CARRIE SCHMITT x ARTFULLY AWEAR

Is this not the most adorable art studio you've ever seen?!

One of the best parts of sharing your creative journey with the Internet is the inspirational people you find along the way.  When Carrie Schmitt messaged me on Instagram a few weeks ago, I immediately felt an affinity with her work and her mantra to "Surround yourself with beauty".  An artist and author who lives on a mossy hill just outside of Seattle, Carrie's love for art and color transcends every aspect of her life, even her yoga practice.  Going against everything they tell you about meeting people on the Internet, we decided to meet IRL while I was visiting Seattle over the weekend.

Carrie picked me up in the city and we drove out through many, many pine trees to her studio on a farm, which was the most picturesque location I could ever imagine.  She was working on two large-scale paintings (a new format for her), and I brought along my own canvas (a white romper) so we could create together.

Carrie walked me through her process of making a painting, including her approach and her favorite colors and brands of paints (she includes Prussian Blue in every painting!).  Happily chatting away, she painted the large canvases while I painted my garment, using her style and influence to capture the vibrancy of her works.

The more we talked and painted, the more I realized how much we had in common.  Even though we had extremely different life paths, we connected spiritually through our love for color and expressive artwork.

After my outfit was complete, we snapped some photos with her amazing paintings!

Thank you, Carrie, for such a unique and inspirational experience.  I can't wait to see you back on the West Coast very soon!

Photos by myself and Carrie Schmitt.

Romper from the Gap - purchased in store for $4.97!

 Shoes from J. Crew

MARC QUINN FLORALS

Under the Volcano, Acavar Bolivia, 2010

New Mexico Water, 2010

First Cataract of the Nile, 2010

Marc Quinn (b. 1964) is part of the YBAs (Young British Artists), a group that includes Liam Gillick, Damien Hirst, and Tracey Emin, among others.  Much of his work is larger-than-life, and deals with themes of nature, the body, and our relationship to both.

One way that Quinn explores these themes is through "genetic modification and hybridism"; in other words, using flowers as a stand in for human life.  In one of his series, he created stunning horticultural displays of frozen flowers which are able to escape decay through an electrical power source.  Similarly, in "Eternal Spring", Quinn preserves flowers indefinitely by soaking them in silicone.  The paintings depicted here are eerily pristine, capturing an otherworldly perfection and simultaneously bringing to mind the constant decay that surrounds us.

See other floral posts here and here. 

Romper: Peter Pilotto for Target

Straw Hat: Purchased in St. Thomas

Marc Quinn photos from Artsy.net; photos of me by Jacque Skowvron.

KARL MAUGHAN FLORAL

It's difficult not to feel inspired when the flora and fauna outside are finally in full bloom and bursting with color.  New Zealand-based artist Karl Maughan finds inspiration in the gardens surrounding him, both real and fabricated.  Maughan started out working en plein air in New Zealand, but when he relocated to London he no longer had lush gardens at his disposal from which to work year-round.  He began cataloguing gardens via photos which he now uses as inspiration.  He pulls bits and pieces of the very best and brightest, splicing them together in his paintings which are simultaneously idyllic and empty.

I've been on the hunt for one of the pieces of Maughan's collaboration collection with the Stolen Girlfriends Club to no avail.  This vintage jumpsuit, however, is a pretty close match!

Jumpsuit: vintage, Held Over in San Francisco

Leather sandals: Belle by Sigerson Morrison Abra Block-Heel Sandal

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Leather belt: Roberta Freymann

Photos by Jayne Clark at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Maughan images from gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz, ocula.com, odt.co.nz, tulsisays.blogspot.com. 

UNDER THE BLACKLIGHT

One of my favorite posts (and favorite dresses!) happened way back in 2010, with this neon ensemble inspired by Que Houxo's gestural paintings lit by blacklights.  See the original post here. #tbt

TBT: Garçon à la pipe

I was searching through the Artfully Awear archives, and I found this gem from 2011.  Picasso's Rose Period has always been my favorite (particularly the harlequins), so one afternoon I made a flower crown, borrowed a wooden pipe from my dad, and posed as one of the most expensive paintings ever sold at auction.  See my original post here. #tbt

NOW WEARING: Leaves, Flowers.

Florence Derive, Leaves, Flowers in the River, 2011, acrylic on canvas.

I'm slowly moving past my "denial of fall" phase, and embracing the season.  Though my color palette doesn't change very much with the arrival of autumn, I'm currently feeling inspired by flora that is just on the verge of changing color.

Jumpsuit: Vintage

Platforms: Buffalo Exchange (I last wore them here.)

Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Bracelet: J. Crew

Photo by Kathy Paciello; Image via Artsy.

EDELWEISS

Immediately after I become acquainted with a new body of work, I begin seeing relationships between the work and things in my wardrobe.

For example, I've owned this dress for some time, but suddenly I couldn't look at it without seeing the collage works of German video artist Marcel Odenbach (b. 1953), whose work I recently discovered via the MoMA.

Odenbach's background in art history, architecture, and semiotics has provisioned him a wide lens through which to view the concept of identity. Odenbach uses symbolism, like the edelweiss depicted above, to add multiple levels of meaning to his work.

Central to Odenbach's work is the subject of German national identity, as complicated by the Holocaust, and how this is reflected in the life of the contemporary individual.

Though video installations form the basis of his work, Odenbach often accompanies these works with related performances, drawings, and collages, pictured here, which are reminiscent of Cubist an Dadaist collages.

By using a multimedia approach, Odenbach is able to address similar issues from a multitude of angles. Click below to watch a lovely short video in which Odenbach discusses the above work, You Can't See the Forest for the Trees.

If you can't see the screen, click here to watch the video.

The multiple black and white prints that make up this dress have a sort of collage effect that resembles Odenbach's works, and the little floral print is reminiscent of edelweiss.

I'm wearing a Walter dress, Madewell necklaces, Rebecca Minkoff purse, and Halston Heritage espadrilles.

Thank you to Lydia for the One Lovely Blog award and to Allie for mentioning me in her Inspiration post!

Also, I was featured along with some other stylish ladies in What I Wore's Rainy Day Challenge. Check it out here!

[Odenbach images from moma.org, flickr.com, nyclovesnyc.blogspot.com, and katiephoto.tumblr.com, respectively. Video from moma.org.]

SCHIELE SUNFLOWERS

Now that spring is nearly upon us, I can't help but feel inspired by flowers. A traditional decorative art motif, sunflowers have often been depicted throughout art history, most notably by Monet and Van Gogh (see my Van Gogh sunflower post here).

Generally considered to be jubilant subject matter, sunflowers take on a macabre meaning in the works of Egon Schiele.

As I discussed in previous posts (here and here) Schiele (1890-1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter who is well known for his hundreds of figural works, despite his tragically short life.

Many of the artistic techniques he employed in depictions of the human form are utilized in his paintings of sunflowers.

Spindly, emaciated, and somewhat sad, many art historians have seen Schiele's paintings of sunflowers as an analogy for his life and work.

Here is a wonderful short article by Michael Glover on Schiele's Sunflower II, which compares the work to the sunflower paintings of Monet and Van Gogh.

Inspired by Schiele's unique take on the common subject matter, I created an outfit that I hoped would express the character of the works.

I'm wearing a silk See by Chloe blouse, vintage hat, thrifted military issue cargo pants, suede Lauren Merkin clutch, and leather Dolce Vita wedges.

The necklace was a Christmas gift (thank you, Kristen!) and the lovely sunflower bracelet was made by my Aunt, using Swarovski crystals. You can visit her Etsy shop here.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be traveling through San Francisco, Honolulu, and Atlanta. I would love to hear suggestions of places to go/art to see, so feel free to leave a comment or email me!

[Schiele images from oceansbridge.com, saleoilpaintings.com, and oilpaintings-sales.com, respectively.]