Art Lovers

I’ve had very few circumstances where more than one person wanted a particular painting. Sometimes it takes years for the artwork and the collector to find each other. When they do it always feels like it’s meant to be. It’s one of the reasons I love doing the studio tour because I get to meet the art lover in person.

Not everyone “gets” the work but those that do… really do! To me, they become part of the art-making…like it’s their eyes in particular who can see.

I thought it would be nice to share some pieces that have found new homes this year. Some are recent works finished this year. Others waited patiently for years to finally connected with the right collector.

I’m always grateful for the support of art lovers but especially so this year. It’s like you are holding the door open so beauty can still find a way into a world…so in need of it.

I’ll just tell you one more thing…someone told me this past week that she felt like putting on a silk robe and walking right into one of these paintings. It totally made me smile, sort of like a spa day for your soul.

Enjoy!

Eden Experiment: Ruby Fire

“Enchanted Organism”

“Cosmic Lace: Serenity

“Spark”

“To the dull mind, all nature is leaden. To the illuminated mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light. ”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sea Change: Ice Tide

Eden Experiment: Pinky Star

“Opulent Season”

“Beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but a positive necessity of life. ”

— -William Morris

Numinous Realms: Nomad

“Cosmic Lace: Radiant Adornment

“I’m restless.
Things are calling me away.
My hair is being pulled by the stars again.”

— Anaïs Nin

Wild Thing

Ahh…yet another flower power post!

Since the spring I’ve been paying attention to garden details in a deep way. I feel like all this up close studying is sinking in somewhere in my psyche…even if at times it feels like a distraction away from painting.

There is something inside that keeps nudging “follow this wild thing!”(maybe it’s O’Keefe’s ghost;)

I probably adore this passionflower vine more for its spiraling tendrils and buds than the flowers themselves. The flowers have a strangeness that looks “machine-like” to me. They always look like a propeller about to spin off in flower flight.

It has a good kind of creepiness too…like the eyes of a plant monster. Kind of perfect as we edge closer to my favorite holiday…Halloween!

Once it gets a grip in the garden it grows like a wild thing! Popping up in unexpected places. Its enthusiasm borders on invasive. Makes it easy to snip big handfuls to stuff in a vase in the studio.

I’m feeling lots of inspiration from those tendrils on dark backgrounds. There is also something fascinating about how that soft green bud opens into such a dramatic display.

I’ve actually been lucky enough to see the exact moment of bloom. Watching the energy flip from gentleness to boldness in an instant. It’s hard to explain the feeling of watching the ta-da! of petals…except to say it’s good to pay attention to organic magic:)

““I hope you will go out and let stories, that is life, happen to you, and that you will work with these stories from your life…not someone else’s life…water them with your blood and tears and your laughter till they bloom, till you yourself burst into bloom. That is the work. The only work.””

— Clarissa Pinkola Estés

I hope to get some new canvas delivered soon so I can see where it leads!

Till next time…

Studio Tour: The 2020 Edition

The Chester County Studio Tour is happening this weekend. I’m studio #7 in Phoenixville. 148 4th Ave. My downstairs space is open with a guest limit of 4. I’d love for you to come out but if you need to keep safe I’ve put together some videos to give you a virtual studio visit.

2020 Edition Video #1 Artist, Siobhan Bedford, her sharing her art studio for the 2020 Chester County Studio Tour. more info available at www.siobhanbedford.com

Artist, Siobhan Bedford. Chester County Studio Tour: 2020 Edition. How I make art.

Artist Siobhan Bedford, Chester County Open Studio Tour: The 2020 Edition. Art On View

Experiments

I’ve been in an experimental mood…

A shift started in the spring with the Doodle Ladies and it has just carried through all summer. I think the pandemic rattled something loose inside me and pushed me to take a detour into works on paper.

In the studio, I’ve been playing around with pinhole punching in some very tiny drawings. That led to pin punching some bigger abstract drawings. Then before I knew it I was pushing the needle into even bigger drawings that became more elaborate.

This is one…I call them “Light Bright Ladies.” Although they could just as easily be called “Poppy Ladies” because I’m pretty sure they got their start from all the poppy photos I took this spring.

What I find interesting about these mixed media pieces is the way the light plays on the surface and transforms it when backlit.

It’s a little exhausting on the fingertips to punch so many holes through the paper but also surprisingly soothing. I just splurged on a fancy Pergamano tool so that should save my little finger muscles…(in case you were concerned;)

I like the braille effect when I run my finger over the surface. I also like to think of the process as paper voodoo or acupuncture for paper…it depends on if I’m feeling vexed or in a healing mood;)

Front lit

You might not see her if you look too quick…but she is there. Look for the eyes.

Back lit

These ladies are a little unruly…I mean ripply…to get these photos I had to tape them to windows and walls. I’m not sure how I would display this work as I’m interested in both the front-lit and the backlit versions.

This work is all still very experimental so anything can happen…But, one idea is to frame them pressed between glass but then I would lose that ripply unruliness that I’ve come to love. Another is to print them up along with all my mixed media lady drawings from this strange pandemic time into a book.

I’m not sure how long that book would be…since this strange time still hangs over our days.

experiments to be continued…

“If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it - keep going, keep going come what may.”

— Vincent van Gogh

PS….If you are not already on my list…Please be sure to send me your email at siobhan@siobhanbedford.com to be added to my VIP list so I can keep you updated as we get closer to the open studio coming September 19 -20.