Artist Twenty-Three: Quentin Blake

Why this Artist?

    I was first introduced to Quentin Blake while reading "The BFG" by Roald Dahl.  Being it that Roald Dahl was one of my favorite authors and Blake always illustrated his books I got to see a lot of Blake's works while growing up and quickly fell in love with each of his unique illustrations.

Here are some of my favorite works by Blake: 

Matilda by Quentin Blake

An In-Bike Music System by Quentin Blake

The Fairy at the Well by Quentin Blake

Who is this Artist?
    Quentin Blake was born in London in 1932.  He studied English at Downing College in Cambridge, a postgraduate teaching diploma at the University of London and then took classes at the Chelsea Art School. He has taught at the Royal College of Art for over twenty years and was head of the illustration department.  Blake has done illustrations for a large number of publications both in magazines and books.  His works can be seen in the UK and France mostly in hospitals as he has been creating large-scale works for different wards.  This illustrator and author has won many awards for his illustrations and does a lot of work to raise money for different charities.  He has a very particular style and creates artwork for some really great causes. 

What does he do?
    Blake creates child-friendly illustrations in his own unique style.  On his website he states "I do a freewheeling sort of drawing that looks as though it is done on the spur of the moment.  However even a single drawing needs a certain amount of preparation and planning.  Most of the time I need to do a rough in which I find out how people stand, what sort of expressions they have and how they fit on the page."  It is this free style that makes Blake so unique and gives him a particular style.  This artist creates most of his works on watercolor paper and uses black ink with dip pens to create scratchy and flexible lines.  He then uses water colors to loosely fill in his lines.  Blake uses a very particular process to create illustrations and this is why he has become such a popular illustrator. 

Why he inspires me?
    This artist inspires me because he was one of the first artists I was exposed to as a child and his works have such a unique style.  He is also an inspiration because he uses his art to help others. Whether he is creating works for hospitals or selling works to help charity he creates art that makes an impact on society in a positive way and I can only hope someday I can do the same with my own.

More awesome works from this artist can be found at Blake's website: http://www.quentinblake.com/index.php

Joining in the Duck Song by Quentin Blake

The BFG and Sophie by Quentin Blake

O is for Ostrich by Quentin Blake

Artist Twenty-Two: Kristi Malakoff

Why this Artist?
    The reason I have decided to make Kristi Malakoff one of my artists is not only because I am obsessed with a lot of her works but because of the interesting mediums she uses to create them.  Malakoff uses materials of all kinds that are familiar in most people's everyday lives from paper to food and this is why I love them. 

Here are some of my favorite works: 

Swarm by Kristi Malakoff

Detail of Swarm by Kristi Malakoff

Maibaum by Kristi Malakoff

Detail of Maibaum by Kristi Malakoff

Candy Train by Kristi Malakoff

Detail of Candy Train by Kristi Malakoff

 Who is this Artist?
    Kristi Malakoff is a Canadian artist that attended the Chelsea College of Art and Design in England.  She also got her BFA from the Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver.  Malakoff has received many scholarships and awards for her works and has exhibited all over the world.  She has been in both solo and group exhibitions and her work has been featured in many Canadian publications.  Her work is held in private and corporate collections across Canada and the United States and she continues to grow more and more popular. 

What does she do?
    This artist is predominantly known for her installations created using a very large amount materials.  She has series of works made from money pieces, stamp pieces, pictures of objects, paper cuttings, food and so many other materials.  Malakoff's works vary in size, some are extremely large while others are tiny and intricate.  The artist loves to work with everyday materials to recreate natural things or things people see everyday and she does an amazing job. 

Why she inspires me?
    Malakoff inspires me because of how detailed and creative each of her works is and the types of materials she chooses to use.  It is amazing to me that she is able to take everyday objects like candy and transform the into a candy train or thousands of tiny pictures of bees and create an entire bee hive.  Each of her works takes a lot of  time and I hope my works will relate to people, maybe not in the materials I use like hers, but in the concepts.

Here are some more of her works that I really enjoyed.  If you enjoy them as well you can visit: http://www.kristimalakoff.com/

Resting Swarm by Kristi Malakoff

Detail of Resting Swarm by Kristi Malakoff

Polyhedra Series - Desert Cactus by Kristi Malakoff

Fruit Loop Tower by Kristi Malakoff

Detail of Fruit Loop Tower by Kristi Malakoff

Artist Twenty-One: Kirsten Hassenfeld

Why this Artist?
    I recently discovered Hassenfeld's work by accident a couple days ago and really enjoyed it.  Her installations were what really appealed to me because of the way a lot of them interacted with light and the variety of mediums she used.  These works are the reason Hassenfeld has earned her place as artist twenty-one. 

Here are some of her works: 

Multiple Details of Cabin Fever by Kirsten Hassenfeld

Dans La Lune by Kirsten Hassenfeld

Detail of Dans La Lune by Kirsten Hassenfeld

Who is this Artist?
    Hassenfeld received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and got her MFA at the University of Arizona.  She has been in a very large number of group exhibitions and has also had many solo exhibitions all over the United States.  Hassenfeld has been featured in many publications and is very familiar with the press.  This artist has also received many awards including fellowships, commissions and grants. 

What does she do?
       Hassenfeld works in mediums ranging from 2-Dimensional works to 3-Dimensional objects but it is her large installations that are very impressive.   Her installations are made out of a very large variety of materials ranging from glass, metal, ceramic, plastic, wood, shell, enamel, mirror, dimensions variable, paper and tons of other things.  One thing I have noticed is that this artist likes to play with light.  A lot of the time she will light up her paper installations or use mirrors to create reflections and reflecting light.  The artist creates studies of form, spatial composition and movement.  Her works are beautiful and gentle and I especially enjoy her paper sculptures that are filled with a lot of color.

Why she inspires me?
    This artist inspires me because of how carefully she crafts her work.  She knows exactly how different types of lighting will interact with the color and composition of each piece and pays attention to specific shapes.  I hope that while creating my own work I think about the tiny details just like Hassenfeld does and think about the way external things will interact with my artwork.  This artist does some amazing things with pure forms and the fanciful style of her works is something to be admired. 

More of Hassenfeld's works can be found here if you are interested: http://www.kirstenhassenfeld.com/installations/installation.html

Treen by Kirsten Hassenfeld

Detail of Treen by Kirsten Hassenfeld

Blue Horn by Kirsten Hassenfeld

Museum Visit One: Indianapolis Museum of Art

Entrance to the Indianapolis Museum  by Jordan Hubbert

   Last week I had the opportunity to drag my dad to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  While walking around looking at each piece a million thoughts were popping into my head.  I was being bombarded by thoughts about artist I recognized or styles I had seen before, concepts I remembered learning and even some pieces I had dreaded being tested on.  As we entered the African Art section, I turned to tell my dad about Sande Society and all the reasons why Mende Helmet Masks look the way they do and I realized three things.  

    The first thing I realized was that I am a total nerd.  I have been to a lot of art museums in my life, however I never thought I would be walking around telling people about different pieces without completely making stuff up.  The second thing I realized was that museums are a lot more exciting when you know stuff about the objects inside.  And the third thing I realized was that even though art museums are not made for everyone, my dad included, there really is some kind of art to appeal to everyone (A lot of Asian art and Julianne Swartz's current exhibit: http://www.imamuseum.org/exhibition/julianne-swartz-how-deep-your in my father's case). 

    I saw a lot of interesting works at the museum and only took mediocre photos but I hope you enjoy.  One thing that was particularly interesting to me this time around was their African and Asian art exhibits because I took an African and Asian Art History course this past year.  I also was in love with their glass section and all of the amazing sculptures in there.  

    One of the most current exhibitions is by artist Julianne Swartz (her exhibition is linked above) she did a lot of works that played with sound, magnets and lighting. Some of her works were really interesting and I especially liked her piece titled How Deep is Your which is a long tube with a funnel at the end that wraps around the entire museum and has little points throughout where you can hear music coming through.

    Another work that I thought was really neat was Sopheap Pich's A Room.  This work was directly in front of me when I entered the museum and stood 40 feet from the ceiling to the floor.  This piece was made of real and artificial bamboo strips of different colors.  The most interesting part about this work to me though was that the viewer was able to enter into the center of the piece.  I personally stood in the middle and looked directly upwards and I wish I could have snapped a photo because it was almost like it was raining everywhere expect in the middle of the circle. 

   There were many other works that I enjoyed a lot so instead of talking about every single one I will post some of my favorites.  The museum has many pieces from famous artists across history and although I do not feel like uploading 500 images, I will encourage you to go check out some of the work there yourself or at http://www.imamuseum.org/.

A Room by Sopheap Pich

How Deep is Your by Julianne Swartz

The Love Song by Norman Rockwell

Sunlight by Frank Weston Benson

Jimson Weed by Georgia O'Keeffe

Edna Smith in a Japanese Wrap by Robert Henri

I searched but could not find title or artist

I searched but could not find title or artist

Mobius Ship by Tim Hawkinson

Landscape at Saint-Remy (Enclosed with Peasant) by Vincent Van Gogh

Helmet Mask for Bonu Amuen Masker

Helmet Mask (Landai) For Poro Association

Artist Twenty: Dale Chihuly

Why this Artist?
    There are actually quite a few reasons that Dale Chihuly is one of my artists.  The first reason is because my father's cousin actually works with Chihuly so my family is familiar with his work.  The second reason is because the artist was born in Tacoma Washington, which is where I lived for the entirety of my middle school years.  The third reason I have picked this artist is because currently my father lives in Indianapolis, Indiana where they have a huge and very popular children's museum that Chihuly actually created a giant glass sculpture for.  And the final reason I picked this artist is because ever since I went to a glass museum in the 6th grade (In Washington State) and saw artists actually blowing and manipulating glass it has always been something that I thought was incredibly cool and Chihuly is one of the masters of glass work.

Below are some of my favorite works but in all honestly I love them all and want my entire ceiling to be made of glass sculptures:

Float Boat by Dale Chihuly

Fiori Di Como by Dale Chihuly

Persian Chandelier by Dale Chihuly

Carnival Boat by Dale Chihuly

Who is this Artist?
    Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and attended the University of Washington, University of Wisconsin and the Rhode Island School of Design (where he would later establish the glass program and teach.)  Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as fine art, he has created more than a dozen well-know series of works and has work across the globe.  He has created works for many museums and places all over the world such as over canals and piazzas in a variety of countries. He has been in major exhibits in the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and a long-term exhibitions called Chihuly Garden and Glass in the Seattle Center.  This artist work has been in over 200 museum collections worldwide and he has received many awards.

What does he do?
    This artist creates extremely intricate installations out of glass.  His lifelong fascination for glasshouses has grown into a series of exhibitions with botanical settings.  A lot of his works are modeled after or placed in nature which is interesting because they become part of the natural settings and seem as if they belonged there all along.  Chihuly creates large exhibitions from glass ceilings, glass towers, chandeliers, large sculptures in pools and fountains, aquariums and even forms entire gardens and worlds with his glass objects.  He also creates many small and very intricate glass forms and sculptures.  Each of his works have very unique and beautiful colors and the viewer can get lost for hours looking at all of these and their intricate forms.  It is hard to believe that a material so fragile can be molded into anything Chihuly wants it to be. 

Why he inspires me?
     I think the artist is so inspiring to me because he can really create anything out of his medium.  He has a vision and with enough work he is able to complete that vision.  I also love and am inspired by the fact that he is able to create works that fit so perfectly in to nature and that he uses things he knows and has seen, such as different species of flowers as inspiration for his works.  I believe some of the best inspiration comes from the things in our everyday lives and the beauty in the world around us and it is amazing to me that Chihuly is able to emphasis that with his glass works.

Want to see more? http://www.chihuly.com/home.aspx

V&A Chandelier by Dale Chihuly

Mille Fiori (Detail) by Dale Chihuly

Purple Frog Foot Installation by Dale Chihul

Artist Nineteen: Mia Araujo

Why this Artist?
    I picked Mia Araujo as one of my fifty artists because of her beautiful paintings.  Pop Surrealism is one of my favorite styles of artwork so Araujo work is something that I am naturally drawn to.  Her work also caught my eye because a lot of her images were of females, which is something I will be focusing on in my Senior Seminar project. 

It was hard, but here are some of my favorites: 

Death of a Forest Mia Araujo

Secrets of the Deep by Mia Araujo

Bluebeard by Mia Araujo

Persephone by Mia Araujo

Who is this Artist?
     Mia Araujo graduated as valedictorian from Otis College of Art and Design with a BFA in Illustration.  The artist is represented by Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles and has shown her work across the United States.  She has also been published in quite a few magazines including Juxtapose Magazine, Creative Quarterly and more.  This artist has had exhibits in museums, solo exhibits and been in many group exhibitions.

What does she do?
    Araujo does a lot of acrylic on wood paintings, however she also loves drawing.  In the biography section of her website she states "I have long been fascinated by the multi-faceted complexity that makes each person unique.  I believe that all individuals contain an entire universe within them, which is invisible to the naked eye.  My work concentrates on giving shape to the unseen forces within my subjects - their thoughts, memories, emotions and complex histories.  These qualities fit together to form a vast, rich inner-landscape of identity and mythology for my characters."  The artist definitely succeeds in creating these unique personalities in each of her works.  I especially enjoyed how her color palettes for each vary which also helps distinguish each personality.  Araujo uses a lot of tiny details to create her images and each one is a treasure to look at and can hold the viewer's eye for a very long time. 

Why she inspires me?
    This artist is inspiring to me because something I want to do in my Senior Seminar is figure out a way to surround powerful women with things that represent them in a similar way that Araujo does.  I want the piece to flow as smoothly as each one of Araujo's.  This artist is also an inspiration because she does create these amazing images of women and gives them real personalities versus depicting them as just sexual objects.  I really enjoy the artist's pop surrealist style and the amount of detail she puts into her works. 

Here are some more of my favorites and here is the link to her site: http://art-by-mia.com/

Sleeping Sickness by Mia Araujo

Two Spirits by Mia Araujo

Predators by Mia Araujo