Olga Suvorova ~ Russian Artist Extraordinaire

 

Olga Suvorova/ Ольга Суворова is an acclaimed Russian Master. She was born in 1966 in St. Petersburg. Olga Suvorova has created her own style of painting – lifestyle portraits of costumed characters in the interiors of different epochs. Her work is a nostalgia for the St. Petersburg “World of Art” movement with its retrospective and love of the 18th century. Olga is the daughter of the Honored Artist of the RSFSR Igor Suvorov. She graduated from the Academy of Arts of Ilya Repin in 1988. . Her paintings of the players in "Comedia de arte" have a haunting quality that sets her apart from the many young talented artists emerging from the Institute. Recently she has produced a series of magnificently detailed screens which have been widely praised and collected. She also paints portraits and landscapes. Olga has exhibited in Italy, Germany, Sweden, Finland, France, Britain, Ireland, China, and the USA where her work is in many collections.

I do love her style . . . filling the canvas with the intricacies that can take some time to view and appreciate every stroke of her brush.

Doodling

 I've begun enhancing some of the eco prints made on a warm summer day with my favorite crafting friend Karen using plant life from right outside my home.

The first one using a black micron pen . . .

and the second one using brush pens mostly

Trying to decide which path I should take?

Collage Artist Extrordinaire!

The last few years, I have been dabbling with paper collaging and love this form of art. Pinterest has exposed me to a truly great artist in this form of creativity.  Usually when I post unknown and unrecognized women artists, they are from the distant past. Kanchan is working today and putting out these gorgeous pieces . . . 

Kanchan Mahon is a self-taught artist using the medium of hand-cut paper collage.

Her art is quixotic, vibrant and otherworldly. Images are combined with intricate pattern, rich texture.

The qualities and concepts embodied by butterflies, flowers and birds infuse these pieces with the rich symbolism of the natural world. These women dream of flight, like the birds they see, They long for change and to transform themselves, as do moths and butterflies. There is a flowering of self.

In these couplings of myth and psyche, her art celebrates the loveliness and liveliness of women. She calls these images of vivid color and intricate detailed patterns “Dream Images.”

I had a dream

The most empowering dream of my life.  I was put in charge of a cleanup! As I surmise now, it would have been after a bad storm and the area was full of tree damage.  So I was to be the foreman on the job to take care of the mess. Since it was my responsibility, I thought long and hard on how the job was to be done.  I sent part of my crew up on the roof of a large building, and ordered them to sweep the roof down to a level ledge along the eaves and then from there, down to the alley below.

At that point I came awake for a short time but that wouldn’t keep me from finishing the job. So I kept planning the operation.  The crew on the ground was then to sweep it all into a heap as I watched them from the roof

I’m putting this down quickly because I don’t want to forget this dream of a lifetime.  At the age of 81, after always being employed by “the man”, it was my last chance in life to be the boss, and I knew how it felt for a few precious moments!

Four Pin Friday ~ ~ If I had a secret garden

it would be deep in the woods

 and have a babbling brook running through it

with a seating area for reading and dreaming

shady and comfy with lanterns for when the sun goes down

 

and I would tell no one where it was.

Maddy's Dress Ups

Our project for this Craft Day was decorating an old hard side piece of luggage.  It is Dawn's niece's birthday the 9th, and we wanted a special place for Maddy's dress ups.

Dawn brought the decoupage and the Disney princess stickers, ribbon and gimpy braid.  I dug into my colorful pages, ripped them apart and deco'ed them down randomly.

 

Wish I had taken a before photo of this drab tan piece of luggage so that you could see the transformation.

Now Dawn and her Mom will fill it with fancy dresses, shoes, tiaras and jewelry for that sweet 6 year old girl!

Four Pin Friday

and a new favorite artist!

Melissa McCracken grew up with a neurological condition that means she processes songs as colors—a gift that translates into paintings inspired by her favorite musicians.

'Twas a Monster Mash at the Ds

Dawn and Derek went all out decorating for Halloween

The food had to be described before consuming . . . bloody biscotti fingers, black spaghetti with eyeballs and blood clots, cupcakes with big green eyes on top.  There were black vodka drinks and some kind of creme de menthe concoctions served in test tubes.  All was good once identified!!

Almost all came in costume and made for a very "spirited" group.

Four Pin Friday

SCARECROWS!

They can be stylish

They can be ethnic

They can be super scary

They can even be patriotic

Thanks again Pinterest for the fount of ideas, photos and inspiration!!

Four Pin Friday

Loving those GIFs I see on Facebook lately and, sure enough, good old Pinterest has lots and lots of beautiful examples.  These four struck a chord with me . . . 

Four Pin Friday

Austrian digital artist, Christian Schloe has a knack for creating digital art that looks very much like paintings. These wonderful, dreamy images are actually the results of photoshopping.

 A MidSummer's Night Dream

 Set your Heart Free

 The Key to Wonderland

The Messenger

What a treat it would be to see him at work on these wonderful art pieces.  Can't even imagine how he approaches it and what the process entails.

Four Pin Friday

Ahhh Pinterest!  You've found me a new favorite artist.  There are only a few abstract paintings that I really have ever connected with but, when I saw these from Lia Melia, my eyes popped!!!

Abstract2

Burnt Rose

Songs of Melusina2

Eros

Wondering what her technique could possibly be, I researched further.  Here is a portion of Lia Melia's explanation on how she gets these great affects . . .

"I had a wonderful teacher who taught me that no matter how technically good an artist is, if they do not paint from the heart and soul, they said nothing. I paint because I have to, and from the heart, but I expect my paintings to say that of me; only my peers can be my judge.

My medium is unique, developed over many years. I use powder pigments and solvents and bake them onto aluminium,(mainly for speed of drying)or, occasionally, glass. I use fluid mixes which need high levels of control; for more figurative work I thicken the medium, which makes it easier to work. I love experimenting."

Oh if I had the money, one of these would be hanging over my fireplace for sure!