Instagram Love:

Go follow these wonderful Instagram accounts, you won't be disappointed.

Aimee Sicuro @aimeesicuro.

Anne Cynn @annecynn.

Judi @zuzu365.

Noémie Cédille @cedillee.

littlebird._ @littlebird._

Artistic Moment Of The Week: Abandoned Ferris Wheel.

Abandoned Ferris Wheel by City Eyes (Kyle Telechan) on Flickr.

Artistic Moment of the Week: Great Lake.

Bayard Wootten taking pictures in Great Lake, Craven County, 1909.  Via Flickr Commons.

Artistic Moment Of The Week: Dog Posing on Table.

Dog Posing on Table by Alvan S. Harper via Flickr.

Artistic Moment of the Week: Washington Beach from 1907.

via Flickr:  Beach at La Push

Beach at La Push, June 1907

Photographer: 
Jones, Lynds

Subjects (LCSH):
Driftwood--Washington (State)--La Push

Artist Moment of the Week: Frank M. Hohenberger.

Frank M. Hohenberger is a favorite photographer of mine.  His photography of rural Brown County, Indiana during the early 1900s makes my heart flutter a bit.  My only wish is that I want the ability to step inside the plates and look around a bit.

Nashville, alley back of Jerry Wilson's, looking south.  1920.

To browse the rest of the collection (which I highly suggest), go here.

Artist Moment of the Week: Alvin Langdon Coburn.

Landscape by Alvin Langdon Coburn via The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Perfect Gallivant.

One of the views from yesterday.

Yesterday, my daughter asked to go for a ride in the truck (which is two-year-old code for I'm sleepy but don't want to admit it).  So, I grabbed my camera and we headed down the road.  She was out cold immediately and I pulled my camera out and got to work.

Sometimes a perfect combination happens on a gallivant.  The weather is just right (cue Amos Lee's "Windows Are Rolled Down"), the roads line out just perfect (I never hit a highway or a dead end), and the scenery is straight out of my dreams (like the photograph I took above).  I drove fifty miles total yesterday and was at no time any farther than ten miles away from my house.  I found a bunch of roads I'd never been on before (a rare occasion for me).  So many beautiful abandoned farms that my heart ached for the money to breathe life back into each one.

Rolling pastures and gravel roads.  Life doesn't get any better than that.

I felt like a million bucks when I pulled back into my driveway.

Now I just need to find the time to edit my photos and we'll be set.

Artist Interview: Marco Suarez.

Here is an artist whose work inspires me.  I really enjoy his digital collage work.  Please read further to get to know the artist Marco Suarez.

1. Were you always an art kid, or did you stumble upon it later in life?

I was interested in art ever since I can remember. When I was very young, I would ask my older sisters to draw for me so I could watch them. Then I would try and mimic what they did.



Bird Collage I.

2. What style of art is your favorite and why?

I don't know if I have a favorite style. I enjoy most any style of art. As far as creating, I'm drawn more toward photography and printmaking than I am oil painting or drawing. Some people enjoy art because they appreciate the technical ability of the artist. I appreciate that. But more so, I'm interested in the emotional response. How does this make me feel? And do I like how it makes me feel? But I am a huge fan of the Pop Art era. Artists like Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Roy Lichtenstein.

3. What do you use for inspiration, or how do you generate ideas?

Big cities and nature.

I travel quite a bit. And my wife and I love to explore cities. I love finding little cafes, shops, or restaurants. I love how you can create an atmosphere in a cafe or shop that generates a particular emotion. I'm very interested in how you respond emotionally to a space. So I'll try and find little details that explain why I'm responding a certain way to a space, take note of them, and try and replicate them in my work to capture and repeat that emotional response.

The same is true of nature. Milton Glaser said that you never really see until you draw. So I'm trying to train my eye to see the details I would only ever see if I was drawing something. I took a walk through a redwood forest recently and just wanted to sit and stare at a tree trunk all day. I think most artists are inspired by nature. It's kind of the ultimate inspiration.

Empire 2.

4. Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished project.

This is obviously always changing, but my circle prints start with a photograph. I love doing things like renting a car, picking a direction, and just driving. I love getting lost. Recently I did this in California and wound up finding some of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. So I take the photos with my DSLR, go home or back to the hotel, and start playing with them. I do most of my work digitally. It's funny how artists either accept digital work or hate it. I see it as just another tool. I'm sure people were also intimidated by photography when it became an art form.

I generally don't know where a piece is going to go. I just start playing. Like I said, I'm interested in the emotional response, so I allow the photo to tell me how it wants to feel, then I try and push more into that.

But sometimes I start with the emotion and pick the photograph to fit that. For instance, I was greatly inspired by U2's song Get on Your Boots and created the piece called Empire. I picked the photo, colors, textures, etc to fit the way I was feeling.

5. What is a typical day in your life?

This is probably different than most artists since I don't do this full-time. So my artwork is relegated to late nights and weekends. It's the way I unwind from the stresses of working for a start-up. I generally start around 7 or 8pm and work late. Everyone's in bed, it's quiet and it's just me, my headphones, and a cup of good coffee. I do my best thinking and work from 10pm to midnight. Not really a sustainable model.

Glowing Forest.

6. What do you think draws you to other people's work?

I have a couple circle prints I made from photographs I took of the smokey mountains. I had someone tell me they grew up in Tennessee mountains and moved away while they were still young. But these images captured exactly how they remembered the mountains. Like a memory. And that nailed it for me. When we remember things in our mind we attach the way we felt to them. And that alters the image. It makes it more intense and magical than the reality. And some people have a hard time remembering those images. They're distorted in their mind. And when people see my work, it makes that image clear again. That gets me so excited.

Heat.

7. What are your interests/hobbies?

I absolutely love branding. My philosophy of branding is identical to art. How can I make a person feel? I love it. I'm also a musician. I play guitar. Occasionally write songs. Compose music. I love making coffee. We moved into a new house to fit our growing family and my wife and I are having a blast decorating it. Basically, I don't care what I do just as long as I can create. So, creativity is my hobby I guess.

North Shore.

8. Is this your full time job, or do you have a job out-of-studio?

I work for a start-up called Zaarly as their lead designer. It's a full-time and sometimes more job. I currently am a man without an art studio. A year ago I moved out of my studio and in with a coworking group where I lack the space for a true studio though I occasionally take over some table space to create some textures or something. But since most of my work is digital, this is manageable.

9. What is your favorite piece you've ever made and why?

Whatever I'm currently creating. The two that have sold the best is Painted Tree and Coast. Those are some of my favorites because of how people fall in love with them. But I'm most excited about what I'm creating right now, which currently from photographs I took in California.

10. What advice would you give to an artist just starting out in the business world?

Learn business and take advantage of technology. I know amazing artists that work at Starbucks because they just don't get how to market themselves. And get a mentor! A mentor is critical.

Painted Tree.

11. Describe your work space.

Since I don't have a formal studio I'll describe where I pick to work. Like I said earlier, I'm interested in how spaces make you feel. So I'll find a place like home, coffee shop, park, wherever that energizes and inspires me. Since I work mostly on my laptop, that makes this easy.

12. Did you face any setbacks on your path to being an artist?

Um, everything. It's hard. Most people don't see art as having a function. They hang it on a wall or set it on a shelf. So people are hesitant to spend money on something they don't see having a function. And for a long time I didn't sell much. But I started to hit a stride and get some recognition on Etsy with my circle prints. People really started to take notice because of how they connected with them. That's when things changed.

13. What milestones, goals, or achievements are you striving for right now?

I see art falling into 1 of 2 camps: decorative art and high art. Decorative is generally cheaper and people purchase it to help decorate a room. Once their tastes change, the art gets ditched. Then there's high art. This is generally more expensive and people buy it as an investment. They're interested in the artist's career and look at it as part of their permanent collection. And they generally create a stronger deeper bond with the artwork. I want to see my work and my career fall into the high art category.

Thanks!

Marco

--------------

Thank you Marco for letting us get to know you a bit better.  You can also find Marco here:

Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcosuarez/

Website:  http://marcosuarez.com/

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/marcosuarez

Blog:  http://marcosuarez.com/blog/

Gotta Make Something Soon.

I saw this diy on Design*Sponge the other day and it really got my creative spark going.  I like the map idea, but how cool would it be if your shoved the slats together first and painted an original work of art like a neat portrait or landscape before your separated it slightly.

Via Design*Sponge.

Or even better, get a print of one of your favorite works of art blown up extra large and paste it to the boards before separating them.  I think my photograph "Holding" would be a great candidate for a slatted format.  You'd still see the image, but it would be slightly abstracted.  

"Holding" by Me.

An old advertisement would look nifty segmented like that too.  Such as this label from LABELSTONE on Etsy.

Bronco Buster Crate Label via LABELSTONE on Etsy.

Illustration Friday: Hibernate.

I sort of let this week get away from me, and I never got a chance to get a painting started, so I did something a bit different (for me) and did a pen and ink drawing on hardboard.  I thought about the various meanings of the word hibernate and one of them was "retreat into oneself," which I think all of us do (to an extent) in the winter.  We bundle up and brace ourselves for the weather seemingly making ourselves as small as possible.  That's what this image reminds me of.

"Hibernate." 5"x5" Graphite, Pen and Ink on Hardboard.

I will be putting this image up for sale in my shop.

I used a beautiful image for a visual reference.

The Sun Goes Down via 10 cent designer on Flickr.

The 10 Cent Designer has so many beautiful images to gawk at.  I highly suggest a trip to her flickr page.

The Name Game.

Image via books.google.com.

I've been dwelling on naming my breeding stock since I got my goat does, and the buck and doe rabbits last summer. Nothing seems to fit them, so instead of trying to do it all by myself I'm going to ask you to help me name everybody. I've got 6 rabbit does, and 2 rabbit bucks, plus two goat does, and 1 goat buck who all need new names. I think the best way to do it is for me to post a picture of each animal plus a short description of their personalities next week, and you submit names for them either by commenting on the post or emailing me or by whatever means necessary. Whoever comes up with the best one for each animal will get their name put in a hat and I'll be drawing 2 names out to get a signed art photography print by me! So, start thinking of names and be ready when I post photos of the cuties.

Artistic Moment of the Week: if you knew what it meant to me.

Caption read "if you knew what it meant to me" via The 10 Cent Designer on Flickr.

I just found her blog this week, and her Flickr images are absolutely gorgeous. This one stole my heart with the abandoned barn and the appropriate (for me) caption. Definitely "Artistic Moment of the Week" worthy.

Artistic Moment of the Week: House; Houston, Texas.

House, Houston, Texas by John Vachon via Library of Congress on Flickr.

What an amazing house. Those porches look divine. The whole image looks like something out of a story I'd come up with. Beautiful.

My Work was Chosen in a Treasury: Another Roadside Attraction.

"How Are You" was chosen for this treasury by SonjaCaldwell.

My Item was Featured in the Treasury: Slow Down.

"Clay County Barn No. 1" was chosen for this absolutely beautiful treasury by JellieBabies09.

Artistic Moment of the Week: Life Magazine Photos.

Image via Life Magazine

I'm getting Muscovies again soon. I had a female just like the one above when I was younger. She'd set out at least twenty eggs at a time, and raise them all. I think it's just a lovely springtime picture.

I was featured in a Treasury: Springtime.

My print, "Grown Up," was selected for a Treasury by Chirpingbirdpress entitled Springtime.

I was featured in a Treasury: Rustique.

"On My Mind" was featured in this absolutely stunning treasury: "Rustique" by JellieBabies09.

I was featured in a Treasury: Country Style.

"The Rails" was chosen to be featured in the Treasury "Country Style" by MarshiaCy on Etsy.