Silverlining : Colour me happy

There's a beautiful quote by author and artist Kahlil Gibran... Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Like most peeps, I don't like being around anything to do with pain, it's so so hard to experience it or see it in a friend.

When I was retrenched in April, I didn't see the silver lining for a little while. But now I'm living the dream... exceptionally happy writing from home. I can shop on eBay, write my blog, walk my dog, make a smoothie any time I want. So long as I meet my deadlines, I'm free to make my own schedule and that's just the way I like it. Pain is temporary, knowledge is forever.

Now here's a happy artist with a great story to tell... meet Melissa Moss...


The story...
I used to take the slow lane into work. I didn’t care if I was inhaling the fumes of a semi if it meant I would get to work later. Each day my soul seemed a little heavier.

In 2002, my amazing husband helped me realize that not only was I miserable at work, I was miserable just thinking about going back. So after a few freak outs, I left the publishing world to study color psychology and during my course work, discovered my true passion…painting.

Color is my primary artistic element. I’ve studied the meanings and associations of colors and their subtle shades and tones and use this knowledge to convey the mood of each painting.


Who inspires you?
I'm inspired by so many artists and by nature but mostly I'm inspired by my 2 year old son. He just makes it easy (most of the time) to get up in the morning.

How do you indulge?
I love to go to movies by myself. So when I'm feeling like escaping that's what I do. But I've also been reading the Twilight books. Definitely a guilty pleasure.


Favourite blogs?
I usually just look at my friends blogs...Cathy Nichols, Marisa Haedike (Creative Thursday) and Outi Harma. That's about all I have time for.

More more more: melissamoss.etsy.com
Pics from top down: too happy, nice to me, the arrival & baby mine.

Artcomp : Expressing an impression

I was chatting to a friend yesterday, who has just returned from a whirlwind holiday throughout America with his family, and I was reminded of how long it's been since I mooched quietly through an art gallery. He had seen some of the greatest paintings ever created and I felt an instant longing for the feeling you get standing before a precious work of art.

So although my usual obsession here in the cloudburst is illustrations and digital art, I thought I'd hail a cab to pure, paint-on-canvasville. Not that it's better or purer than any other form, but it makes a nice change.


The works here are by Linda Monfort, a California-based painter. Forgive me for describing her works in such layman's terms, but there's something so sumptuous about the colours and flow. Linda... over to you:

My style of painting has evolved through many years of exploration. Today I paint original contemporary abstract expressionist paintings, original contemporary abstract and impressionist landscape and floral paintings and original contemporary figurative paintings in acrylics on stretched canvas.


Some of my pieces have an oriental influence due to a period of time spent living in Japan during my impressionable childhood years.

I grew up loving to draw and design dresses for my dolls and paper dolls. I was always the best artist in my class and knew I would be an artist when I grew up.

The thing I love the most about painting is that the end result is always a surprise to me, usually a very pleasant one. It's also great that I can earn a living using this great gift from God.

Other creative outlets?... I recently designed my daughter's wedding gown.


So timeless, so so divine. So right here: lindamonfort.etsy.com

Woodworks : Distressfully nice

Simple, cute, fun. Welcome to Tuesday peeps! Apologies if I'm getting predictable, but here's another beautiful example of wood meets art meets birds meets trees. These are a few of my favourite things...

Erin, aka Knotty by Nature, has a nice original touch that I likey very much. Her painted wood blocks, above, have a soft, raw feeling and quirky creativeness that I'm drawn to instantly. Imagine a whole bunch of them in a long line along an outside fence or kids play room.

What do you love about birds? I don't know, really. Birds and trees have been objects I have drawn and doodled for a very long time, it's a comfort for me.

What do you love about wood? I love how durable it is, it has a nice weight to it compared to a canvas. And when I distress pieces I love how I can manipulate the paint to get the look I want.

What other creative outlets do you have? I also sew, knit and make resin jewellery using original artwork.

Check out knottybynature.etsy.com for Erin's one-of-a-kind resin pendants and other stuff.

Wood blocks clockwise from top left: Purple Hummingbird Block B24, Black Bird Block B38, Pink Squirrel Wood Block B31 and Turquoise Swallow Block B35. (Bingo!)

Frenchlove : Blowing in the wind

If you had a room full of vanilla and pear candles, and shoved inside my hubby, the dog, a roast chicken, a bottle of Champagne (ok let's be fair, try three), scrabble and a mix of Miles Davis and Elle Fitzgerald tunes... you might have just created my favourite place to be in the world.

When it comes to the lush land of creativity, Fabienne from France fulfills my artistic cravings quite nicely. She takes the most exquisite photos of petite French scenes, digitally mixes them with painting, and prints on Hahnemuhle fine art paper (imagine velvet as paper). Has a poppy ever looked so perfect? A tussle of wheat so romantic? Non. Until now.

Fabienne... What gets you in a creative mood? Harmony and simplicity!
Favourite artist and author? Mark Rothko and Jiro Taniguchi

labokoff.etsy.com

Clockwise from top left: piquant blanc, souvenirs, papillo, ble, abricotier, monnaie du pap, seul dans le froid, coquelicot and ballons

Canvasworks : Behind the feather

I saw these beautiful birds on my interwebz travels the other day and thought they were just so quietly striking. I love the colours, the peacefulness, the cleverness. And then I read the titles of each and nearly dropped my mug of earl grey (see below). You know, if you can somehow bring Wal-Mart into the title of a painting of a bird, you have my vote.

Meet Matt, aka mincingmockingbird, the L.A-based artist behind the brush behind the feathers. Here's a bit about him..

What gets you in a creative mood? Silence and Diet Coke.
What makes you laugh? Nothing makes me laugh more than my fiancee, The Frantic Meerkat.
Why birds? No other animal lends itself so readily to painting.

Clockwise from top left: In This Poignant Moment Of Finality, The Vibration Of Atoms Sounds Like Singing; Listen, If We Could Be Serious For A Moment, I Think I Have Been Shot; I Have Seen The Interiors Of Cloud Formations That Make Your Cathedrals Look Like Wal-Marts and He Thinks My Sudden And Terrifying Mood Swings Are Kinda Cute.

mincingmockingbird.blogspot.com

Talentcomp : Colour me calm

Phew. Today was busy. Busier than most days in the wonderful world of magazine making. So I'm having a calm evening with the hubby. Roast chicken, lemon and honey tea and pastels. I tried the bold thing around our house a few years back and realised (before it extended to the big items thankfully) that bold is not for me. Oh no. Colour and I now have a perfect understanding - it's pastels all the way. I breathe deeper that way. It's a good thing.

Check out the fabulous work above by Mara at Printspace. She's a Melbourne-based illustrator and graphic designer who has a clear obsession with birds and love (snap!... plus we share the same fave colour, olive green, and she's *gasp* addicted to home magazines). Anyway, enough about soul-sisters, this woman is talented. The works above are hand drawn in ink, coloured digitally and printed by an epson on soft white art paper. You can also find her new stationery shop here and her cute blog here. So much love!

Giclee prints clockwise from top left: Sweet Too, Hoot. Hoot. Little Owl, Love is Bigger Than All Of Us and Hello Coco.

Paperthin : A life in colour

Oh the colour, the serenity, the butterflies... aren't these pieces just BEAUTIFUL? They're from Chris Chun's current exhibition 'Chinoiserie,' all works on paper. "I generally paint things that make me feel happy, I am inspired by and they are beautiful to look at," he says.

I'm going to stare at these for days. And days. They make me very happy. Thanks Chris.

Canvasworks : Well spotted

We have a Jacaranda tree in our backyard. It's right at the back, standing protectively as the guardian of our 'estate'. During the summer when it's in full bloom, there's nothing nicer than sipping a cup of tea under its gentle giantness.

TR Mack Studio has painted these poppy bright acrylics on canvas, above, which are inspired by the colours of Italy. Perhaps that's why I crave olives when I look at them too much. I love the deconstructed colours of the leaves and scenery against the gentle giantness of the delicate trunks. Bravo Tom.

Clockwise from top left: Topiary Olivo di Fonituna, Jardin Des Sinfonias, Sinfonia nel Prato Pieno di Sole and La Primavera nel Frutteto

Talentcomp : An ideal world

I'm no bunny whisperer, nor am I gifted with any kind of special understanding of the animal kingdom, but I'm pretty sure foxes and bunnies shouldn't be together in the same box. It's like inviting an Italian friend to a French restaurant, or wearing white velour trackies around your emo friends. It's dangerous. You just don't do it.

Estonian-born, Brooklyn-based artist Kristiana Pärn may come close to artistic carnage - innocently painting floppy ears and red pointy tails with the same brush - but thankfully she never puts them in the same frame. The understated and gorgeous prints above (clockwise from top left: Skinny-Dipping, Solitude, Where Are You Fox and Follow Your Heart) are all made from original acrylic illustrations. Kristiana made the originals to "study different techniques for making an impression of light and air," she says. "The background was created by applying colored pigment on damp board, then objects were drawn with sharp outlines and bright colors to create depth of field." Just beautiful.

Talentcomp : Hey petal

I've started to paint again recently, something I haven't done for years. I'm painting big, lush flowers on a small canvas and enjoying it so much. Isn't it funny, as soon as you start to work on something in so much detail, everywhere you look there are flowers waving at you in the breeze, begging you to drink in their colours and quirks.

pollyjarman is a Perth-based photographer and artist who loves the flowers and their quirks too. Her Cream Magnolias painting above (bottom left) is such an understated flourish, while her Flower on a Fence pic is so random and vintagie, I love it! Swings at the Beach is something I'd love to cover my fridge with, to make me smile every time I pass by and Hey little birdy is too cute for words.

Check it: pollyjarman.etsy.com