Archive for the ‘Floating Gallery’ Category

Artist’s Choice: Best of 2018

Tuesday, January 1st, 2019

Artist's Choice - Best of 2018 by Amy Crook

2019 is here!

Not gonna lie, 2018 wasn’t a great year for your artist, Dear Readers. But there were some good things to come out of it, like the art you see below. There were only six Floating Galleries with new art in them, and so I’ve chosen 2 from each to highlight.

Here’s hoping that 2019 brings us beautiful art, many moments of joy, and days filled with kindness.

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Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Words Words Words
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Sardines

Thursday, October 11th, 2018

Sardines by Amy Crook, whirling layers of silver sardines circling against a turquoise ink backdrop on buff paper

Sardines, 10″x8″ ink and watercolor on Arches cover buff paper

Monterey Bay Aquarium has a room where you can stand and watch sardines endlessly dance in circles around you, living flashes of silver in a meditative display.

The thick, buff-colored paper supports a brilliant turquoise ink wash with the perfect amount of watery softness to its shapes. Layers of abstract fish shine out of the blue in shade of silver that catch the light.

An infinite loop of motion and life!

Sardines, detail, by Amy Crook

Sardines, detail, by Amy Crook

Above you can see the abstract fishies up close, all light and shadow and overlapping motion. Below, the painting is in its tank, er, frame, on its way to its new home.

Sardines, framed art by Amy Crook

Sardines, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Completed Commissions, Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
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Concentric 2

Wednesday, October 10th, 2018

Concentric 2 by Amy Crook, abstract art in pale grey and vanishing violet

Concentric 2, 7″x5″ ink and watercolor on paper

Pale, pale, and bright spots of gold.

The soft grey ink wash provides a swirling backdrop to concentric rings of near-invisible violet, the designs only showing up when the light hits them just so. A bright, warm gold is scattered among the rest, like sunshine throwing physical droplets into a cool, rainy puddle.

Frame this little painting and put it on your desk, and you can always have a bit of secret shine to take a break and meditate on the hidden beauties of the world.

Concentric 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Concentric 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the art up close, turned to catch the light and reveal bright golds and hidden violets. Below, the art is tucked in a frame, just waiting to come live on your desk.

Concentric 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Concentric 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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Abandonment

Monday, October 8th, 2018

Abandonment by Amy Crook, shadowy abstract city ruins in front of a stormy sky

Abandonment, 7″x5″ ink and watercolor on paper

Often the skies come first and then the foreground goes in to match, but this time the ruins grew up out of the ashes of avoidance, and the purple clouds came rolling in later.

Spiky, burnt-out buildings lean into one another, smudged with smoke and abandoned by everyone but the carrion birds.

More ruins for a world on fire, but hey, at least they’re pretty.

Ruins, detail, by Amy Crook

Ruins, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the most-intact tower and its circle of carrion birds up close and personal. Below, the bleak landscape sits in a frame, like a window to a ruined world.

Ruins, framed art by Amy Crook

Ruins, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Striking Out

Sunday, October 7th, 2018

Striking Out by Amy Crook, a watercolor painting of shimmering purple lightning against dark, roiling violet thunderclouds

Striking Out, 10″x8″ watercolor on watercolor paper

‘Striking out’ is a phrase with many connotations, from violence to adventure to failure.

It seemed fitting for this brooding violet storm with its lightning that lands three times and flashes twice more, the paint translucent white from one angle and vibrantly purple in the light.

Even the clouds hold some secret sparkle in their depths, the promise of rain or perhaps a portent of yet more sparks waiting to emerge.

Striking Out, detail, by Amy Crook

Striking Out, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, sunshine limns the lightning in shimmering purple. Below, the storm is safely contained in a frame, waiting to strike out for its new home.

Striking Out, framed art by Amy Crook

Striking Out, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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Solar Wind

Saturday, October 6th, 2018

Solar Wind by Amy Crook, a watercolor painting of crows and a windblown tree at sunset

Solar Wind, 18″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

A lovely, large panorama of sunset and birds and a windblown tree, this painting is a moment at the edge of night, just as the sun is slipping away below the horizon and off the page.

The clouds reflect the bloody light from below, refracting it into orange and pink as well as red. Five beautiful blackbirds ride the winds of evening, slipping past the tree that autumn’s already caught ahold of and stripped of its summer foliage.

A full foot and a half wide, this painting will need some special framing, but it would make a beautiful, warm addition to any room.

Solar Wind, detail, by Amy Crook

Solar Wind, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, an up-close view of the windswept tree and wispy clouds, as well as one of the five intrepid crows riding the breezes. Below, a very wide shot indeed to encompass this whole panorama.

Solar Wind, a panoramic watercolor painting by Amy Crook

Solar Wind, a panoramic watercolor painting by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
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A Bumble of Bees

Friday, October 5th, 2018

A Bumble of Bees by Amy Crook, 17 bees with iridescent wings bumble around a background of abstract hydrangeas

A Bumble of Bees, 12″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

BEES!

There’s even a cute little bumblebee butt diving into one of these elegantly abstract hydrangeas, iridescent wings folded atop its tubby body.

These delightful busybodies are bumbling around a profusion of flowers, dipping their toes and faces alike into the blue blossoms. From their black stripes and fat yellow bodies to the shimmering white wings, these little gals exude the warmth of summer just in time for it to fade away.

A Bumble of Bees, detail, by Amy Crook

A Bumble of Bees, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the way the fat bees’ wings shimmer in the sunshine. Below, they’ve bumbled into a temporary hive frame, just waiting to find their forever field and make a home there.

A Bumble of Bees, framed art by Amy Crook

A Bumble of Bees, framed art by Amy Crook

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Whimsical and Strange
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