Newsletter Issue #4: A painting celebrating doggos everywhere

Hello, and welcome to Our Newsletter Issue #4

It is a pleasure to have you here.

How have you been over these past couple of weeks?
I've been out of London for a short while, which has been dreamy, and prior to that I had quite a creative few days where I experimented with various ideas, some of which I will share with you soon!
In this issue, we pick up where we left off and continue our journey through the Finding Closeness series with my 2019 painting 'Man's Best Friend'.
(Last time we looked at 'BPOFY', in case you needed a reminder).

Man's Best Friend, 2019

Oil and phototransfer on canvas
30.5 x 40.5 cm
Signed on back

This painting is available to collect, email info@ariettachandris.com to enquire about it

'Man's Best Friend' is a funny little piece. In my head I always think this is the only animal based artwork I've attempted but the reality is quite different as I've explored this theme in a few artworks in the past (you can check some of them out here). Perhaps I think this way as this is my first detailed oil painting of a dog.

This painting captures the fleeting moment of someone getting on a rather busy London tube with their dog, and a random stranger reaching out to say a quiet hello to this four-legged friend. The stranger did not have an exchange with the dog's owner, he barely even looked at the dog; he reached out almost instinctively to say hi, and that made me think about how that's something I would do. It's probably something a lot of people I know would do. Who cares about other humans when there's an innocent four-legged friend in the vicinity, am I right? Jokes aside though, there was something extraordinarily gentle and special about how this whole scene unfolded, and it was a lovely way to illustrate how this idea of fleeting human intimacy really does just permeate into so many different actions and themes.

'Man's Best Friend' as it could look in your home.

This painting is available to collect, email info@ariettachandris.com to enquire about it

Truth be told, I am realising as I write this that I haven't shared this painting too much since I made it. Why? I am not entirely sure. Perhaps it has something to do with sometimes wanting to give my paintings some space to breathe before I open them up to the public eye. Anyway, here it is now! I hope you enjoy it.

Next week, we will either be continuing our journey through the Finding Closeness series, or I will share with you some of the work I've been doing throughout August. I haven't decided yet. As such, this is your chance to let me know if there's anything specific you would like to read about! Looking forward to hearing from you.

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Lots of love,
Arietta xx

Newsletter Issue #3: Be Proud of You

Hello, and welcome to Our Newsletter Issue #3

It is a pleasure to have you here.

Last week, we looked at the first piece in my Finding Closeness series, as well as the overarching theme of the collection.
Today, we will be taking a closer look at 'BPOFY', the second painting I made in this series, and also one of my favourites.

BPOFY, 2019

Oil and phototransfer on canvas
50 x 50 cm
Signed on back

This painting is available to collect, email info@ariettachandris.com to enquire about it

While all my artwork is unavoidably personal to me, 'BPOFY' is particularly so. I began this piece in early 2019 when the idea for Finding Closeness was still in its infancy. This painting was, at the time, a quaint journey into still life painting; a necessary bit of practice for any artist. It was inspired in full by a bouquet of Valentine’s Day flowers that I received from my dad (an annual tradition), with a coded message on the card: BPOFY. Mysterious. 

As always, I called my dad to thank him for the kind gesture, and (in Greek) he goes, “well, did you get it?”. 

Truthfully, I hadn't. But, following a hilarious conversation it was explained to me thatBPOFY was short for Be Proud of You. It was (and still is) some solid advice, and I knew then that I had to immortalise these flowers in paint. In respect to the series, this one here is all about the intimacy involved in the act of giving a gift, something that we can all hopefully relate to in some way. 

The more I look at this piece, the more meanings and narratives I can add to it, but I won't cloud your judgements further. Instead, why don't you tell me how you relate to this piece?

'BPOFY' as it could look in your home.

This painting is available to collect, email info@ariettachandris.com to enquire about it

Since its making, BPOFY has received a lot of attention; most notably it has been featured in two issues of The World of Interiors Magazine (August & September 2021 Issues). It was included in the prolific Art in The Age of Now exhibition at the Fulham Town Hall, and last year (pre-Covid) it was featured in the exhibition People Like You + Me, which I co-curated with the wonderful Julia Howe at the East London Liquor Company. 

Looking ahead, I am considering turning this painting into a limited edition print.
As ever, I always value your feedback, so let me know whether this is something you would like to see!
In the next newsletter, we will be exploring the piece 'Man's Best Friend', you can check this one out here.

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Lots of love,
Arietta xx

Newsletter Issue #2: Finding Closeness, an ongoing exploration

Hello, and welcome to Our Newsletter Issue #2

It is a pleasure to have you here.

Today's newsletter is slightly longer than usual, as I would like to introduce the series I have been actively developing since 2019,
Finding Closeness, as well as the first painting of the collection.

In many ways this is a project approached with an idealistic desire to remind myself, and you, kind reader, of the more gentle aspects of human nature. This collection of work is rooted in an effort to capture the intangible idea of human intimacy through its many various forms.

There is a bit of a catch though: these depictions of closeness are often layered over photo-transferred news articles which mostly discuss the ongoing climate crisis. (And, if you know me personally, you know that this is a great cause for concern in my brain). Why such darkness behind something so gentle you may ask? Well, because humanity is a multilayered phenomenon; there is good, and there is bad, and they both need to be acknowledged. Also, there’s something poetic about painting over these backgrounds and seeing them be overcome by scenes of closeness. The texture of the phototransfer remains beneath the paint, some words can still be deciphered; the scars of the world are ever present, and they must not be forgotten, but they must also not distract from the inherent human ability to display and experience this intimacy. Perhaps, if we all as humans could extend this intimacy toward our home, we could perhaps even save it?

We read & read but what do we actually take in? 2019

Oil and phototransfer on canvas
40.5 x 30.5 cm
Signed on back

This painting is available to collect, email info@ariettachandris.com to enquire about it

Pictured above, is the first painting I made for the Finding Closeness collection. It was my first experiment with the idea, so I approached the painting process openly, as I would a sketch. The brushstrokes are by design more visible in the flesh tones and the folds of the clothes. The background over the photo-transferred article is more of a wash, keeping the text prominent in the piece.

The man in this painting is solitary. Here, that sense of intimacy that runs through the whole series is found in the way he’s engrossed by his reading within the public domain of the London tube. As I frequently work from photos that I have taken, I remember the instance during which I took the reference image for this piece. The man who's photo I took and transformed into a painting, seemed relaxed and completely captivated. It reminded me of how I can be when I am transfixed by a text.

The title 'We read & read but what do we actually take in?' is somewhat rhetorical. What dowe take in? In a fast paced society where every day we are bombarded with information, news, events, how much of that remains in our memory and most importantly how much of it should remain?

This piece had the pleasure of being included in the exhibition In Connection at Domatio Gallery in Athens, last September. The exhibition was carefully curated by Mary Stefanouand the Domatio Gallery Team. Although I was unable to attend the exhibition personally due to this pesky little thing called Covid, I am incredibly grateful to have been able to exhibit my work in the city in which I grew up, and hope to do so again soon in the future.

'We read & read but what do we actually take in?' as it could look in your home.

This painting is available to collect, email info@ariettachandris.com to enquire about it

In our next newsletter, I'll be spotlighting my painting 'BPOFY'. You can check it out in advance on my website here. If you do, be sure to let me know your thoughts! I always enjoy hearing your interpretations of my work.

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Lots of love,
Arietta xx

Newsletter Issue #1: First newsletter! Hello & Welcome! :-)

Hello, and welcome to my first newsletter!

It is a pleasure to have you here.

Truly, I should call it our newsletter, as the premise of these emails is to take up a tiny bit of space in your inbox each Friday in order to update you on what I am doing as an artist.
I only ever want to grace your inboxes with happiness, so there will be occasions where you may hear from me less as I work behind the scenes to bring you something lovely each time.

Thank you for signing up, I am so excited to be writing to you!

Art in The Age of Now, exhibition photo

Art in The Age of Now, exhibition photo

For this first newsletter I wanted to reflect on the month of July, which has been incredibly productive.

I entered July with a feeling of excitement after the hugely successful Art In The Age of Now group exhibition at the Fulham Town Hall (thoughtfully curated by MC Llamas, and Art Below), in which I had the honour to exhibit two of my artworks (pictured below). It was a whirlwind of amazingness in so many ways, and I am thankful to have been included.

My painting 'BPOFY' then made an appearance in the Artist Impressions section of The World of Interiors Magazine, August Issue (exciting!) and I finally finished one of the most challenging paintings I've ever made after starting work on it in 2019. I will share more about this painting in due course.

This month I also began proper work on another painting which I had started to visualise in 2019, and I am simultaneously working on two other, smaller, but equally exciting pieces.

There's Always Someone There For You If You Let Them Be, 2021
Oil and biro on canvas
30 x 30 cm
This painting is available to collect, email info@ariettachandris.com to enquire about it

BPOFY, 2019
Oil and phototransfer on canvas
50 x 50 cm
This painting is available to collect, email info@ariettachandris.com to enquire about it

See this?

These are my updates for this week, quick and easy, and that's how I hope to keep them!

From next week, I will start to spotlight my artworks, and discuss them in a bit more depth in terms of my thought and making process.

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Lots of love,
Arietta xx