Cleveland, Ohio

View lots of inspiring sculpture, public art, installation, and environmental creations by Olga Ziemska here.

Winnipeg, Canada

I was delighted this week to receive a signed copy of my good friend’s new coffee-table book, Mike Grandmaison’s Prairie and Beyond, published by Turnstone Press. There’s a book launch and gallery show of some of Mike’s recent photography work on Monday, 7 May at 19:30 in McNally Robinson’s Prairie Ink Cafe. Reservations are recommended—call Prairie Ink at (204) 975-2659 to reserve a table (or join me at mine).

This stunning book features Mike’s breathtaking photography from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, sorted into chapters; The Grasslands, The Wetlands, The Drylands, The Forests, The Mountains, and The Subarctic. Turnstone had asked me a few months ago to write the book’s back cover text, which appears as follows…

Mike Grandmaison’s passionate quest to capture the essence of this great land and his tireless effort to create meaningful, relevant images of lasting beauty have resulted in a truly remarkable, award-winning body of work. Many share my view that his intimate portraits of the natural world and exquisite landscapes are unexcelled, and I am delighted that he has “turned his lens” to the prairies in this collector’s volume.

The fine gallery of light-filled imagery you’ll discover herein reflect Mike’s exceptional eye and uncanny ability to unearth the photogenic in the “here and now”—he finds resonance and beauty in what many would pass by as being commonplace, and he brings a singular viewpoint to his work that is born of intuition, an innate humility, deep respect for the natural world, and an undying attitude of discovery.

ISBN 978-0-88801-393-4

Milan, Italy

Franco Brambilla likes to mix nostalgia from the past with cute aliens and beings from Sci Fi movies. See lots more of his creations in this genre here…

(source)

“Improvising with materials close at hand, Seat Assignment consists of photographs, video, and digital images all made while in flight using only a camera phone. The project began spontaneously on a flight in March 2010 and is ongoing. At present, over 2500 photographs and video, made on more than 70 different flights to date, constitute the raw material of the project.”

“While in the lavatory on a domestic flight in March 2010, I spontaneously put a tissue paper toilet cover seat cover over my head and took a picture in the mirror using my cellphone. The image evoked 15th-century Flemish portraiture. I decided to add more images made in this mode and planned to take advantage of a long-haul flight from San Francisco to Auckland, guessing that there were likely to be long periods of time when no one was using the lavatory on the 14-hour flight. I made several forays to the bathroom from my aisle seat, and by the time we landed I had a large group of new photographs entitled Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style. I was wearing a thin black scarf that I sometimes hung up on the wall behind me to create the deep black ground that is typical of these portraits. There is no special illumination in use other than the lavatory’s own lights and all the images are shot hand-held with the camera phone. At the Dunedin Public Art gallery, the photos were framed in faux-historical frames and hung on a deep red wall reminiscent of the painting galleries in museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”

Kudos to artist Nina Katchadourian who delights those who encounter her and her work in a myriad of ways (including music :-)

(from a nice collection of German graphic art, found here)

London, UK

Mark Powell is an artist who draws with Biro pens (ballpoints) on old envelopes and such… he hails from Leeds and he often runs into the sea. That’s about all I know about him—other than that I really like his illustrative technique. See more of his Biro-portraits here.

(Thanks to Zelda Harrison for the link).

Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia

Nikita Nomerz is a graffiti and street artist who brings derelict buildings to life with his whimsical characters.

(source)

Moorside (Consett), UK

Tommy Craggs carves naturally-fallen trees using a chain saw. Imagine walking along a familiar path in the woods and the pleasure one might experience chancing upon a “dead” stump freshly transformed into a sculptural affirmation of life…

See more of his painstaking work here. Thanks to colleague Maggie MacNab for the link.

San Francisco, California

Andres Amador is an artist who makes awe-inspiring, large scale eco-paintings in the sand. His beautiful designs range from organic, nature-inspired circuitous patterns to geometric, angular and hard-edged shapes, to spiritual symbols like the triquetra or the Celtic knot.

Getting to the beach early, about an hour before the ocean recedes and usually under a full moon, is where and when it all begins for Andres. He starts with a fine-tip stick, drawing the framework and giving structure for his designs. Once outlined in the sand, he then adjusts his home-made painting utensil to a thicker line (about an 8″ rake) to “fill in” the lines, making the sketch come alive. Once this is complete, he uses an even thicker rake to shade in different areas of the design before seeking higher ground to capture the sand painting on film.

“Sand is wonderful,” says Amador, “When I come to the beach it’s all ready for me as it’s been smoothed flat by the ocean.” Much like fellow landscape artist Sonja Hinrichsen’s snow drawings, cleanup isn’t an issue with Andre’s sand painting as nature takes care of this for him. “It’s ephemeral,” he explains, “It cannot last and it cannot be maintained.” That’s the beauty of it – but that’s also why he and his team have to work fast.

He does preliminary sketches based on the area he’ll be working, and gives himself about a two-hour window to complete the painting and capture the image. And painting on a canvas anywhere between a few thousand square feet, to 30,000 square feet, this can often be a race against time. “The perspective is the hardest part.” explains Amador, “To be aware of where I am in the image, and what’s happening in the image and hold it all together, that’s the biggest challenge.”

See more images and read more here. Visit Andres Amador’s website here.

Manitoba, Canada

Spring arrived here with an uncharacteristic “bang” and “chirping” during the night, with the first rains and (freakishly-early) first thunderstorm—accompanied by the first frog songs of the year.

Best wishes to colleagues near and far on this vernal equinox (a day earlier than usual on the calendar, by dent of 2012 being a leap-year)… in particular to all my Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, and Zoroastrian friends; and Happy New Year to colleagues and acquaintances throughout the Indian sub-continent!

Eid-eh Shoma Mobarak!  نوروزتون مبارک

Painting: Return of Spring by William Adolphe Bouguereau, 1886.