Daily Art Muse

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 (Chines 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

david & melanie leppla: kyoto lanterns and cairns

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:32:48 +0000

I’m really smitten with these Kyoto Lanterns and Cairns from glass artists David and Melanie Guernsey Leppla. The glass rock formations and functional Japanese lanterns are simply lovely to look at and meditate on. I can imagine basking in the glow of the low light thrown by the blown glass sculptures.

Red Berries Kyoto Lantern

Green Buds Kyoto Lantern

Orange Berries Kyoto Lantern

“Kyoto Lanterns are a series of sculptural lighting that capture the studied beauty and simplicity of the Japanese aesthetic while utilizing the perfect relationship of glass and light. Layered surface patterns of different hues and opacities allow a subtle transmission of light within to accentuate the qualities of the glass while creating a serene and meditative focal point.”

Red Cairns Group

Amber Cairns Group

“Cairns have held deep significance for millennia. These Cairns, born of glass in heat and light, capture a brief moment in time when the elements are in balance. Each unique composition represents accomplishments, knowledge and experience gained, difficulties overcome and guidance for pathways yet to be traveled.”

David & Melanie Leppla’s website