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Link Parade

Ah yes, a new year has begun and spring is in the air. My break is over and its time to get back to work. Anyone excited about new up and coming pieces? Of course you are. I can see it in your eyes.

However, you shall have to wait. For now, you can look at some other snippets, new and old, and sate your hunger for art.


To start I give you Riusuke Fukahori. If you only look at one link in this blog, let it be this one. Riusuke uses a technique that involves alternating applications of paint and resin, building up 3-D impressions of fish and their environs. Just incredible. Watch the video.

I am really really digging the work of Drew Young.

A mysterious unknown artist is leaving elaborate sculptures made of books in libraries across Scotland. Simply fantastic.

Jólan van der Wiel uses metal fillings and melted plastic to create furniture by pulling up the legs with heavy magnets. You can see a nice video about them here.

Zander Olsen created a work I absolutely adore called Tree Line. I can't for the life of me, however, find evidence of anything else he has done.

Tyree Callahan made a type writer that, well, types paintings. They read as sort of abstract, misty landscapes. Be sure to check out the rest of West Collects while you are there.

WebUrbanist has a great post about art in abandoned places. I especially like the work of Marjan Teeuwen, but her site is fairly indecipherable.

Is digital art accepted yet? No? Ok. Anyway, Michal Lisowski.

Speaking of digital, where is that line that divides commercial art and illustration with fine art. I know of many artists who freely walk back and forth, while students are often frowned at in some crowds when their work looks too like something you would see in a mall or billboard. A point to discuss.

I have never much cared for furniture, but I really enjoy Vivian Chiu.

A work by German street artist, Tasso

Irina Werning does some masterful replication of old photos and family snapshots.

Kate Kretz is a multi-media artist who works with a lot of "traditional" media for women - embroidery and sewing - as well as painting. Don't let this throw you off though, her work is top notch, and I am guiltily digging the vagina dentata purse.

Gavin Worth creates some really elegant wire sculptures, as well as other constructs and designs.

Every two years in Bregenz, Austria, they construct a stage for performances that floats in the lake next to the city. They are always amazing. Check some out here.

I've always enjoyed the work of Kehinde Wiley, just as I always forget his name when I wish to bring him up in conversation.

I was going to talk about Bob Verschueren, but his website is absolutely intolerable. I'm serious, I'm not linking it.

I know that set building and miniatures is sort of en vogue right now, but I really enjoy the work of Frank Kunert. It's realistic enough that people often mistake his set photographs as real places.

Ola Harström

So. A 6-foot long camera that uses x-ray film for the image. That's pretty cool I guess.

Regine Ramsier used a special treatment to freeze dandelion bulbs in place to create this stunning installation.

The winners of the 2011 National Geographic Photo Contest.

This artist uses high speed photography to capture water droplets, nothing too unusual nowadays, but his flickr set also contains photos of the setups he uses to make the images. Certainly worth a look.

Anamnesis

Sorry I have not been on the ball with posting recently, and in fact I had been so busy that it slipped my mind to mention something really exciting!


I currently have a show up at the Centre Gallery, a student run facility on the USF campus.

You can find out more at the Facebook event page here.

From the event page:

"The Centre Gallery Presents “Anamnesis”
A self-exploration of identity and disability through multi-media
Tampa, FL (January 5, 2012) – From January 9 through 20, the Centre Gallery at the University of South Florida will host Anamnesis. Visitors to the gallery will be exposed to the artists’ representation of self and are encouraged to take an inward look at themselves and their own ideas of self as part of the experience. The exhibit will include various multi-media pieces including hand toned paper, charcoals, ink, paint, and other materials. There is also a photographic series that consists of digital compositions created through multiple steps of process, including self portraiture and vellum assemblages. Other works include sculptural materials such as clay, wax, plastic sheeting, and wood.

“With work like this it would be too easy to say something like “the inner workings of my mind, self expression” or so on. But that's not really true. They are really just getting the imprints of some process that is going on in my head, a symptom or evidence of a greater whole.”

Shannon Buchanan, 24, is currently a Senior set to graduate next fall with a BFA in Art studio.

The Anamnesis reception will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, January 20th, in the Centre Gallery at the Marshall Student Center in room 2700, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, Fla. It is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For more information, please contact the Centre Gallery at 813-974-5464.
About the Centre Gallery Centre Gallery is an innovative, student-run art exhibition space at the University of South Florida. Located in the Marshall Student Center room 2700, Centre Gallery (www.centregallery.usf.edu) is free and open to the public. The gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m."

The show features some all new work, and I really hope I will see a nice turn out during it's run and for the reception. I know the readership of this blog is limited to "people who probably already know this is happening", but it's never bad to have the information out there and available.

My Website

I suppose I should mention that my website has launched - actually it did awhile ago, but I in all my amazingness forgot to add a link from this blog, and not just from the site to here.

Anyway, here it is:

www.ShannonBuchanan.net

I hope it was worth the wait.

Link Parade

Apparently people have had some serious problems distinguishing art from trash. It speaks highly of the profession, don't you think? Though I do wonder what possessed someone to clean an art piece.

This blog is amazing. It pokes fun at the wonderfully broken and awkward anatomy that plague breasts (and women in general) in comic art.

I do so adore Ursula Vernon.

James Caprell does abstract right, even if it is occasionally a little commercial. Iva Gueorguieva, however, does it much much better. I was blown away when I saw her work in person.

A friend of mine introduced me to Zdzislaw Beksinski. Wonderful, wonderful.

Ana Teresa Fernandez creates surreal photorealistic oil paintings.

One of my exes very much adored James Jean, and I am glad he did not ruin my enjoyment of him.

The Illuminated Silmarillion. Or, for those more traditionally minded.

Some ridiculously over ornate pistols.
I remember first seeing video of Tim Hawkinson's Uberorgan some years ago, but was recently reminded of it.

I've known about Jen Stark for awhile now, even before she was internet famous, as she is a semi-local artist.

A strong series of work by a teenage girl out of tokyo.

Diana Al-Hadid is one of my favorite sculptors, and I have had the pleasure of hearing her lecture and seeing several of her pieces in person. She recently did a work with the USF Graphicstudio, which they talk a bit about here.

Here is a pretty intriguing photo project about familiar relations.

Adam Lewis does amazingly photorealistic 3-D renders.

Brent Stirton does some killer documentary photography.

Fascinating environmental paintings by Josh Keyes.

Ryan Shultz has a thing for drugs.

I want one of these.

Have I linked to Peter Callesen before?

God I wish I had the mind for detail that this man has. Along a similar vein is this.

This, on the other hand, is simply insane.

Michael Ezra makes some particularly nice nude photography.

How to make cheap, quick and dirty, studio quality product shots.

Allan Mailland makes me miss working with wood. Something similar, but entirely different, is Jennifer Maestre.

Katsoyu Aoki produces incredible ceramics work.

Michihiro Matsuoka, on the other hand, makes an entirely different kind of sculpture.

A new toy from our friends at Wacom.

In case you didn't know of it.

And because everyone should be reminded now and then of Andy Goldsworthy.

This is fantastic. There is some 3-D wallpaper by Trenton Doyle at Graphicstudio, but it ain't got nuttin on this.

Some pretty rockin posters and illustration, and here as well, and here too.

I find it interesting that some people still stand staunchly that there is a divide between "low art" and "high art" when I see any separation dissolving rather quickly. See: Mike Mitchell.

The Heilbrunn Timeline of History is a simply amazing resource. Please do take a look at it.

I am honestly surprised sometimes that the Skull-A-Day project is still running.

Recently I was told that some of my photos had read as too "graphic", as if that were in an insult. The same has been said of my drawings as well. But I do find myself really inspired by works such as this.

Amy Shackleton paints images entirely without the use of a brush, preferring to pour it straight on the canvas - but not in the way you'd think.

Maybe I should have taken that class in underwater basket weaving...

Paul Chiappe does some great work. I am reminded of someone else, but the name escapes me...

Deserts made of meat. Simply lovely.

I was originally going to just link to Jaime Pitarch, but really all of the featured artists are quite good.

I am not sure what this is, but I like it.

Is it wrong that I like this guy's sketchbook more than his illustration?

I want to know more about this artist.

Henry Justic Ford illustrated many of the fairy tale books I read as a child and has probably been a subconscious inspiration.

How to Become a Better Artist (Without Making Art)

Forgive me if this goes astray a little, I transposed and updated a list I made some time ago while dreadfully sick. I still think the information is useful, though I might have to do some editing later to streamline the experience.

How to Become a Better Artist
(Without Making Art)

or How to Supplement Your 10,000 Hours

Look at art, collect art. Be involved in art. Surround yourself with it. Go to shows, browse galleries online. Talk art, live art, breathe art. Immerse yourself in it.

Read about art. Fuck it - just read. Reading has been shown to quantifiably increase IQ and strengthen vocabulary, and it is known that success as an artist is directly correlated with general intelligence and breadth of knowledge. Artists, when taken in general, are perhaps less well read than other academics, but successful artists have been shown to one of the most highly versed sub groups. I'm not making this up. There is nothing but benefits for the well read mind. Another benefit has to do with intuition – the more you have filed away in your subconscious, the more you will be drawing from when your background processes start chugging away or you slip into “the zone” and start hammering out that piece you are enthralled with. If you only know three things, then all of your work will consist of those three things in various forms. If you know the world, you have the world at your disposal.

Seriously, read.

Study the masters, learn your art history. Learn where you come from, both to increase technique, gain inspiration, and just to see where you are coming from – and thus where you might be going. And never forget: one source is plagiarism, many is inspiration.

While you're at it examine in detail color theory, typography, layout and design. Spend some time learning the psychology of art, even dip into advertising.

Learn a little about post modernism. That's sort of the thing that's going on right now. You don't have to live by it, but you need to be aware of it.

Think about things that inspire you. Why do they inspire you? Really start to examine yourself as an artist and ask yourself the important questions. Why do you make art? Why do you work the way you work? You might learn a bit about yourself and it might further your development in unforeseen ways.

Investigate the world around you. Be an observer, do some people watching. Really dig into the minutiae of life. Go on trips, to foreign countries or just around the block. Just try to see things in a way you've never done before. Don't be a passive observer either, really actively involve yourself in the act of viewing, do it consciously, not just as a back drop to your other activities. A beginning artist is often told to look more at the model and less at his sketch pad, we need to learn how to see and not just look.

Do brain expanding exercises. There are a variety of these and many are easily found online with a quick search. Things such as drawing with your left hand or doing a blind contour drawing (I know, I know, that's making art and I am totally cheating, but I doubt it will be anything to write your mother about, and plenty of them don't involve a pad and pen).

Introduce yourself to things you don't know, and maybe don't even necessarily like. Not just art, but in a variety of media including music, books, and movies. If you don't like it, really chew on it and try to decide why you don't rather than dismissing it automatically. Either way, learn from it.

Collect materials that inspire you. Like a raven with shiny baubles, surround yourself with things you find interesting. These could be items you find inspirational, items that you want to use in future projects, or simply be fun to look at. Hobbyists are adept at this and often contain full rooms of odds and ends (not that you need to go this far). If collage appeals to you, collect discarded magazines, if sculpture is your thing then help that local demolition site discard of a few choice materials. They won't miss them. Good sources for discovery include swap meets, garage sales, and flea markets, but don't think too highly of yourself to go sorting through someone's trash to find that astounding thing you never knew you needed. Of course this includes more “mundane” things like paintings and paintbrushes, or just news clippings, colored paper and photos. Even just a recollection of patterns or prints is useful to many artists, as are things pulled from nature.

Be open to new experiences. If someone offers you an opportunity to embark into the unfamiliar, by all means take it. Each new outlook enhances your internal “palette” of experience that you can later draw from to create your works.

Create a space you feel comfortable working in. This is really important for some people. It might be hard to work crammed into a corner with your flatmate's kegger going on around you, but then again, maybe it wouldn't be.

Make friends with artists. Peer groups are invaluable, as is honest critical discussion. If your friends are too caring to really dish it out, find someone who will. Also, like all things in life it helps to do your networking.

Always, always daydream and keep those thoughts circulating in your head. Seek out ideas and concepts, not just hard facts. Philosophy and the intellectual have been mothers to art since time immemorial and their influence only seems to increase as time progresses.

Never give in to your fear. You don't have to impress anyone, no one starts out a prodigy. Failure is needed to grow and learn. Just keep on going.

Blue

So I have some new work! This isn't all I've been doing lately, but it's certainly a lot easier to share (and is actually complete). The series is tentatively titled "Something Borrowed, Something Blue". I sort of wanted to have a conversation about gender roles, specifically concerning ideas about things like chastity and female expectations. I think though, I will let the work speak for itself:

Something Borrowed, Something Blue