Art to Inspiration: Jill Ricci

I’ve been having so much fun with the Art to Inspiration project!  The first month I participated, the inspiration work was by Pakayla Biehn, an artist whose work I’d already fallen in love with when I featured her on Artsy Forager a while back.  The next month gave me an opportunity to fall head over heads for Jo Howe’s organically inspired work.  So I was thrilled when my suggested artist, Jill Ricci was chosen as the inspiration for June!

Jill is one of those artists whose work I never tire of and I hope you don’t either, because I have a tendency to want to feature her work every chance I get!  One of my favorite elements running through Jill’s work is the urban, graffiti-like graphics.  So for this Art to Inspiration, I’ve put together a Ricci-inspired gallery of street art!

The inspiration-

Float by Jill Ricci, mixed media on canvas, 40×40

The gallery-

NeSpoon ( via Recyclart )

By Sainer from Etam Crew, on Urban Forms Foundation in Lodz, Poland ( via Street Art Utopia )

Artist unknown, ( via Street Art Utopia )

By Speto, Sao Paulo, Brazil ( via Wooster Collective )

Obey by Shepard Fairey ( via My Modern Metropolis )

Be sure to click the photos above for more of each artist’s work and to see more inspiring street art.  You can also check out Artsy Forager’s Artsy On the Streets Pinterest board to keep up with all the street art I’m finding!

You can find more information on Art to Inspiration here and if you would like to participate in the next Art to Inspiration, just fill out this form! Follow me and all the other Art to Inspiration bloggers on Twitter by subscribing here.  Let the inspiring begin! 

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May Facebook Featured Artist: Jill Ricci

The first time I saw the work of Jill Ricci, I was completely smitten.  Her palette, use of texture, pattern and materials lend such a glamourous edge to her work.  Wonderfully feminine and sophisticated yet rustic-ly urban.  I’m giddy to have her as the Facebook Featured Artist for May!  So much so that I find myself going to the Artsy Forager Facebook page just to gaze at her cover image.  Is that weird?

Breathing Room, mixed media on canvas, 48×24

Her work reminds me of the things I love so much about New York– the glamour and elegance of the city, its history and architecture,  how it teems with life and colorful characters.

Decadent, mixed media on canvas, 48×36

But even as we idealize the city, it hits us with its grittiness, its realness.  As the song goes, “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”  Ricci’s work shares that same energy, stubbornness and passion.

Star-Crossed, mixed media on canvas, 14×14

Like apartment windows in the city, each portal in Ricci’s work is a glimpse into a different world– graphic niches to discover and explore.

Thoughtful, mixed media on canvas, 48×30

Happening, mixed media on canvas, 30×40

If you haven’t done so already, head over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page to see an album of more of my Jill Ricci faves– tell me which is your favorite!  And of course, check out her website for even more gorgeousness!

Featured image is Bullseye, mixed media on canvas, 48×24.  All images are via the artist’s website.

Friday Faves: You Spin Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round

Note: The title of this post is a reference to the original Dead or Alive song, not more recent versions featuring people who are possibly young enough to be my children.  Children of the 80s unite!

I love art of all shapes and sizes.  Large scale, small, square, rectangle, ROUND.  Artists who take on the circular composition get extra kudos.  Check out some examples I’m loving this week!

Andy Says by Jill Ricci, mixed media on wood, 24″ diameter

National Soil Destruction Leading to Self Implosion by Steve Williams, mixed media, 48″ diameter

Emily by Ben Hughes, oil on canvas, 22″ diameter

No. 555 by Nicholas Bodde, oil and acrylic on aluminum, 80cm diameter

 Jill Ricci | Steve Williams | Ben Hughes | Nicholas Bodde 

Any other orb-obsessed artists I should know about?  Tell me about ’em in the comments!

Featured image is Andy Says by Jill Ricci.  Be sure to head over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page where Jill Ricci is this month’s featured artist!  All images are via the artists’ websites, linked above.  Special thanks to The Jealous Curator for introducing me to Ben Hughes’ work!

The Artsy Home: Does Jill Ricci Live Here?

Doesn’t this room bear a striking resemblance to Jill Ricci’s work?  It’s as if her mixed media has jumped off the canvas to cover every surface.  And I love it!

Photo by Emily Gilbert, The Brooklyn Home Co featured in the Fall 2010 issue of The New York Observer HOME

Miss RI by Jill Ricci, mixed media on canvas, 30×48

Artsy on Escape Into Life: Jill Ricci

Special treat for your Monday!  Due to Escape Into Life website maintenance, my EIL feature ran early yesterday.  Head over and enjoy!

Love at first sight.  That’s what I felt for Jill Ricci’s work. The colors!  The texture!  The graphics!  I love it all and am sharing it over on Escape Into Life today.  Click on the link below to fall in love!

Hocus Pocus, mixed media on canvas, 20x30

Jill Ricci on Escape Into Life

Artsy Spot: Gallery Orange

In the heart of the New Orleans French Quarter, housed in a 200+ year old classic Creole building lives Gallery Orange, a contemporary fine art gallery whose vibe and vision match the freshness of its signature color.

Gallery Orange, New Orleans, exterior

If you’re a regular Artsy Forager reader, you’ve heard of Gallery Orange before.  I first found GO when I discovered the work of Sarah Ashley Longshore, which then led me to Gallery Orange, her exclusive representation in New Orleans.  I found gallery owner Tracy Geilbert’s aesthetic and taste to be quite similar to my own and have been happily watching her list of artists grow and work by those artists flying off the walls!  Tracy’s love of art and enthusiasm for original work is infectious, I’ve never seen a gallery promote their artists harder than she does!

Gallery Orange, New Orleans, interior with works by Sarah Ashley Longshore

Owner Tracy Geilbert was already selling art at a young age, making sketches of Duran Duran, photocopying them and selling the “prints” to her classmates. ( Ah, a fellow 80’s girl! )  Part Dutch and part British, Geilbert studied  art and eventually graduated from the Royal Academy of the Arts at The Hague.  Life would eventually take her to post-Katrina New Orleans and, after working for another high-end New Orleans gallery, heeded the call of her heart to open a space of her own.

Gallery Orange, interior, works by Guus Kemp

Gallery Orange, New Orleans, interior, works by Gigi Mills, Carlos Lopez and Jill Ricci

Starting in a tiny 600 square foot space, with only two artists on her roster, Tracy’s hard work and eye for unique talent led to the gallery’s current space on Royal Street where boutique galleries are springing up and blazing new trails on the New Orleans art scene.  Tracy brings her Dutch artistic sensibilities to the gallery, offering only exceptional original work ( no giclees here! ), creative energy galore and a bit of good humor thrown in.  Gallery Orange is all about serious art that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Gallery Orange, New Orleans, exterior

If you are in New Orleans or planning a visit, do not miss a trip to Gallery Orange!  Delightful, deliciousness awaits you!  You can see a list of upcoming shows at GO on their website— which is newly redesigned, make sure you check it out!

All images are courtesy of Gallery Orange.

A Tale of Patina, Pattern and Pop: Jill Ricci

In our modern and sleek world, we find fascination in old things and places.  These are objects with a story, subway walls wallpapered with layer upon layer upon layer of poster ads or the stratum of paints on a bedroom wall, showing us the history of its owners.  These are the ideas New Jersey artist Jill Ricci strives to convey in her work, those hidden discoveries.

Upper Playground, mixed media on canvas, 36×48

By combining elements of advertising ephemera, fabric, wallcoverings and abstraction, Ricci’s work manages to feel at once ancient and modern.

Ovation, mixed media on canvas, 24×24

With contemporary graphics layered under the patina of paint, these pieces almost feel like we are peeling back the scales from the antiquated to find that what is hidden beneath is not obsolete, but avant-garde.

Release, mixed media on canvas, 36×48

The artist’s layering collected materials mirrors society’s ever abiding search for the next big thing.  We are constantly looking for the latest gadget, fashion or whatchmacallit that will give us joy.  But perhaps, joy doesn’t come from the newest thing, but looking back with fondness and learning from what has come before.

Roam, mixed media on canvas, 36×48

Jack’s Garden, mixed media on canvas, 48×36

To see more of Jill Ricci’s work, please visit her website.  Her work can currently be seen in shows at Jules Place in Boston, MA and at Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park, NJ.  Check these artsy spots out if you’re nearby!

Featured image is Cherish, mixed media on canvas, 48×30.  All images are via the artist’s website.