Her latest series reflects Brander’s love of natural beauty.

CJ Brander: From the Blowin’ in the Wind seriesSupplied

Grand Rapids artist CJ Brander has a passion for art and gardening, which she combines in her current series, Blowin’ in the Wind, a reflection of her love of natural beauty. “I am continually surprised by the beauty that surrounds me on a daily basis and enjoy sharing that beauty through my art,” Brander said.

A garden designer, Brander uses the encaustic technique, and that is what makes her art so unique.

Encaustic, which has a long history, is a painting method where color-pigmented beeswax is melted, applied to a surface, and reheated to fuse the paint into a smooth or textured finish. The surface can be polished to a high gloss; it can be modeled, sculpted, textured, and combined with collage materials. It cools immediately, so there is no drying time, and beeswax, which is impervious to moisture, is an element of nature, connecting Brander’s work even more to her subject matter.

Her work can be seen at the Glass House Gallery, 215 W. Main St., Lowell, and at The Gallery in the Cherie Inn, 969 Cherry St. SE, Grand Rapids. Her work appeared in the LowellArts! Regional Competition this past month. She also has had pieces at the First United Methodist Church’s Celebration of the Arts, ArtPrize, Fountain Street Church, Terryberry Gallery, East Grand Rapids Public Library, and Coopersville Library.

Spanish street artist Deih produces impressive murals with sharp, illustrations. He completed his latest mural in Valencia, Spain, for the Poliniza Street Art Festival. The artist likes to explore a universe of strangeness where rarity is appreciated. He is “fascinated by the strangeness of life,” which is conveyed in his curious figures.  

The exhibit “Looking East, Facing West” opens May 24 at the Gardens.

Long Island Buddha by Zhang HuanSupplied

Go West!
This month, the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Scuplture Park takes a look across the Pacific with “Looking East, Facing West: The World of Zhang Huan,” opening May 24.

Saying Zhang Huan is a Chinese artist is much too limiting. Born and educated in China, but not always approved of by the government, he is a sculptor, painter, photographer, performer, and installation artist.

His sculptural works combine the feel of physical endurance and spiritual tranquility, are usually based on Chinese history and heritage, and make clear his reverence for Buddhism. While works of sculpture are central to the the Garden’s presentation, including his iconic copper and steel Long Island Buddha, several of the artist’s paintings and photographs will also be featured. The exhibit will be up through August 25. The Gardens are located at 1000 E. Beltline NE. For more information, visit www.meijergardens.org

Liqen This week the best mural out there was produced by Liqen in Chichester. His large sketch-like mural carries a compelling sense of movement. If Pixel Pancho and his robotic creatures collaborated with Blu‘s universe, their work would probably resembles Liqen‘s   Aryz x David Choe x RETNA A new trio has formed: Aryz and [...]

This new print might be one of the best prints of the year. ABOVE has recreated “Juicy” in many different flavors, each one giving some vibrancy to the famous portrait of the former emcee. The print was made available today HERE at 9 AM PST for $299 to $425 Check out his older print of [...]

It’s been a year since Claudio Ethos, a Brazilian street artist, dropped  paint on the streets. Currently in Australia, the artist’s brushstrokes have been spotted in Sydney. Ethos has been collaborating with graffiti artists Thug and Scram and is back with his original, Dali-like, surrealistic characters. The artist is a fantasy-storyteller. However, recently inspired from [...]

The Painted Desert Project in Arizona showcases some of the best-street art of the year.  Alexis Diaz from La Pandilla painted two large surrealistic pieces in the past week. His vibrant tones and mystical metamorphoses resonate beautifully in the  raw, sparse setting.

Martin Whatson, Norwegian-born-and-based stencil artist, combines statuesque figures and wild graffiti. He brings out the beauty of grey by contrasting it to vibrant colors. We last heard from Whatson in February when he created this large patriotic mural. This bold “French Flag“ is on Rue Amelot, Paris. His character could have had more strength would [...]