May's Artist X: Jack Risley

It's the final day of the month and time to finally reveal the identity of the man I have been sleuthing this month.

Jack Risley is a mixed media artist based in Colorado Springs. His visual art interest was discovered and is being nurtured later in life, though it is very obvious that he has always led an artistic path. Jack's pieces incorporate collage elements. He loves to read The New York Times and find words that strike him for both meaning and visual appeal to cut out and incorporate into his paintings. He layers these words and phrases upon canvas or paper and then adds drops, splotches, scratches, and other character to them. Jack's website and contact information can be found here: http://jackrisleyart.com/

I leave you with one final piece by Jack...stay tuned for June's new Artist X!

It All Makes Sense

With vignettes like these around his studio and home:

I was not at all surprised to learn that Artist X had previously been a window dresser for apparel stores and boutiques. It was more of a "duh" than an "aha". I could tell that he was passionate about this career and a little wistful to not have the opportunity to do such visible public installations anymore. 

When I think of modern window dressing Anthropologie always comes immediately to mind. They do a fantastic job of transforming the most mundane household objects and vintage finds into glorious displays. Here are a few:

May is Bursting Out All Over

This is the title of this piece by May's Artist X:

How appropriate a title given the volatile spring we have had so far. Normally arid Colorado is certainly not that way this month; it has been all rain, rain, rain. This bodes well for our flora & fauna and also minimizes our fire danger, but I am in the camp that is ready for a change and anticipating our sun's return.

Luckily we had some brief moments of that orb on Sunday afternoon when I visited the Denver Botanic Gardens for the first time this season. Yes, I miss the Henry Moore sculptures that were up last year, but I have to express my pleasure that Allan Houser is this year's replacement. I grew up admiring his monumental work in Santa Fe as well as the small piece my parents own in our home. Here is a shot of me in front of a lovely one accenting the concert hill:

 

Friday Freestyle: Green Art

This morning Kay and I are making a presentation to an architecture firm about potential ways to incorporate "green art" into design schemes. It's a great concept...but not a new one. Artists are thrifty and clever, and many have been making found objects into art pieces for a long time, certainly way before it became trendy.

A current Sapiro project that fits in this category is coming right along. The talented sculptor Jeff Erwine is in the process of curing, pickling, soldering, and sculpting found materials including metal scraps and wood planking from an old semi into an original sculpture. We should be finishing and installing the piece in about a month, and I will share images at that time. For now here is a sketch teaser:

Bunny Part 2

What a coincidence...I tee'd up yesterday's blog about bunnies before I left work and then trudged in the rain to the Tattered Cover to hear the architect Curtis Fentress, the designer Michael McCoy, and the artist Lawrence Argent speak about "Public Architecture: The Art Inside". There were many highlights in the evening, but I was mesmerized and had already mentally booked a flight to Sacramento when Argent, famous for our lovable convention center blue bear, revealed his latest work for that airport, a giant leaping red bunny. It is definitely on my must-see list. 

Subtle Touch of Bunny

Upon leaving my May Artist X's home I was intrigued to glimpse a hidden touch peeking out from beneath a console in the front hall entryway: a curious looking white porcelain rabbit. 

Why not? If you want to try the trend in a creepier way, here's an etsy site to buy a taxidermy stuffed rabbit for $29!

Book It!

My technology guru friend teases me endlessly that I need to get an e-reader. Perhaps one day I will get one...most likely when I get to take that extended round the world trip of my dreams and cannot possibly haul the dozen large books I would like to read. But, for now, I maintain my love affair with the old fashioned paper book, the kind with binding and fonts and illustrations that you can touch. My book collection stacks up all over my living space, and I delight in seeing the titles and reminiscing the stories I have read.

May's Artist X is the same way. Here is pic of a stack in his studio:

In need of a bookcase to organize your collection? I think this one from the blog chictip is pretty fantastic:

Intuitive Painting

It is about time in the month to start showing some of Artist X's pieces to you. I recently installed this piece, Trees and Mountains, in the back hallway of one of my corporate client's offices. In Artist X's words, his pieces are about "what my mind must be saying, really saying in all the subtle lights and darks, textures and swirls and small dots, and the most subtle or strong colors in the world depending on my disposition and mood and chemistry in my brain".

Here is a photographic representation of that same concept by photographer Vance Howard.

Parisian Priorities

Artist X wears black jeans from Target just about every day. He says he prefers them. I'm on to another reason...he admits that his favorite place to lunch is the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. Thrifty fashion choices must allow him the luxury of such tastes. Bonus: black can hide a multitude of sins, even buttery croissant ones!

I visited the Musee D'Orsay on my first trip to Paris when I was 13 and again on my next trip there right after college. The former train station is quite a stunning venue for some of France's most notable impressionist and post-impressionist pieces including the one pictured here, L'Absinthe by Edgar Degas. Merveilleux!
  

Classic Blue and White

Artist X used to, in his words, "impulsively collect" blue and white porcelain until he ran out of room in his home. Here is where he displays some of what he has:

Do you like porcelain as well? Here is a way to wear the trend: 

Owl brooch available at this etsy site:

Friday Freestyle

It's a lovely day to drive down to the Springs. No, I am not visiting Artist X this morning, although I could. He does live down there.
It is time to install some artwork at Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons' satellite office. The law firm's boardroom is sure to be more lovely and perhaps more productive with these large, luscious, dreamy landscapes by talented Denver photographer Paul Brokering adorning the windowless walls:

 

I am hoping to have time to view the Emilio Lobato show at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center as well: 

Carrots, Oranges, Creamsicles

I have always loved the color orange. I was born on Thanksgiving day, and my dad was famously in the doghouse for his urgency to leave my mom after her labor in order to watch the Bronco game. As you might guess, orange Bronco onesies were some of my earliest fashion statements. Later in life I selected UVA for college...more orange and blue. So you can imagine my delight in the fantastic vintage tureen I spotted in Artist X's living room:

Apparently this shade was on my mind when I got my pedi: 

How do you wear your orange?

All Tied Up

The idea to create this blog started with a visit to this gentleman’s studio, so it is only fitting that I begin my Studio Sleuth revelations with his space.

This studio is located in Colorado Springs, in a Truman Show-esque typical American residential neighborhood, perched in the hills above the city. Upon entering the home I quickly found that the interior, abundant in natural light, was anything but ordinary. This home and airy basement studio are delightful, and my eyes danced around the artful arrangements of items found in every nook and cranny. May’s Artist X is a collector and a master of displays. As the month goes on I will reveal where this hobby originated.

For now, enjoy this display feature from the studio: a simple glass case with several dozen vintage ties, tangled and twisted together in a peacock of pattern. 

 

And, along with the image, since it is spring and the week preceding the Kentucky Derby, let’s celebrate playfulness and pastels. Not sure what to wear to the Derby or a Derby-related party? Here are some tips.