Keeping Art in the Family - The Work of Kim Caldwell

My daughter has always been creative. She loves improving things, fixing things, changing things, decorating things - trash-to-treasure stuff, and we share that same excitement every time we find some new piece at a yard sale or the thrift shop. Both our homes reflect our eclectic collections with a citified vibe which is just a touch Bohemian, but with a splash of Country for good measure. Nothing Spartan about our homes. Come in, put your feet up, let the kids run around.

But whether my daughter's interests are from nurture --I've involved myself in almost every kind of art form throughout my life, from music, to interior design, to sculpture, painting, and fiction writing, which she grew up with -- or from nature, I guess we'll never know. Perhaps she's simply inherited the same crazy genes that I did. (How frustrating not to know who else in our history had the same wild ride through life.)

And now she's painting, something she'd never tried before.

Today I present these with great pride. I've never been an abstractist, much as I admire so much of it , but the spontaneity of this art form seems to be so natural to her. These are very large canvases. If you are going to make a bold, modern statement, make it big!

Until next time, take care.

Lori Mirabelli at Etsy

I wasn't always a follower of abstract art, really. It was difficult to understand the point of it sometimes, as it can appear over-simplistic, crudely wrought, too bland, or way over the top. I've changed my attitude over the years, realizing that even the experts can never know what is good, or what is bad, despite claiming that expertise. It all boils down, in most cases, to marketability.

From really looking, really thinking about it, I've become more receptive to abstracts. For instance, I am now strangely drawn to the early, almost blank canvases of Mark Rothko. (Google Images, for more on him.) And, of course, there are other names, famous, not so famous, that I enjoy.

Today, I wanted to show you a tiny sampling of work by Lori Mirabelli, who is a member of Brushspace and EBSQ, as I am, although in a totally different league. Her paintings are so charged with color and texture, the dreamlike images so alive, that I cannot imagine ever becoming bored with one of these on a wall. You find more and more things to look at, the more you look at them.

When I decided to show her work here today, I discovered she also sells on Etsy. What else is new? There is a wealth of talent at Etsy. Her Etsy link is in the sidebar.

Anyway, here are a few to sup on. They are, after all, quite delicious. My only regret is that I can't show larger images; it just didn't happen, although I tried downloading twice. Some of her pictures are BIG!

Oh, and she just happens to live in Ontario as I do. Who needs New York for great art?