Today I'm featuring some of the art & artists that inspire me. These guys are too good not to share!

Teil Duncan :: Teil was my first artist crush. She was cute, young, and an incredibly talented artist. I wanted to be her. I still want to be her! I have been following along as she has grown bigger and bigger, and I'm continually inspired by the ways she continues to push herself with new techniques, and new subject matter. I already know I need her to paint portraits of my kids...once I have them, of course. Her beach series will always have a special spot in my heart - she is able to capture a landscape perfectly, but without fussing about the details. 

Today I'm featuring some of the art & artists that inspire me. These guys are too good not to share!

Lisa Golightly :: I've known about Lisa for a while now, and have never not loved anything she does. Her work is smushy and squishy when you look at it close up, but if you take a step back, you see figures and landscapes take shape. She is fearless with her negative space, and her compositional skills are some of the best. The color-lover in me appreciates those barely-there shifts in color and monochromatic paintings (like the one in the middle, below). Her work is loose and not too fussy, which reminds me to do the same when I work on my own paintings! 

A while back I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that interviewed Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. I had just had some of her ice cream at her store in Nashville, so it seemed rather serendipitous that I was now reading an interview with her. What I loved most about what she had to say was how she approaches food with simplicity, and lets the flavors shine. She doesn't try to do anything crazy, she just amplifies what is already there. Her investment in simplicity is so attractive, and something I need to apply to my life and my art practice.

Another great article I keep coming back to is Maxie McCoy's guest post on Carly the Prepster on the topic of consistency as the key to growth. Even when I don’t want to, or I’d rather just stay in bed and lounge all morning, I MUST get up, go to my studio, and do the work. Otherwise nothing will get done. Even taking 30 minutes in between appointments or errands to stop in my studio and do something is better than nothing. Progress doesn’t happen overnight, and neither does success. Small steps culminate in a long journey - I can’t wish things into action, or rely on social media to do all of the work. I have to make work, because without it, there’s nothing to share or post about!

Today I'm featuring some of the art & artists that inspire me. These guys are too good not to share!

Karen Blair :: I found Karen's work when we both had pieces at Bee Street Studio, and I was immediately grabbed by her lively brushstrokes and felt the energy coming from each piece. I loooove her use of soft colors, and admire how her pieces are abstract-ish, but still landscape-ish.