Quite a while ago I thought I’d start featuring other artists who, like me, are into recycling or what I refer to as Upcycling. My first featured artist was Leo Sewell, whose sculptures were made from all sorts of recycled bits and pieces. But what he did with them was amazing! But that was way back in May of 2010.
I really meant to carry on with that idea but life happens doesn’t it? Things get lost or found or whatever and this year I’ve been giving my blog a bit more thought, especially about the directions I want to carry on with. And one of the ideas I still want to to do is this feature. Especially when there are so many artists I’d love to tell everyone about. That’s really the beauty of the internet too, that you can be exposed to so much really good work.
So on that note I’d like to introduce on my blog, a remarkable assemblage and mosaic artist, Carolyn Machado. I discovered her work a year or so ago. She was one of the artists in my long list of bookmarked artists before I started with Pinterest. Many of you will no doubt know of her, but for those of you who don’t, you are in for a lovely show. When I emailed her for permission to feature her work, which she graciously gave, she mentioned that she was quite happy to hear that someone so far away was enjoying her work. She also has a blog that you will enjoy.
What I love about her work is the sense that each piece of the assemblage has been lovingly saved and then slowly set into place. In her bio she says that she uses recycled materials quite deliberately because she is attracted to the overlooked beauty of things that have braved the passage of time. I can identify with that sentiment entirely.
Carolyn has a touch with her works that makes her little bits and pieces transcend their humble origins and become something that looks almost jewel like. They have a taste of the Orient about them, being quite simply designed, with a quiet and meditative sensibility. Since I use old odd little ornaments and bits of old dishes in my work too, I’m happy to see that I’m not alone in appreciating their value.
Of course, not all of her work is quietly meditative, some have a sense of humour and a feeling of fun like her Mexican piece or some of her paper collage pieces.
Carolyn shows her work in a rather prestigious show in California called Festival of the Arts at Laguna Beach. You can get a glimpse of past festivals on youtube and also an interview with Carolyn there as well. She also offers workshops on assemblage, so if you are in California, do check her website events page.
I’d also like to share a little video that Carolyn has sent to me about her studio and see a bit about her and how she works. Enjoy.
I hope you have enjoyed my second in the series I hope to maintain. As I said in my previous post I’m loving Pinterest since it allows me to have a visual bookmark at last. I’ve just started but I’ve gotten quite a few really interesting artists collected already and hope to feature more on my blog.
So thank you to Carolyn Machado for allowing me to feature her work and also thank you for being such an inspiring artist.
