Katya Gridneva

Art Appreciation

Drawing or paintings of ballet dancers always grab my attention, probably because of the grace, elegance and athleticism of dancers. When artists are able to capture those qualities, I'm eager to learn more about them.  

Recently, I came across a few pastel drawings of ballet dancers by Ukrainian artist Katya Gridneva. It was of a ballet dancer tying her lace around her ankle.

Katya Gridneva studied in St. Petersburg Academy of Art and is known for capturing the human form. She works in oils, pastels and charcoal.

You can see more of her wonderful works HERE.

via tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica

via tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica

via maherartgallery

Sources: 
http://katyagridneva.com/
http://www.artistsofrussia.com/katya-gridneva/
http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2011/10/katya-gridneva-1965-ukraine.html
http://www.john-noott.com/artist/gridneva~katya/gridneva~katya.php
http://maherartgallery.blogspot.com/2013/04/katya-gridneva-1965-ukrainian.html
http://impressioniartistiche.blogspot.com/2013/05/katya-gridneva.html
http://artodyssey1.blogspot.com/2013/01/katya-gridneva.html

Ruslan Lobanov

Photography Appreciation

Ukrainian photographer Ruslan Lobanov is known for his fashion photos of women in public places and intimate settings. He's also known for the photographic details, especially those that depict a certain time era.

To see more of his wonderful work HERE and HERE.

via ruslanlobanov

via klimtbalan

via 12quest

Sources:
http://www.ruslanlobanov.com/
http://500px.com/lobanov
http://lobanovruslan.35photo.ru/
http://www.photodom.com/photographer/lobanov
http://ruslanlobanov.livejournal.com/
http://r-heels.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-post_25.html
http://mmiummiu.tumblr.com/post/67268509264/shots-by-ukrainian-photographer-ruslan-lobanov
http://klimtbalan.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/ruslan-lobanov/

Wendy Schaefer / Kevin Miles

Art Appreciation

I came to know about Wendy Schaefer and Kevin Miles on the Carnival Legend. The ship's art gallery was auctioning a few of their paintings.

Miles and Schaefer are a husband and wife painting team from Wisconsin. Their collaborative works are known for its vivid oil paintings of American landscapes.

During the auction, the ship's art gallery host explained the collaboration between the two: Schaefer starts painting the scenery and Miles then adds the details.

You can see more of their beautiful work HERE.

Indian Paintbrush in the Rockies via pinterest

Joyous via pinterest

End of Day La Jolla via pinterest

Sources:
http://www.schaefer-milesfineart.com/
http://www.parkwestgallery.com/artist/schaefer-miles
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kevin-wendy-schaefer-miles.html
http://theartfestival.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/24th-annual-beaver-creek-art-festival-august-6th-7th-2011/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/399905641882637491/

Tamara de Lempicka

Art Appreciation

If you are around my age, you'd probably recognize Tamara de Lempicka's artwork in Madonna's classic music videos "Open Your Heart," "Vogue," and "Express Yourself."

The Polish Art Deco painter was known as "the first woman artist to be a glamour star," which explains why Madonna chose to incorporate de Lempicka's artwork in her videos since Madonna herself is a glamour star.

Born on May 16, 1898, de Lempicka moved from St. Petersburg to Paris, during the Russian Revolution. In 1925, she had her major show in Milan, Italy. Her iconic self-portrait Tamara in the Green Bugatti was featured on the cover of a German fashion magazine.

You can learn more about de Lempicka's amazing life and work HERE.

Tamara in the Green Bugatti (1925) via lovelyritablog

Portrait of a Man (1928) via reynoldsstill

Suzy Solidor (1933) via artcontrarian

Sources:
http://www.delempicka.org/; http://www.artinthepicture.com/artists/Tamara_de-Lempicka/Biography/; http://culture.pl/en/artist/tamara-lempicka-tamara-de-lempicka; http://lovelyritablog.com/2012/02/11/inspiration-tamara-de-lempicka/

Ian Bodnaryk

Art Appreciation

I enjoy looking at an image and wonder whether its a photograph or a painting. Many times I can tell the difference; however, when it comes to hyper-realistic paintings, the task is a bit more difficult.

Canadian born Ian Bodnaryk is known for his hyper-realistic paintings of still life and portraits.

Perhaps my favorite of his acrylic paintings is that of plums around a metallic can.What I like about this painting is that he captures the fruits imperfections which is visible from the reflecting light.

You can find more of Bodnaryk's paintings on his website, HERE.

Reflecting Plums via fineartblogger

Sigmund via artodyssey1

Awaiting Rain via artodyssey1

Sources:
http://www.ianbodnaryk.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ibodnaryk
http://artistaday.com/?p=17423
http://ampersandartsupply.blogspot.com/2013/11/featured-artist-ian-bodnaryk.html
http://fineartblogger.com/ian-bodnaryk-acrylic-paintings/