Artist: Luca Raimondi

Luca Raimondi
Baratti, first light
oil on canvas

I love that this painting looks realistic enough to make me feel like I'm on this beach, but not so realistic that I can't use my imagination. One day I'd like to live right by the beach in a seaside town, maybe in New Zealand or Florida or North Carolina.

Sometimes in art class I ask my students to close their eyes and think of a happy place. I usually imagine a forest full of tall green trees. I think my new happy place is the beach. Where's your happy place?

Artist: Eion Llewellyn

Eion Llewellyn
The Changing
oil on linen

First throughts:

Who are these people? This picture is really blurry. Oh, it's just their faces. I wish I could see them more clearly. The girl looks like a bride. Who's that guy on the right? He feels like a third wheel. The guy on the left looks older than the one one the right. Why is this called The Changing? Reminds me of the changing of the guard. Maybe this girl is getting married to the guy on the right, and the one on the left is her father. Maybe he's giving his blessing. I like the detail on her arm. 

Artist: Yinka Shonibare

Yinka Shonibare
Odile / Odette
Film

I saw this film at The Modern in Ft. Worth when we went to that conference last month. It was playing in a dark room, and the image and sounds transfixed me for a good ten minutes. If we ever see ballerinas in person, they're usually too far away to hear their breathing. Check out the film and focus on the sounds. 

Artist: Steve Payne

Steve Payne

Bill Murray

Photoshop

"Steve Payne uses digital copies of George Dawe’s painted portraits of Russian generals as a basis for his work, incorporating friends, family and celebrities into the paintings using Adobe Photoshop.

George Dawe was an English portraiture artist who, commissioned by the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg, painted 329 portraits of Russian generals active during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia."

Hahaha this is the best. Also now I just really really want to watch What About Bob and imagine Bill Murray in this outfit the entire time.

Artist: Michael Vincent Manalo

Michael Vincent Manalo
The Fish Tales II
Digital Photomanipulation

You know what I see? Two beings, stuck in a tempest, who are too afraid to face their problem and figure out a way to fix it. So they just ignore it. 

Artist: Hung Liu

Hung Liu

Lade Gege

mixed media

2010

I simply cannot get enough of this painting. What don't I love? I love her eyebrows, and her lips, that gorgeous monstrosity on her head?! Can we talk about the bird? It reminds me of that part in the Sex + the City movie where Carrie puts a blue bird on her head as a replacement for her wedding veil. What started off as a simple wedding turned into this gaudy, boisterous affair at the NY public library with a crazy dress and gorgeous decorations. After she gets left at the altar and is processing what that feels like, she reflects on how the wedding plans got out of hand. 

"I put a BIRD...on my HEAD."

That was honestly my first thought. 

I love that a piece of art can become so much more than paint on a surface. I enjoy finding connections to my personal life that the artist would never think about, like a movie I obsessed over three years ago.

First raw impressions: 

The pink part looks like cotton candy. 

I wonder what purpose that hat serves.

Who is this girl?

Whoever she is, she can definitely pull this look off.

I wish I were brave enough to wear, truly, whatever I wanted. 

Walking with a huge hat on your head must feel similar to walking in five-inch heels.

I bet you can't play soccer in that outfit. 

Does she want to play soccer? Or is she happy with the hat?

Where on earth would you wear that?

I want to be brave like her.

Artist: Jorge Chamorro

Jorge Chamorro

No Title 3

collage, assemblage on paper

This is so simple, it's perfect. I love all the white space, and that the boy's eyes lead your eye up to the euro moon. 

Sometimes, it's all about simplicity. 

Artist: Relja Penezic

Doesn't this painting just make you want to take a road trip up PCH? Man, I miss California. Check out Penezic's artist profile here.

Artist: Mariah Llanes

Check out her website here.

Artist: Brooke Shaden

When I first saw this image, I thought it was a painting. It's a photograph! She does some amazing work with photos that makes them look like dark fairtytales. I love that she photographed this girl in this amazing dress, but left her hair messy and snapped a shot when her hair was kajangled by the wind. It's nice to see something unexpected. Check out her website here for more photos.

Artist: Norman Rockwell

Every time I see a Rockwell painting, I have to look at it for a few minutes to appreciate the details of it. Most people only look at a painting for about 4 seconds before they move on to a new one in museums, but if I were to go to a Rockwell exhibit, I'd probably be there for days. I love that he painted people doing everyday things, like The Lineman. 

Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.

—Norman Rockwell

Edit: I just found out that there's a whole museum founded by Rockwell himself. What a cheeky fellow. Click here to see an interactive timeline of his life.

Artist: Fernando Botero

Ok...I know this painting is not the most pleasant thing. I realize that it's a picture of a bull rider dying and going to heaven. I also realize that most of you might like to see something a little more upbeat. 

But...this is a manifestation of one of my favorite things about art. I love that art is a medium for emotion. All kinds of emotion. In life, we do not always feel happy or pleasant. We experience death and weird things, and I like any kind of art that makes me feel something. 

Plus, I've never seen a painting that shows someone's body + their spirit together on the same canvas. 

So here it is, folks. Weird, fabulous, emotional, real art. 

Artist: Berndnaut Smilde

Um, can we talk about the fact that this artist has created indoor clouds? Who does that?! This image isn't photoshopped. He literally figured out how to perfectly control the climate of an empty room to hold a cloud. Check out this article to find out how he does it. 

"I'm interested in the ephemeral aspect of the work," Smilde said in an email. "It's there for a brief moment and then the cloud falls apart. It's about the potential of the idea, but in the end if will never function." - Berndnaut Smilde

Artist: Mark Demsteader

Bonus points for Mark because, yes, that is Emma Watson.

Besides the HP shoutout, I love this guy because of his use of light and dark (chiaroscuro). The detail in her body vs. the lack of detail in the clothing and background play nicely on each other. He's good at putting opposites in the same painting and making them work. 

Check out his website to see more paintings. 

Artist: Hagar Van Hu

This week's artist is someone I've never heard of! I love finding new art! I couldn't find much on this artist (Hagar Van Hu). If you find anything, please comment and share a link. I'd like to know more about them. 

Artist: Georgia O'Keeffe

Artist: Laura Wilson

Artist: Edouard Cortes

Artist: Lord Frederic Leighton

Artist: Eduard Tomek

Oh hey! 

Did you guys know that about a year ago, I started teaching art lessons to people in my ward once a month? At the time I was teaching art to kids, but wanted to share my love of art with my neighbors. We called it Art Time with K-Ro (my ward nickname) and we did fun stuff like printmaking and figure drawing. This was all done in my college apartment, where I lived with four other girls. One time we had 25 people crammed into my teeny living room, just making art. It was the best! And then I got busy with work, and then I moved out of that ward. ATWKRO went away, and now I miss it.

I have been wanting to start a new series of recurring posts on this blog. One of the things I love most in life is art. I love looking at, teaching, and talking about it more than making it. Sometimes I'll just look for hours at art books or get stuck in a Pinterest hole looking for "new" artists (new to me, that is.) 

So, Art Time with K-Ro is coming back in a whole new way, and Wednesdays are now going to be dedicated to the art I love to share. Instead of making art, I will be posting one piece of art I love, along with something interesting I found about its artist. 

I hope you're as excited as I am! Here we go...