Mar 25, 2009

DANNY MANSMITH "SCRAP"







Scrap artist Danny Mansmith combines disparate elements in fabric, paper, photography, and thread into structural forms and tableaux. Danny Mansmith connects the unrelated

into a new conglomerate whole, building figures and structures with a visual syntax uniquely his own. Utilizing scrap papers and fabrics, Mansmith stitches pieces together into elaborate patchwork surfaces. The works are embellished with scrolling stitching in contrasting threads, which veer from frenzied embellishments into map tracery into loose landscapes into elongated-forms. Creating both recognizable shapes and obscured patterns, Mansmith constructs flat and three-dimensional forms both figurative and abstract. He also creates clothing and wearable art, unique accessories, and everyday objects that are anything but everyday. His looping gestural figures curl out of their silhouettes; while the pendulous abstract forms erupt in threaded exclamations. His sculptural objects subvert our expectations in their impossible materials and crazy patchwork surfaces. Mansmith brings exuberant joy to the everyday by rearranging the old into new and the common into the extraordinary. One of my personal artistic heroes.

Find his gallery on line at:
Danny Mansmith

and purchase work directly through his Etsy store at:
Danny Mansmith on Etsy





Mar 5, 2009

Julie Wishmeyer


















Julie Wishmeyer follows individual pursuits in her expressive work while keeping a universal sense of beauty at her creative core. Wishmeyer melds the pop imagery of modern life with the traditions of ancient cultures into portraits of womanhood and beauty. Using beads, plastic doo-daws, and other seemingly 'cheap' materials, she creates tension between the viewer's expectations and the Barouqe beauty of each piece. Her sequin paintings combine the vernacular of feminine dress with themes of high-art history and emotional expression. Her tribal-like masks and sculptures encrust their forms with baubles of our time and her mirror series takes the female gaze into the idealized forms of childhood. Inspired by Pop art and consumer culture, Julie Wishmeyer shares a vision that is singular and inspired.

Find locations for her work at her website:
Julie Wishmeyer

JASON MESSINGER MERCHANDISE