The Element of the Artiste!

Recently, I have also had the fortune of meeting two artists whose works have given me much to ponder as I approach my own work. Their use of metallics (albeit for different reasons) is refreshing and exciting.Aude de Saint-Exupery http://www.audedesaintexupery.com likes to work with a metallic palette as it reminds her of the sun and heat.  Her work is inspired by her travels and living in Africa, the Pacific Islands and in Asia.  She uses metallics to highlight a landscape and/or call attention to detail.

Another artist, Gwen Anderson, www.gwenchi.com incorporates silver leaf or aluminum leaf into her collections, which I find to be haunting and intricate.  Gwen’s work is influenced by her experiences as a child, surviving a shipwreck along with her sister and friends; while losing her father and others.  The mental images from this event, which have developed over time, are both “harrowing and beautiful” and an inspiration to her work.  In Gwen’s works, the corrosive nature of the metals allows for her interpretations to reflect the distortion and change of memories through time.  Her use of metallics as a medium is interesting to me as an artist and motivates me to explore use of the color in my own artwork.