Tag: woodworking

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Paul Stone

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 Paul Stone specializes in traditional still life compositions, often with a contemporary twist.

Painting in oils, in the style of classical realism, Stone employs an accomplished use of light and shade to create a sense of texture and atmosphere in his work. 

After graduating in professional fine art practice in 2008, Stone made the decision to become a full time oil painter, and has since established a reputation in still life excellence, winning numerous national awards and building a growing base of appreciative collectors.

Having grown up on the coast of Suffolk, the artist initially studied design at Lowestoft College, then spent many years in various professions, including teaching children with special needs, before discovering his love of art history, and his devotion to still life painting.

His focus is on showing the beauty of natural design in organic objects, with simple, elegant compositions, enhanced by dramatic lighting and studied detail.

The result is works showcasing traditional oil painting techniques, with a contemporary feel and presentation.

 More of Paul Stone’s wonderful paintings can be found at https://paulstoneart.com/

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Paul Kaptein

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Paul Kaptein is an Australian  artist who specializes in sculpture and drawing.Kaptein graduated with an Advanced Diploma of Art and Design from the Claremont School of Art and a Bachelor of Fine Art from Curtin University.Kaptein works with large blocks of laminated wood to reveal warped and distorted human figures, some pierced with a smattering of holes linked with drawn lines like star constellations.Dramatic contours and warped curves interrupt the traditional human forms, making the sculptures seem as if they been intercepted by a digital software glitch.Depending on the vantage point of the viewer, the figures can change from figurative to abstract, with some angles revealing an almost completely typically human body, while others uncover a striking warped effect.

Most of the Kaptein’s hand carved wooden pieces are in the middle of two modes of being – a stable, static appearance and some kind of mysterious state characterized by flexibility and fluctuation.His hand-carved busts and figurative sculptures are additionally punctuated by gaps formed from the laminating process, creating the impression of digital glitches or images skewed by poor reception.

More of Paul Kaptein’s amazing sculptures can be found at https://www.paulkaptein.com/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Randall Rosenthal

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Randall Rosenthal (1947- New York, NY) is a sculptor known for turning single blocks of wood into intricately detailed sculptures of ordinary objects. The artist’s collection of work boasts mind-boggling creations that are not only diligently carved and thoroughly painted, but also presented in visually realistic compositions.
He starts with masses of hardwood, and begins the creative process with blade routers, chain saws and angle grinders.The finer work is done with as many as 50 hand tools.Carved from a single block of pine, Rosenthal uses a reductive process, with no adhesives, to create these astonishingly realistic works.The works are then finished using acrylic and ink.His subjects have ranged from magazines to notepads to envelopes and boxes of money.Due to the excellent paint job and perfect sculpting, most of us are completely fooled by his optical illusions.“I get a little frenzied in the beginning,” the artist shares. “I can see it in my head and want to make it appear in real life.”

More of Randall Rosenthal‘s amazing sculptures can be found at http://www.randallrosenthal.com/. 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Gil Bruvel

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Gil Bruvel is a visionary artist, capable of translating complex ideas and fleeting impressions into stunning works of art.

His art emerges from a deep contemplation of images, emotions, and sensations, which he refines continually before he casts them into material form.

Gil Bruvel was born in Australia, but raised in the South of France.

His father, a cabinetmaker by profession, taught him furniture design and wood sculpting. Once he gained these skills, he began his studies at an art restoration workshop in Chateaurenard, France, where he learned the techniques of old and modern masters.

It was here that he got a chance to enhance his knowledge about wood and within no time was crafting portraits in wood.

Bruvel’s work displays a mastery of technique and high-level craftsmanship.

His sculptures in bronze, wood, and stainless steel, as well as his functional furniture and mixed media, all reflect a well-defined move towards three-dimensional representation.

A look at Bruvel’s works makes it evident that this visionary artist is certainly capable of transforming his unique ideas into stunning works of art.

More of Gil Bruvel‘s marvelously creative woodworks can be found at https://www.bruvel.com/ and https://chloefinearts.com/artist/gil-bruvel.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Welsh Lovespoons

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Welsh lovespoons are hand made wooden spoons that are made from one piece of wood and designed and decorated according to the carver’s imagination.

Originally made by young men during the long winter nights or by young men on long sea voyages, they were carved to express that young man’s intentions towards a particular girl.

A lovespoon would be given to a girl as an indication that he wished to court her. A girl may have received lovespoons from several suitors and these would be displayed on the wall of her home.

The earliest surviving lovespoon dating from around 1667 is at the National Museum of Wales at St. Fagans near Cardiff but Welsh lovespoons are known to have been made by the menfolk of Wales before this date.

Today Welsh lovespoons may be given as they were originally, to declare a suitor’s intent, for Dydd Santes Dwynwen, the Welsh equivalent to Valentine’s Day celebrated on January 25th.

They are also given for to commemorate a Wedding Day, an Engagement, the birth of a child, a wedding anniversary, a birthday, or a Christening or Baptism.

 

It is a marvelous tradition that entails craftmanship, heritage, and the truest of emotions — love.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery Blog — Darryl Cox

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Artist Darryl Cox fuses ornate vintage picture frames with tree branches found in the forests of central Oregon.

Cox uses many different woods:  central Oregon manzanita, juniper, aspen, Willamette Valley filbert and California grapevine are a few of his favorites.

The branches serve as a simple reminder of the materials used to build picture frames, but also create an unusual form factor where clean lines and ornate moulding patterns seem to naturally traverse the bark of each tree limb.

Each piece involves many hours of woodworking, sculpting, and painting.

Darryl Cox says it perfectly:  “I enjoy seeking out unique frames, wherever they may be. And, I love being outdoors reclaiming extraordinary tree branches and roots. Especially when most of the time it involves spending a day or two in the forests of Central Oregon, but other wonderful places, too.”

More of Darryl Cox’s gorgeous frames can be found at http://fusionframesnw.com/