies make great gifts!
“Serena & Lily wanted their own shelfie line, so we created acrylic shelfies together in multiple shapes and sizes. All designed to fit on a bookshelf, nightstand, mantle etc. I’m thrilled that they are in all stores and online,” Martilla says.
As for how Serena & Lily discovered Lauren Marttila’s beautiful Nantucket photographs, she’s not quite sure. “I think someone who works for Serena & Lily saw my artwork at a Nantucket Boys & Girls Club charity event,” Marttila says. “Doing good = feel good = good for business!”
Marttila also sells shelfies on her website and at Milly & Grace on Nantucket. All her other collections, which include gorgeous landscape and seascape photographs of Nantucket, Bahamas, Costa Rica, the Hamptons, and the Caribbean, are available at LaurenMarttila.com too. She also offers gift certificates if you want to let the giftee pick their own photo vacation.
“I want people to collect my artwork because they love Nantucket, the ocean, and live for that first breath of fresh, salt air. I seek out simplicity and negative spaces in my photography so the viewers can see themselves in my artwork,” the artist says.
As for what’s next for Lauren Marttila? She’s hoping to expand to other locales including Charleston, California, Palm Beach, and beyond.
As I’ve mentioned, this summer we hosted a pop up art gallery in our home on Cape Cod. (You can see photos on IG #artandcocktailstruro ) We hung 96 artworks, a good portion of them photography. (I posted the paintings and mixed media pieces back in August here.)
I was really pleased that many of the pieces that sold were photos. And not only that, they were unique, personal pieces, even a couple I have in my own collection. Thanks to the photographers who lent work, and to the friends that purchased them.
If you’re interested there are still plenty to choose from; just email me at stylecarrot [at] gmail [dot] com.
Anastasia Cazabon, Legs on Bed, 2008 Photograph • 16″ x 20″
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Anastasia Cazabon, Sink, 2008 Photograph • 16″ x 20″
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Anastasia Cazabon, Bushes, 2007
Photograph • 16″ x 20″
$150
Anastasia Cazabon, Diary, Love and Rivalry, 2008 Photograph • 16″ x 20″
$100
Cory Munro Shea, Graduation
20″ x 16″
$750
Cory Munro Shea, Harvard 10″ x 8″
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Elle Moss, Tempest Photo printed with archival ink on fine art paper • 12″ x 12″
$150
Grace Hopkins, Nassau06, 2014 Digital photograph mounted on wood • 12″ x 12″
$400
Grace Hopkins, CA01, 2006 Digital photograph mounted on wood • 16″ x 16″
$600
Grace Hopkins, LA45, 2014 Digital photograph mounted on wood • 16″ x 16″ $600
Linda Pagani, Sometimes No. 1, 2012 Archival inkjet print • 24″ x 30″ Artist’s proof 1 • $3,400
Linda Pagani, Sometimes No. 2, 2012 Archival inkjet print • 24″ x 30″ Edition 1/7 • $2,500
Robert Knight, Stephen, Boston, MA Photograph • 24″ x 30″
$2,100
Sarah Winchester, Paris Graffiti Digital photographic print • 23″ x 37″ s o l d
Shelley Zatsky
United States Marine Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky, Caution Bathroom,
Nominated 2003, Saved, 2005
Photograph • 14″ x 14″
$550
Shelley Zatsky
United States Marine Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky, Doctors Quarters
Nominated 2003, Saved, 2005
Photograph • 14″ x 14″
$550
Stephen Sheffield, Flight Plan Photograph • 20″ x 16″
$1,100
Stephen Sheffield, Businessman in Miniature Photograph • 16″ x 20″
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Suzanne Koett, This Too Shall Pass Photograph printed on archival paper • 20″ x 30″
$450
Tess Atkinson Study 2, Cherry Blossom, Charles River Esplanade Boston, 2016 Hahnemühle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth print, Edition 1/20
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Tess Atkinson Study 1, Cherry Blossom, Charles River Esplanade Boston, 2016 Hahnemühle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth print, Edition 1/20 $900
I don’t remember where I first saw these crumpled landscape photos by Detroit-based artist Millee Tibbs, but I’ve been holding on to the images for a while. Although I’m not often a fan of straightforward landscapes, I’m drawn to abstracted landscapes. Or, in this case, folded landscapes.
Tibbs is interested in the relationship between surfaces and what lies beneath them, along with the space where its qualities contradict each other while simultaneously coexisting. This series is called Mountains + Valleys after the two primary folds in origami.
After photographing the landscapes, Tibbs prints, folds, then re-photographs them, resulting in images that are both manipulated and photographically real.
In her statement Tibbs says that images of the American West are used to interpret and confront cultural myths that are disseminated through the representation of that landscape. And that the work uses physical alteration to create relationships between formal geometries and natural spaces that question the illusionistic representation of the photographic image.
Here are eight of Millee Tibbs’ folded, abstracted landscapes.
Yesterday morning I was catching up on my Pinterest boards when I came across this crisp bedroom designed by L.A. based designer Amber Lewis of Amber Interiors. I love the sapare design and mix of white, charcoal and wood, but what really caught my eye was the misty landscape photo (affordable artwork I suspected/hoped) tinged in pink. (Clearly I’m still stuck on my blush and charcoal color palette.) The photo was handily captioned, crediting this statement photo to Brian Merriam.
Brian Merriam is a self-taught, Brooklyn-based photographer whose prints are sold though Tappan Collective. Founded by two young Los Angeles natives, Chelsea Neman and Jordan Klein who met at the University of Michigan, Tappan Collective is yet another great source for affordable artwork. I explored the photography section and came up with these 14 images that are thoroughly appealing. Eight of them are photographic portraits of partially obscured women. A pretty good match for my taste I’d say.
This fall I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wonderful new project: curating artwork for the Webster & Company showroom at the Boston Design Center.
I love art. I buy art like other women buy shoes. I have master’s in art history that I did for fun and I started collecting art around the same time. Friends have asked me for help choosing artwork, and over the years I’ve often thought of art consulting for interior designers.
This summer I was at the bar at Blackfish in Truro with my friend Dee Elms,who encouraged me. (If you don’t know her, she is a very talented, supremely generous Boston-based interior designer). A week later I got an email from Mr. Webster at Webster & Company, asking me if I’d be interested in helping find local Boston artists whose work he could hang in his showroom. (A little birdie suggested me.) He was looking to do a complete swap of everything he had hanging. Within a month.
In a frenzy, I scoured my files and sources for Boston artists (and some further afield in Maine and on the Cape) whose work I loved that aligned with Mr. Webster’s tastes. We met in early September, narrowed down my finds, and over the last few weeks the very gracious Mr. Webster and his meticulous visual design director Jonathan Giacoletto have hung the work. There are about 75 pieces from almost 20 artists, all either local or with ties to the area.
It’s been a thrilling experience, both working with Mr. Webster and his team and all the artists. I haven’t seen everything hung yet, but I plan to go this week. If you happen to be over there, stop by. (Obviously they’re all for sale. If you you’re interested, you can let me know.) Here is one piece from each artist represented. If you read ARTmonday regularly you will recognize some names. More photos to come of the installations in the coming weeks.
John Ross
John Ross, who has a degree from UCLA and is co-founder of design label PATCH NYC, composes photos inspired by Dutch still life paintings in his South End studio using only natural light.
Tess Atkinson
Tess Atkinson, who graduated from Skidmore College and studied photography at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, likens her images to being lost in a trance.
Linda Pagani
Linda Pagani, who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, photographs vast spaces to compose abstract new environments.
Anna Kasabian
In her studio in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Anna Kasabian crafts wafer thin porcelain pieces that recall the forms and motions of flowers, sea plants, and ocean waves.
Jenny Brillhart
Abstracting beauty from the ordinary, Jenny Brillhart, who holds an M.F.A. from New York Academy of Art and a B.A. from Smith College, lives and works in Miami and Stonington, Maine.
Judyth Katz
Having begun her career as a fiber artist, today Judyth Katz works in paints and pastels to create abstracted landscapes en plain air and from her studio on the Outer Cape.
MP Landis
MP Landis, who traveled the world with his Mennonite missionary parents, opened a bookstore, and painted in Provincetown, recently relocated from Brooklyn to Portland, Maine.
Jenny Prinn
Rain, laughter, footsteps, and foghorns are examples of the fleeting inspirational moments that inform Maine-based artist Jenny Prinn’s colorful abstract paintings.
Grace Hopkins
Grace Hopkins, who holds a B.F.A. from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, creates photographs with he look and feel of abstract paintings.
Hilary Tait Norod
Neuroscience and psychology are strong influences on Boston-based painter Hilary Tait Norod, who holds a B.A. in studio art from Skidmore College.
Steve Barylick
Former creative director and muralist Steve Barylick, who holds a B.F.A. from Massachusetts College of Art, paints abstracts at Joy Street Artist Studios in Somerville.
Linda Cordner
Linda Cordner layers pigmented translucent wax to depict subtle, atmospheric landscapes, all created in her SoWa studio.
Alicia Savage
Boston-based photographer Alicia Savage, who holds a B.A. from Northeastern University, documents her life and mind in self-portraits that hide her face but uncover her journey.
Budd Hopkins
Abstract Expressionist Budd Hopkins (1931—2011), who worked in New York and Wellfleet, combined geometrics with a gestural style. The Whitney Museum and The Guggenheim, among others, own his work.
Sarah Lutz
Sarah Lutz, whose abstract work refers to the natural world, holds a B.S. from Skidmore College, an M.F.A. from The American University, and lives and works in New York City and Truro, Mass.
Stephen Sheffield
Using film and nontraditional techniques, South Shore-based photographer Stephen Sheffield, an alumnus of Cornell University and California College of the Arts, creates narrative images with a cinematic feel.
Ellen Levine Dodd
Ellen Levine Dodd, who grew up and studied art in New England, creates expressive compositions with colorful gestural brushwork in her Northern California studio.
Joe Diggs
Working from his home studio overlooking a pond on Cape Cod, Joe Diggs sometimes strategically plans his compositions while other times is guided by pure emotion.
