Daily Art Muse

sean hennessy: tattered, stained, covered and encrusted

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:22:17 +0000

He’s a quiet man. Thinks before he speaks. Ponders the questions you ask before he responds. I like this about him. Sean Hennessy creates thought provoking sculptures in glass and concrete, casting narrative glass panels that he paints and trowels with concrete, then stains with pigment before framing the glass in steel.

The Difference Between Us, glass, concrete, steel

“Tattered and stained. Covered and encrusted. Yet the glass, our humanity, and the narratives of our lives still shines through.”

This piece is backlit by LEDs that will last at least 25 years!

During my apprenticeship in DC last year I had the opportunity to see Hennessy’s work and I can easily say that pictures don’t do the work justice (as lovely as the photos are. . .).

Afterlife

“I liken the presence of glass in my art to the ethereal aspects of our lives, our spirit, and our hopes and dreams. I equate the concrete with the realities of earth, and life, and the shell that we use to protect ourselves from exposing our soul to the world.”

It Requires More Than Yourself

“My pieces are interpretations and psychological landscapes of the unseen forces in our lives—being judged by others and ourselves, finding inspiration and will, and dealing with obstacles that may hold us back.”

Sean Hennessy is participating in the much awaited Artomatic festival/show/event along with many of my friends including Michael Janis, Erwin Timmers and Tim Tate. From May 18th (yes, that’s today!) through June 23rd, more than 1,100 artists and 5,000 pieces of art take over an 11 story building in Crystal City, Virginia. If you are in the area, be sure to check it out.

Sean Hennessy’s webite

Read more about the artist and see work in progress photos here and here.

Hennessy is also known in DC for his faux and decorative painting talents. Check it out here.

nisa smiley: inspired by nature, created by hand

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:42:57 +0000

Nisa Smiley lives and works on the coast of Maine, immersing herself in nature and incorporating her experiences into the jewelry she has been making for more than a decade.

Physalis (Chinese Lantern Plant)
fine silver (PMC), custom hand-blown hollow glass interior beads

Spiral Seashell Ring

I’m partial to the Seashell Spiral Rings she creates with fragments of shells – you know the type of shell fragment I’m talking about – pieces of the interior spiral part of a shell that you find while walking on the beach, soaking in the scent, the sound, the sheer bliss of being oceanside. She sets them into hand crafted silver rings that are truly wonderful to look at – and remember time spent near the ocean. I don’t wear jewelry much, but I would wear that ring. Speaks to me.

Antique Shell Button Earrings

Bronze Lantern Bells

Skeleton Leaf Lentil Earrings, silver

Often I am moved to create jewelry that “tastes” of my experiences in Nature, be it the discovery of a blush-pink snail shell on the gray beach, the nubby green texture of a sun-bleached urchin shell, or the intricate pattern of feathers adorning a heron’s wing.

Nisa Smiley’s website

elissa farrow-savos: new work

Susan Lomuto — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:49:30 +0000

Elissa Farrow-Savos continues to create poignant narrative sculpture using polymer clay and found objects. In this new body of work Elissa translated the ‘everyday things’ her mother said to her over the years into a series of sculptures. Her mother died when Elissa was 21 years old after a lengthy battle with cancer and now, more than two decades later, Elissa’s sculptures honor the wisdom of the mother she still holds close in memory.

Welcome to Womanhood

Coping With The Hand She Was Dealt

Young Lady You Are So Grounded!

You’ll Grow Into It

The Fairies My Children Think Clean Up After Them

Yes, It’s Not Fair

Be Brave, And Bring A Friend

“I decided to focus on my relationship with my mother for the Art League Gallery show. She died when I was 21 after a very long battle with cancer. I think about the things that she told me and taught me and showed me with great frequency, and I relished the idea of putting some of those moments into my art.”

Elissa Farrow-Savos’ website

Her SOLD gallery is drool worthy

‘Conversations With My Mother’ is on view at the Art League Gallery in Alexandria Virginia through May 28th.

Washington Post article about Elissa’s new work and how it came to be: Mother’s Wisdom Borne Out In Clay

Previous posts on DAM here and here

thierry chollat’s iron and wood bestiary

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:45:46 +0000

A prolific artist who works in several media, Thierry Chollat is known as much for his animal sculptures as for his illustrations. The wood and iron sculptures shown here offer a glimpse of the artist’s talents – he also sculpts in stone, papier mache, driftwood and other materials. Chollat’s goal is to bring attention to environmental issues and endangered species.

Chimpanzee

Goat

“I seek, through sculpture, to create a face to face, to reveal another side of humanity, to take a look full of meaning and emotion as each of us is a mirror of the other.”

Horse

Cat, detail

Red Deer

Thierry Chollat’s website

Get a closer look in this 25 second video

Two pages of pictures here

On his blog, Chollat shares stone sculptures and illustrations of nudes

helen noakes: silver, resin and miniatures

Susan Lomuto — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:22:37 +0000

Helen Noakes’ playful nature is apparent in her work and even on her website, where she lets you know,”you have entered the world of noakes. you should leave now if you aren’t prepared to be amused and enthralled by the jewellery she makes.”

I Wish I Had A Penguin, ring

Penguin March, necklace

Swimmer, ring

Noakes happened upon a few miniature figures and a book about resin at the same time. It was enough to trigger her imagination and before long she was on a roll combining the two, setting them into silver and creating little worlds to wear. The jewelry is lighthearted and fanciful and I love the way she adds text to the silver. Don’t you think the words enhance the whimsical nature of the pieces?

Swimmers, bracelet

Polar Cube Necklace

Easy Tiger, necklace

Synchronized Swimmers, necklace
(click image to really see the swimmers)

Helen Noakes’ website