CYNTHIA MOSSER

Domino Magazine Arrangements

2008-05-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

All I can say is, "Nice COLOR!"

My New Exhibition

2008-04-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Swim Puff (relish) • 2008 • Mixed media on birch panel • 14 x 22 inches

CYNTHIA MOSSER

COOL PERENNIALS

APRIL 30 – MAY 27, 2008

Please join me for a preview reception at the Augen gallery:

Wednesday • April 30, 2008

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

First Thursday reception:

Thursday • May 1st, 2008

5:30 PM – 8:30 PM

AUGEN GALLERY

817 SW 2nd Avenue (downtown between SW Yamhill & Taylor Streets)

Portland, OR 97204

503.224.8182

http://www.augengallery.com/calendar.html

HOURS: TUESDAY – SATURDAY 10:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Unearthed Color

2008-04-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

I found an older copy of Lucky Magazine and mined this palette from the cover. Delicious.

Tropical Begonias

2008-04-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

These tropical begonia leaves and their variegated colors are fantastic, and ripe for inspiration.

Image source: www.robsviolet.com/begonias.htm

Eggs

2008-03-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

I am crazy about the carefully styled pages of Martha Stewart, and this arrangement is no exception.

Mushrooms and Owls

2008-03-15T12:54:00.001-07:00

What is it with the overuse of mushrooms and owls in design-y shops like Anthropologie? Why and how do these motifs suddenly permeate the design atmosphere? Birds used to be popular, now we have these two contenders. I can't wait for their overuse and subsequent absence!

Image sources (left): http://blog.kimvallee.com
(right): www.superherodesigns.com

Havaianas Shoe Ad

2008-03-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

The intricate and luscious color use in the Havaianas Shoe ads are a breath of pure color.

Adhemas Batista is a Brasilian designer/illustrator.
Nice work!

GREAT AD - HEMA Dept. Store - Dutch

2008-03-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam . Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands HEMA also has stores in Belgium , Luxemburg, and Germany In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital.
Take a look at HEMA's product page. You can't order anything and it's in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens.

Don't click on any of the products pictured, just wait and see what happens. And be sure you have your sound turned up.
This company has a sense of humor and a great computer programmer!

CLICK BELOW:
http://producten.hema.nl/

Baby Jingles

2008-03-03T07:32:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday newspaper Ashton-Drake ad seems to be a miniature newborn baby sculpture. What is it about this Baby Jingles monkey doll I find disturbing? Could it be the price of $30.00? The tongue? The hand-applied mohair?

Check it out at Ashton-Drake Galleries

2008-02-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

Another image from W Magazine (my favorite fashion/art magazine) - this time by Mario Sorrenti with a Burberry dress.

The use of colored lighting show the shadow to be the complement to the light source. Additionally the composition is excellent.

Photo credit: Mario Sorrenti

Orange & Pink

2008-02-27T14:18:00.001-08:00

I love this whimsical and intensely hued Hermès ad in the March 2008 of W Magazine.

Photo credit: Terry Tsiolis

Catalina Estrada - Masterful Color

2008-02-21T09:21:00.001-08:00

Nylon magazine displayed this ad illustrated by Spanish artist Catalina Estrada in their February 2008 issue.

I applaud the artist choice as an ad for Zune Originals (a Microsoft ipod where you can pick your own design for it's back). I adore her masterful use of color and her intricate use of folk art-inspired decorative elements.

If my brain could scream any more excitement about this piece, it would explode!

Image: www.magnetreps.com/wp/530

Rigorous Geometry

2008-02-18T11:49:00.000-08:00

Martha Stewart's garden is truly a work of rectilinear design. Aside from the intensely organized rows of varied vegetation, the bird's eye view yields some excellent greens.

Photo credit unknown
www.marthastewart.com

Painting with a small brush for a long period of time...

2008-02-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

is tiring and exhilarating.

(A 20/0 brush.)

Lauren Clay at Tilt Gallery

2008-02-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

These two images are pieces by Brooklyn-based sculptor Laura Clay. I spoke with her briefly and viewed her exhibit at Tilt Gallery in Portland, Oregon (www.tiltpdx.com).

Left: "There is a Place for You, In my Heart of Hearts"
85" x 96" x 45", acrylic on cut paper, wall painting, flocking, light

Right: "Seized by the Power of a Great Affection"
acrylic on cut paper, plexi-glass, fabric, mixed media
40" x 85" x 80"

It is not often I meet an artist whose work I like and admire SO much! Her pastel color palette, assemblages, and shapes - both geometric and biomorphic - are simply sublime and uniquely interesting. At times the rounded strips of painted paper applied to the wall appear to be feather/wing/birdlike.

I would like to purchase a piece.

Sarah Johnson at Chambers Gallery - Portland, OR

2008-02-07T10:32:00.001-08:00

This month, Sarah Johnson is showing a wall installation made from gumdrops at the Chambers Gallery. It spells out "I am not sexually satisfied". The texture, blobulous grouping and colors are what intrigue me. She is using gumdrops as text...and what a better, juicy medium for her frustrated message.

After entering the gallery, I noticed the sweet smell of gumdrops (Dots) - one unexpected additional element from so many exposed candies.

BTW: What are the archival qualities of gumdrops? Perhaps short-term exhibitions are her goal. If not, keeping a design on a long-term basis, resin would be a better material.

No photo credit available.
www.chambersgallery.org

John Currin and the Making of Art

2008-02-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

John Currin made a good point about making art when your attitude toward it (and life) changes. After meeting his (now) wife and artist Rachel Feinstein, his outlook became much more positive:
"I came to the conclusion that there is no misery in art. All art is about saying yes, and all art is about its own making."

Much agreed.

Photograph: ELINOR CARUCCI
"The New Yorker", Jan. 28, 2008, pp. 64.

Trend Alert

2008-02-03T21:37:00.000-08:00

This palette is pictured in at least three different Sunday newspaper ads. The Color Association of the United States orders us to immediately use this combination! Still, I love the brown and green. I'll link the palette to nature (i.e. moss and wood). Others I know well have named the palette "turds-n-algae".

Chandelier - San Francisco

2008-02-01T12:19:00.001-08:00

I stumbled upon this chandelier in the lobby of SF's Union Square Hotel (Sept. 2007). Each bulb is 15 watts, and the design is definitely a "truth to materials" project. It's a nice light bouquet.

Carnivorously Decorative

2008-01-30T22:39:00.001-08:00

Victoria Reynolds piece "Lickety Split", 2003 is beautifully vulgar. I love the unexpected imagery, visual contrast and attention to detail! It reminds me of European super market ads where all the meat pictured is raw.

Source: www.richardhellergallery.com

Gray

2008-01-30T11:54:00.001-08:00

I tried using gray in one of my paintings yesterday - a lot of gray - and it depressed me. I see too much gray in Portland as it is! As soon as I turned to color, I felt better. Whew! Disaster averted. (Although I love the way it looks, I'll leave the gray and a splotch of color to someone else.)

Monochrome

2008-01-25T14:45:00.001-08:00

Marcus Teo's setup at W Magazine shows how awesome color can be if it is set off by nothing but achromatic values. Love the red. Right now I am seeing more and more gray with only a touch of color, and it makes the color ever more present.

Photo by Nigel Cox.

Lucky Stickers

2008-01-24T14:42:00.001-08:00

How great is it to have someone create some exciting color work!?
Each month Lucky Magazine publishes a sheet of stickers using a color or colors of-the-moment. I never actually use them for their intended purpose, but I do post the sheet in my studio and look at them for their color/value properties.

Effervescent

2008-01-19T15:08:00.001-08:00

Made of clear blown glass, this is definitely one of my favorite necklaces. It is designed by Marina and Susanna Sent. I originally saw the artist Dharma Strasser Maccoll wearing it at her Augen Gallery art opening December 2007.
www.momastore.org

Subtle Color

2008-01-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

Because I teach color theory (and am entranced by color), I am always looking at how color is being used. I like how the pink is being enhanced by the achromatic gray and silver diamonds.
Source: Chopard broach from February's W Magazine