Red Octopus in the deep blue

Artist: Jeanette Lindblad

Title: Red Octopus in the deep blue

Media: Digital Art – Digital Collage From Ink Drawing

Dimensions: 2144 x 2528 (full-resolution)

Date: 2/27/11

Jeanette Lindblad lives in Lilburn, Georgia and has a passion for drawing and painting.  She likes to use different materials and methods on her work.  She did attend a few classes for a Commercial Art Degree, which she unfortunately had to drop due to family issues.  Most of her portfolio works are 5-10 years old.

“This is a collage created from an original pen and ink drawing with the background digitally altered.”

 – Jeanette Lindblad

As stated above, the artist first created the piece from ink, then had the background altered digitally.  The piece is now a digital collage that can be found online.

The “Red Octopus in the deep blue” drawing skillfully captures an interesting organism of the sea.  The octopus here is drawn in red, contrasting against the blue of the sea all around her.  The arms of the creature are shown at different angles and views, elaborating on the two rows of suctions cups that are located underneath.  The artist uses swirls throughout the background of the drawing, perhaps to emulate the tips of the arms.

Coral Reef

Artist: John W. Megahan

Title: Coral Reef

Media: Painting - Acrylics

Dimensions: 20” x 13”

Date: 2007

John W. Megahan has a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Masters of Biology.  He has a passion for both art and biology and eventually decided to combine the two and become a biological illustrator.  In 1996 he became the Sr. Biological Illustrator at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology, he teaches at the University of Michigan’s School of Art, and does freelance work.

“John Megahan’s work is a stunning combination of precise realism and artistic expression.  Inspiration is found in varied landscapes from deserts to sea coasts, serene rivers to austere mountain views.  His wildlife portraits are truly captivating in their spiritual understanding of each animal he paints.”  – Pierre Paul Art Gallery

The piece “Coral Reef” is a painting that was one of the many illustrations Megahan created for a children’s book, “W is for Waves”.  The piece was created using acrylics.

The “Coral Reef” illustration now has a scene set under the sea.  The setting allows for us to see coral reef and a few creatures below the surface of the sea.  The foreground begins with a shaded orange piece of coral, which then moves to the far distance of the background, depicting more coral of various shapes and colors.  At the top of the drawing sits the beginning of the ocean, where sunlight beams down to help illuminate the coral reef down below.  The way the artist captured just below the surface of the sea and the light radiating down from the sunlight are key components as to why this piece struck a chord with me.

Sea Turtle

Artist: Hiroko Reaney

Title: Sea Turtle

Media: Painting – Acrylic on Canvas Board with Gloss Finish

Dimensions: 9” x 12”

Date: 2004

Hiroko Reaney lives in Homeland, California with her husband and two children.  She enjoys painting inspirational art, seascapes, fantasy fairies, angels, and mermaids.

“I made this piece in 2004. I just love the ocean so I often make art that is ocean-related. There are two other pieces I made around the same time that have a similar monochromatic color theme. “  

   - Hiroko Reaney

This work of art is a painting that was done with acrylics on a canvas board.  Reaney used a monochromatic color design to portray an aerial view of a sea turtle.

I chose an additional work of art that involves another resident of the sea, the sea turtle.  The animal is set directly in the middle of the canvas, where the piece gives the essential outline of what a sea turtle looks like from above.  The sea turtles’ shell, head, and limbs are drawn as if the creature is buoyant in the sea.  The color scheme used for the painting is that of aqua, which is used in differing hues over the entire piece, getting darker as one moves towards the corners of the canvas.  I sincerely appreciated how this piece demonstrates a creative side that can be accomplished using a monochromatic theme.

Mermaid

Artist: Mary Michael Shelley

Title: Mermaid, Number 7

Media: Carved Pine, Acrylic Paint

Dimensions: 16” x 9” x 3”

Date: 2011

Mary Michael Shelley graduated from Cornell where she majored in creative writing.  However, upon graduating, her father gave her a painted wood carving he created for her, which prompted her to also start carving creations.  Soon she was no longer writing, but engulfed in visual art instead.  She has had her work in major exhibitions beginning in 1978 to current, has been published in magazines and art books, and also has pieces in the permanent collections of an array of museums, such as the Smithsonian.  

“My artwork is entirely carved in white pine and then painted with acrylics. Each piece is a unique handmade original.” – Mary Michael Shelley

This sculpture is carved from pine wood and hand painted with acrylics.  This piece stands 16 inches tall and would cost a potential buyer $450.00.

The “Mermaid” carving jumped out at me because it was not the average elegantly seductive creation of a mermaid.  This artist used her expertise to craft a mermaid resting atop two rolling waves as if the ocean is her lounge chair.  Although mermaids are only fantasy in the ocean world, they are depicted quite often in ocean art.  Mermaids incorporate the world of humans and sea life, where fusing the two together create an extraordinary life form.

Juggling Red and Blue

Artist: Martin Waugh

Title: Juggling Red and Blue

Media: Photography

Dimensions: 1366 x 2050 pixels

Date: 2006

Martin Waugh has a B.S. degree in Physics from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon.  He uses high-speed photography to enable him to capture soft, graceful curves of liquid.  His work can be found in museums, corporations, as well as private art collections.  Martin Waugh describes himself as a father, engineer, and artist.

“Liquid Sculpture images are fluids in motion, frozen in time by a flash of light. They are droplets witnessed in mid-splash.” – Martin Waugh

Martin Waugh coordinates these creations by perfectly aiming the varying drops and freeing them with precise timing.  Letting nature take its course, he then photographs the liquid forms unfolding.  He manipulates the liquid properties by altering the droplets’ direction and controlling the color, viscosity and surface tension.  He captures these sharp moments with a digital camera and electronic flash. 

Water is the single most important component of the sea; it takes up the most volume of the ocean.  I chose this artwork because this artist scrupulously captures water in the smallest forms.  This piece titled “Juggling Red and Blue” is a wonderful example of how he literally shows water playing with water.  He uses dye to accent the body of water that appears in juggling form.  The body and head are blue, while the arms are red.  The pieces he juggles are tinier pieces of itself.  The lighting, coloring, and timing the artist uses must be so exact that it is hard to discern how such a picture is even possible.  This artist displays how water, such a hard component to handle, can be manipulated to create such an astonishing and striking work of art.

Conclusion

Conclusion

            I have learned so much with this process of organizing this exhibition.  Researching works by various artists was extremely challenging, yet very fascinating with the copious amounts of work available online.  Although I wasn’t able to use some of the works that I found most fascinating, it was still enticing to see how artists work so differently from one another, using different mediums, tools, and themes.  I learned how much work must be put into creating an exhibition.  One must gather pieces of work, information about the artists, information regarding the pieces, and also arrange promotions to enlighten others about where and when the exhibitions take place.  Choosing pieces of work that visually struck my eye came natural to me, because of course, I would choose what appeals to me.  Challenging was being able to choose pieces due to the lack of information provided by some artists.  For instance, I really loved, and wanted to use a piece from the artist Elena Kalis.  Her work focuses on underwater photography and has many pieces that are "Alice In Wonderland" inspired.  Another challenge came from the theme I chose, which focused a lot on water and the sea.  I found a few water installations by a few artists that I wasn’t able to use due to the lack of dimensions.  As a result, I found that the job of a curator would be quite demanding and he/she must be very knowledgeable regarding all forms and genres of the art world.  I myself am very new the field of art.  I am not exactly creative in a painting, sculpting, or drawing sort of way, but I have found that art can be in many different forms.

            I discovered that connecting artists work with their own experiences to a common theme was central to their artwork and how they feel best to expose their work.  Some artists in my exhibition grew up or lived in scenic areas such as Hawaii and Australia.  Several of the artists used nature as their muse and reflected their emotions through their art.  Demonstrating how they felt connected to nature and how nature connected with them.  Which is exactly why I ended  up taking on water and the sea as my theme.  I feel very connected to the ocean, loving the water and the sound of the waves.  This project opened up another world to me, the art world.  I found how the sea can be portrayed under an umbrella of artists and their various amounts of artworks.