On my last trip to Portland I discovered Annie Meyer, a local artist whose work I’ve mentioned before in Chez Catherine. This time she was in her studio when I dropped by, and we had a lovely chat. She explained the technique she uses to create her exquisite landscapes using paint and ink. She also showed me her nudes, explaining that her model of eight years had recently retired from modeling, much to Annie’s chagrin. Her landscapes combine serene, almost abstract vistas with vivid color choices, while her nudes are deceptively simple and starkly dramatic. I purchased several landscapes and nudes, which I will show in future posts.

I spent a lovely few hours recently in Manhattan at The Affordable Art Fair, an eclectic exhibit of emerging artists from around the world. Among my favorites:

The painting on the left is by Mat Barbor Kennedy,  who specializes in the beauty of the urban environment and the bricks and mortar, plaster, concrete and steel that are its building blocks.

Next is Noel Myles, who uses 19^th Century photographic processes and a patchwork style to create black and white and color images with a hypnotic sense of depth and detail.

Finally, Jeff Fontaine’s art focuses on the innate beauty created as manmade objects break down and naturally age. His “quilted” metal panels have a stark, captivating appeal.

I’ve talked about the work of the French painter Aubril before, but her watercolors are so exquisite that I want to share an example of her recent work. The scene is Venice and the delicacy and depth of her paintings can be seen to great effect. I’ve placed her canvasses in several clients’ homes, as their graceful composition and muted color palettes elevate the scheme of most any space.

Everyone has heard about the French Impressionists, but Russian Impressionists, working during the Soviet era, from the 1930s to the 1980s, produced some of the most evocative images in twentieth century art. Largely hidden from the West, as was much Russian art when the Communists were in control, the work of these artists deserves the wider audience that it is now receiving. This painting is classical impressionism: capturing a moment in broad strokes, transporting the viewer to a very specific time and place.

There were two artists I was particularly impressed with during my recent trip to Portland, Oregon, Michael Flohr and Annie Meyer. Flohr’s style is a modern take on impressionism. As he says: “My goal as a modern impressionist is to capture a gesture and a mood, not necessarily every pore on the face of a person depicted in one of my paintings. I want my figures to be a part of the painting, not the painting itself. They work together in the environment creating the movement and emotion in a piece.” Spoken like a true disciple of Pissaro, Monet, Manet and Degas. Flohr’s subject matter is drawn from nightlife scenes, cityscapes, still lifes and figurative portraiture. It’s largely urban in content, and it’s execution, while bordering on the surreal, is familiar and captures contemporary reality with great fidelity.

Annie Meyer works in a variety of mediums, but my favorites are her landscape paintings done in oil and acrylic. She has visited the Sancerre region of France for one month a year for the past 13 years and she uses the paintings and ideas gleaned on these trips as inspiration for additional landscapes she paints in her studio during he rainy Portland winters. I find in her work a Zen-like focus and harmony, with it’s simple, solid fields of colors and isolated highlights.

Aubril is a French artist who paints watercolor landscapes as well as abstract oils. The landscapes are as delicate and atmospheric as the abstracts are moody and thought provoking. Her series of Venice watercolors capture with great poignancy the decaying beauty of this precarious yet ageless city in a lagoon. Several of my clients are proud owners. Please contact me if you’re interested in seeing more of her work. You’ll find Belle Maison’s complete contact info by clicking Contact Us on the menu bar at the top of this page. 

My daughter Natalie Trytell creates some of the most charming and distinctive greeting cards I’ve ever seen, though of course I’m prejudiced. She received her degree in art from the Massachusetts College of Art, where she specialized in printmaking. Her cards cover the range from holiday, birthday, get well, thank you and general art cards for any occasion.  She’s not had an easy time living with neurofibromatosis (link here for more information), but through her unique style she produces cards that are joyous, innocent and idiosyncratic depictions of the humanity that binds us all together. Link here to Natalie’s site. 

Berc Ketchian is a Turkish born artist who’s spent time in France and the US. He took over our old studio in Maplewood and I quickly fell in love with his work. His influences include French Impressionism, but his work is unique, featuring atmospheric portraits and landscapes, vibrant colors and above all a warm and embracing humanism.