Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Celebrate this Artist, Jess Gonacha

Hello! This is Amanda of Persistent Green, stepping in to host our Wednesday celebrations while Natasha is away. The rain is pouring here in South Dakota, so I'm particularly delighted to introduce an artist who makes me think of sunshine and happiness.

Jess Gonacha Swift is someone I've admired for quite a while now. Her style is immediately recognizable as all her own: colorful, full of joy and life. This is one of my favorite prints, from her Etsy shop:




This print, titled "this is all i need," is for sale here.

Jess also hosts one of my favorite blogs for inspiration, called Pecannoot. You'll find images of abundance from many artists, along with Jess's thoughtful responses. If you need a pick-me-up, Pecannoot can't be beat.

Please take a moment today to celebrate this artist, visit her various web sites, and leave a little love if you feel inspired. She very recently got married, so congratulations are also in order. Let's celebrate, and enjoy the rest of your Wednesday!

13 comments:

Live, Love, Laugh, Write! said...

Great work :)

Unknown said...

She does some interesting work - at 1st I was a little disturbed by the lack of facial features, but the more I looked at her work, the more I liked it without the faces - and it sure beats lopping off their heads like I used to do in my drawings!
Some pretty cool art there!

aquamaureen said...

Thank you, Amanda, for introducing me to Jess. You've mentioned her before, but I only just now took the time to visit her Etsy store and her blog---yep, I'm gonna be a regular visitor from now on, too. In my quick read of a few of her blog posts, I definitely felt an uplift. Amen. I can certainly use more of that. Thanks, Jess, for being who you are, and thanks again, Amanda, for introducing her to me.

Lisianblue--just a thought--when I saw the blank face on the woman in the picture, I just instantly put MY face there . .. I guess I saw the "faceless" person as Everyperson. . . (hmmmmm, you used to lop off heads???? :)

Felicia Kramer said...

You're right, Amanda - sunshine and happiness! i like her drawings - a lot!

Amanda Fall - Sprout editor said...

Hi, everybody! Thanks for commenting. I had to laugh, because Aqua said exactly what I was thinking in response to lisian: the lack of facial features allows my own face to appear there in my mind, or anyone else's. Check out her shop, though, because there ARE some beautiful faces there too. :)

giraffelabel said...

wow. she does do some amazing work. i lover her shop! it's so colorful, and full of inspiration. thanks so much for introducing her!

lifeartdesigns said...

Jess, you have amazing art. The ones with no faces remind me of when I used to paint and draw before I got into the clay. I would do pictures with Dolphins and they had no eyes. I don't know why, but back then I just didn't give them eyes. I do now..
Great blog also. And congrats on the recent marriage!
Janie

Amanda Fall - Sprout editor said...

If Jess weren't so kind and generous, I'd totally be jealous of her work. Instead, I'll just be happily inspired.... hee hee :)

meherio68 said...

I love "How to become a mermaid"...

Rowena said...

Yay! I've been a Jess Gonacha, now Gonacha-Swift fan for about a year now. And Pecannoot, too. Little juicy bits of abundance.

Natasha said...

Hello everyone! Amanda,thanks again for doing this and thanks to your introduction I am a HUGE Jess fan. Thank you so much. Her work is filled with beauiful color and a feeling of promise and hope. I wasn't sure how I initially felt about the lack of faces in some pieces but after reading the comments I tried to picture my face (something that's exceptionally difficult for me to do) and surprisingly I loved it. Her work much like her blog challenges me to think about life in new ways. I will totally be dropping her a line with a little celebration and love when I return.Did everyone else try to input their own face? How did it feel? Thanks again see you all soon!

Amanda Fall - Sprout editor said...

Hi Natasha! Thanks so much for weighing in...even if you are sneaking online during your "break"! ;)

I think it's so funny that people keep debating the faceless concept... Jess also has many pieces where there ARE faces. I don't know why I chose that particular image--it just spoke to me that day. :) I love how the textured paint make up abstract facial features (at least in my mind).

Anyway, yes, Tash, I think you're right on about artwork that challenges you to think in new ways--to me, that's a very high compliment to the artist.

Phoenyx Ravenswing said...

Greetings!

Just went for a look, and I LOVE her blog!!! :-)

Such wonderful, positive, uplifting energies! :-) Wonderfully reminiscent of someone else we all know! ;-D

Thank you so much for posting this and providing me w/an opportunity to meet such a wonder-full soul! :-)

BB & GF! :-)
-Bird

PS - Yeah, I keep going back-&-forth about the faces too. Interesting how my feelings about that vary w/the way I'm looking at the rest of the world. :-) -B!