IN MEMORIAM: BARBARA SIMMONS: THE MOST TALENTED ARTIST WITH WHOM I’VE EVER HAD THE HONOR OF WORKING!

  Some of you may be aware of the fact that I have had the pleasure & responsibility of teaching ART for about 43 years to probably thousands of students! There is ONE ARTIST who stands out amongst all of these many many students, (I feel uncomfortable even calling her a “student” because I have learned so much from her!)  This marvelous and extremely gifted artist is Barbara Simmons.  Barbara began her ART exploration as a painter and evolved into a sculptor/mixed media artist.  Her work demonstrates a uniqueness, freedom, humor, joie de vivre & a willingness to experiment reminiscent of other times before ART became so commercial! Indeed, Barbara works for herself alone in a dazzling & devoted labor of pure love!I 

I hope that you will enjoy the examples below of some of the visual joy produced by a truly talented ARTIST! 
*All pieces are mixed media.
**PLS. leave comments, you don’t need a google acct. you can simply put your name where it says name/URL, thx.

The beautiful ARTIST Barbara Simmons left this earthly world yesterday, Oct.12, 2018.  I can only hope that she might be somewhere where she can continue to create wonderful ART....who knows...


With Love & Admiration
Rivian

Barbara Simmons

Barbara In Process

In Process
                                                                               

Barbara Next To Her Sculpture

The King With His General

                                                                               

                                                                             

Barbara Using The Door Handle Her Son Forged 

Barbara Next To Her Sculpture

ANGELIKA ERNE, ARTIST WHO NEVER CEASES TO CREATE!

ANGELIKA ERNE

'I begin with an idea and then it becomes something' Pablo Picasso. "This is how I see my art, it starts with a thought, a smell, an emotion and then it just starts to develop it's own soul.
I have enjoyed the best of two worlds, having grown up in Germany, spent 8 years in Switzerland  and have been living since 1992 in San Diego.
I am very grateful that I found my teacher Rivian Butikofer, who encourages me, pushes me and always surprises me with her passion for art." Angelika Erne 

.......And I am so thankful to have a student who soaks up everything that I show her, is always willing to experiment and try something new. If she lived in New York, Los Angeles, or Berlin where ART is more on the 'cutting edge',  I am certain that she would be selling her work for a great deal more than she does!  Angelika never ceases to amaze and delight me with her brilliance; she is a perfect example of what continues to excite me and give me such a sense of fulfillment from my teaching!  Thank you dear Angelika.
Rivian

 Las Vegas, photograph

 Untitled, photo transfer

Untitled, photo transfer 

Narcisus, mixed media

Who Are You, mixed media

Madonna Of The Roses, Mixed Media

What's Behind#1, mixed media

My Marilyn, embellished photo transfer

Marilyn 2, photo printed on Mylar

Forever Young, mixed media

embellished photo transfer


ALL OF THE ABOVE WORK IS FOR SALE. PLEASE INQUIRE ON THIS SITE 

ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE MIKALENE THOMAS

Mikalene Thomas & Rivian, Brooklyn Museum, Oct. 2012

Mikalene Thomas is one of the artists that I have been teaching since I discovered her a few years ago when she was relatively unknown. Her work spoke to me immediately and she has not only influenced my own work but my students as well. So, when we were in New York in Oct. I was thrilled to see that she was having her first solo museum show @ The Brooklyn Museum. The exhibition is called "Origin of the Universe" after a painting by the 19th Century French Realist painter Gustave Courbet.  As you will see below, her paintings exude opulence and Female beauty as well as dignity! All of her work is embellished with rhinestones giving the work a "bling" which I just love. Thomas' work involves much more than luxuriousness, it is obvious that she has an understanding of Art History and is influenced by many of the Masters along with Courbet such as Manet, Matisse and Bearden. "As a black woman who loves women, Ms. Thomas is in a double bind, and she makes the
most of this in order to transcend it. Through the scale and material capaciousness of painting, she celebrates, decorates and really venerates the black female body by making it and its lavish surroundings bracingly tangible. She doesn’t so much depict a universal humanity as practically force it into the viewer’s place, where it implicates, illuminates and bedazzles." Roberta Smith
By the way, I agree with Roberta Smith who wrote in her excellent New York Times review of the Thomas show that "Her big portraits, especially, would have enlivened the predictable Warhol show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art."

Sooo, I'm walking around the Brooklyn Museum looking at the gorgeous paintings and all of a sudden I notice a Woman that I think is Mikalene Thomas, (because I have seen photos of her on line). So, I get my nerve up and walk over and ask her if she is in fact the Artist. She was and she was so nice and friendly.  (I sort of felt like a "groupie"). I asked her if my Husband could take a photo and as you can see above , she said "of course"!
I know that you will enjoy the paintings below by the Artist Mikalene Thomas.

Le Dejueuner Sur L'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noir, 2010 rhinestones, acrylic, enamel on wood panel 

Detail of above

une très belle négresse #2, 2012.
 Rhinestones, acrylic paint, and oil enamel on wood panel

Monet's Salle a Manger, Jaune, 2012
inspired by the artist's residency in 2011 @ Giverny, Monet's Gardens in France

Sandra, (Mikalene's Mother)

    

Detail

Detail

"Artists view the world with our own eyes, each of us; and we make from us the world we see." San Diego , FAITH FLEURY

Faith Fleury & Rivian Butikofer@ 16+1

My earliest memories are in my grandmother’s gardens – the lively bursts of color and the lush, cool green shade of the 75-year old willow trees.  That’s probably when my fascination with color began. 

 I spent a large share of my life building business models and product launch plans in “high tech” – the more creative side of finance, 

all the while pining for that satisfaction of making something visually expressive.  

There is nothing like that special elation from creating a drawing or painting that makes people want to stop and drink in the environment I’ve produced.  

Now I devote as much of my time to those pursuits as I can, keeping a playful frame of mind whether it’s making an intriguing portrait, an inviting landscape or experimenting in mixed media/ collage and more abstracted forms.

Artistic Influences

Sorting out the influences on my work is a complex task – on any given day, the order of importance shifts. 

In studying art history, I was exposed to the whole panoply of “gods”:  Durer, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Renaissance artists Da Vinci and Michealangelo – they still captivate me; the economy of brushwork of Valasquez and Goya which looks remarkably “modern”; the expressiveness of El Greco, etc. But the period which has most influenced me is twentieth/ twenty-first century artists: Matisse, Cezanne, Picasso, Degas, Kandinsky, Calder and those who’ve followed.

 As I have explored more contemporary work, I find my favorites list has grown to include Nolde, Lucien Freud, Basquiat, Wayne Thiebaud and David Hockney. There are so many exciting developments in today’s artistic environment.  I’ve become a great fan of many current painters including Elizabeth Peyton, Romare Beardon and Beverly McIver.

FAITH FLEURY

I am so proud to say that Faith has been a student of mine since I first began teaching at The Athenaeum, La jolla nine years ago.

Faith Fleury, Self, Pastel

Faith Fleury, Self, Acrylic

Faith Fleury, Self, Acrylic

Faith Fleury, Acrylic

Faith Fleury, Acrylic

Faith Fleury, "Sissie & Ber", Acrylic

 Faith Fleury, Kiku, Collage & Mixed Media on Paper bag

Faith Fleury, Toshi, Collage & Mixed Media on Paper Bag

Faith Fleury, John, Palette Knife

Faith Fleury," Not My Problem" Collage

Faith Fleury, 'Self Portrait' mixed media 
incl. collage & photo transfer 

Faith Fleury, "Rock Phantom", Mixed Media incl. spray paint & collage

ALL PIECES ARE FOR SALE @ faithfleury.com or inquire on this BLOG

"WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN EGYPT"

Rivian in front of "We All Have Our Own Egypt"

The mixed-media piece shown is "WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN EGYPT" my most recent piece that was in an invitational show that opened March 9, 2011 at the GOTTHELF GALLERY, Lawrence Family J.C.C San Diego. 

“WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN EGYPT” is Inspired by THE EXODUS, the parting of the red sea. The torn canvas represents the sea. The Swarovsky  crystals & gold leaf  symbolize the JEWISH PEOPLE having been freed from Egypt & making their way to “The PROMISED LAND”, ISRAEL. Written in Hebrew on the golden path is “He Set Them Free”

Painted in the sky is, (in Hebrew, “BLESSED ART THOU….” & painted in English, “Blessed art thou o Lord….”

‘THE SUN IS RISING TO A BRIGHTER DAY!”

ARTIST MICKALENE THOMAS' BEAUTIFUL WORK

I LOVE THIS ARTIST'S WORK!  SHE IMBUES HER WOMEN WITH DIGNITY AND GLAMOUR WHILE EMBELLISHNG THEM WITH RHINESTONES. I encourage my students to experiment with new materials as I like to do also, influenced by many exiting new , (& not so new) artists.
                                     
 WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Naomi Campbel by Mickalene Thomas

Girlfriends-Thomas

NEW YORK-BASED ARTIST MICKALENE THOMAS IS BEST KNOWN FOR HER ELABORATE PAINTINGS COMPOSED OF RHINESTONES, ACRYLIC AND ENAMEL. THOMAS INTRODUCES A COMPLEX VISION OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A WOMAN AND EXPANDS COMMON DEFINITIONS OF BEAUTY. HER WORK STEMS FROM HER LONG STUDY OF ART HISTORY AND THE CLASSICAL GENRES OF PORTRAITURE, LANDSCAPE, AND STILL LIFE. 
INSPIRED BY VARIOUS SOURCES THAT RANGE FROM THE 19TH CENTURY HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL TO ÉDOUARD MANET, HENRI MATISSE AND ROMARE BEARDEN, SHE CONTINUES TO EXPLORE NOTIONS OF BEAUTY FROM A CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE INFUSED WITH THE MORE RECENT INFLUENCES OF POPULAR CULTURE AND POP ART.