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| Autumn Orchid |
Today's feature of the day goes to Sarah Knight; painter, crafter, photographer, creator of worm art, and lover of color. Knight has quite the collection of various art forms and creative styles. Each page of her Etsy store holds unique items, so I highly recommend looking through all of them.
Knight attended the School of Art & Design of the University of Michigan where she graduated with a bachelor of fine arts with a concentration on Scientific Illustration. She's been making art for as long as she can remember, growing up in a very art-friendly environment. Knight has dabbled in almost every type of medium including: graphite pencils, colored pencils, markers, acrylic paint, watercolors, tempura, pastels, pen and ink, etching, ceramics, mixed media, and "some things that weren't really intended as art mediums."
Starting off, are her abstract paintings. Using liberal amounts of color and salt, Knight creates stunning images with amazing texture and contrast. Knight says of her painting, Autumn Orchid (pictured above right), "It's intricate, it's natural. It's a phantasmagoria of organic color: violet, purple, puce, gold, ochre, yellow, sienna, pea green, olive green, and blushes of white. It's a fractal wash of deep and rich color." Knight has been making water color paintings for 12 years and believes in "going big or going home" when it comes to the use of the salt effect.
Knight also uses acrylic to create abstract landscapes. Using only color and free flowing brushstrokes, she is able to capture the feel of nature. Her acrylic work almost seems to feel like a memory rather than a painting. As though the painting shows what your mind might conjure up of that gorgeous sunset you saw one time and never wanted to forget, but time turned the memory into a blur. Knight started making them as a backdrop for a photography project that was never completed, but the paintings remained. The swirling colors and contrasts bump up against each other and demand to be seen. It's hard for the eye to ignore.
The same brilliant colors and painting can be found in Knight's hand made paper bowls. Using recycled papers, egg cartons, dryer lint, and various other materials, Knight crafts each bowl. When they're dry, they can be painted. Knight learned the technique in 4-H and it stuck with her. This is what she has to say about the creative process of painting Orchid Sunglow (pictured below), "The bowl has been painted like a landscape: the inside of the bowl is the sky, the outside of the bowl is the ground. The inside of the bowl is painted with a wash of colors, and rendered on top of that are the branches of a tree. The painted tree extends from the inside of the bowl to the outside of the bowl, where it sits atop a wash of muted olive green paint. The green paint on the exterior of the bowl is mottled in appearance due to the manner in which it was applied, and also has a metallic sheen of copper color - it sparkles. The inside of the bowl is painted to look like a setting sun."
Knight also uses acrylic to create abstract landscapes. Using only color and free flowing brushstrokes, she is able to capture the feel of nature. Her acrylic work almost seems to feel like a memory rather than a painting. As though the painting shows what your mind might conjure up of that gorgeous sunset you saw one time and never wanted to forget, but time turned the memory into a blur. Knight started making them as a backdrop for a photography project that was never completed, but the paintings remained. The swirling colors and contrasts bump up against each other and demand to be seen. It's hard for the eye to ignore.
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| Periwinkle Peach Phantasm |
Knight is also the creator of Earthworm art. Whether for necklaces, or her 3-d pictures, Knight captures the writhing nature in her little creations. The worms began in her AP art class and grew from there. The 3-d pictures are all hand-crafted and each worm is carefully placed. The images really create a sense of movement even though these worms have never been alive. The sheen on their bodies is expertly rendered and one gets the feeling that they could start wriggling at any moment. (see below right)
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| Earthworms |
Knight has many other art forms in her store not discussed here such as a variety of cards and origami cranes. She also has another Etsy site called: http://www.sarahkdesigns.etsy.com/ That features her illustrations.
There is a lot more that you can find out about Knight on her site, far more than I typically include in these features. You can also follow her on Twitter @SunshineSight, her blog: http://www.plasticacid.blogspot.com/ or tumblr: http://sunshinesight.tumblr.com
Thanks for stopping by for today's feature, and we hope you are creative today!
~Squirrel Creek Creations
Follow us on Twitter @SquirrelsCreek
Etsy Store: www.etsy.com/shop/squirrelcrkcreations
Very cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks : )
You're very welcome! =)
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