I got behind on doing blog content this last week for some personal family things. I was in the middle of an intensive op-ed blog on copyright regarding artificial intelligence artwork. You know, the sort of light, fluffy content best suited to summer. Most certainly, subject matter relevant to my artwork that definitely should find a place to live on my website. But man! I do not have the emotional bandwidth to deal with that burden right now. Instead, I decided to bring you content more appropriate for the emotional pick-up I need and the blue sunny skies of summer.
Here are ten of my favorite female artists. This list could easily run fifty deep, but ten seems to be the magic number for a listicle blog post, so that I will stick to that. These are not women I know personally, but these women are among the very, very few Instagram accounts that I follow with all notifications turned on. Their posts brighten my news feed, and I want to ensure I see as much of their content as possible. Indeed, their ‘Grams are bing-worthy! I encourage you to hop on their profiles and do a deep scroll!
First and foremost, is Ashley Longshore. I love her artwork! BUT I also love her social media presence–from posts to reels to stories. Ashley ALWAYS has my attention! She is a ball of energy, and her brand reflects that on all channels. I am a sucker for consistency, and the content she shares from her personal life makes me feel like I can live my own life as completely as she lives hers. Ashley is fun. She is in your face. She is irreverent, and I love that about her. I love that she wants to build up other women through her art and her voice in the world. I love that she's comfortable in her own body, that she sees the beauty in her body, and that she is willing to show her body. I love how kinesthetic she is. Her brushstrokes are wonderfully fluid. Her color is fantastic! She's so prolific! There is always something new coming out of her studio. She highlights the mundane moments in her life, and on the next canvas, she's painting intricately designed pop culture works. Her art and her life have made her a pop culture icon in her own right. That’s a very difficult thing for a female artist to accomplish. We have a hard enough having our work acknowledged, but for our lives as artists to become worthy of popular attention is something else entirely. Ashley makes every woman artist that much more seen because of how she embraces her own position in the art world. Ashley inspires me to embrace elements of my art, my voice, and my life that the world would rather keep in the packaging. Ashley inspires me to say all the quiet parts out loud–as loudly as I want to say them. I celebrate people who embrace the ephemeral nature of time, life, social media, and art. That's the quality of ephemeral sublimity Ashley Longshore brings to the table! I find it amazing that somehow she is still also a timeless classic, and a pop culture icon. Those things don’t go together! I find it amazing that she can pull that off. Ashley Longshore brings me so much joy.
2. Hannah Jensen
Hannah is a New Zealand artist who pioneered the carving technique for acrylic paint. I taught myself by watching the reels on her Instagram page. It was a lot of trial and error, but as far as being inspired by another artist goes…Hannah is IT! The aesthetics I bring to paint carving are incredibly different than what she does with her work, but I have to pay homage to her awe-inspiring work. There is a quiet, peacefulness to her work. I love how organic her work is and how subtle her color selections are. Even when she has highly contrasting colors, there is still harmony. Her work will put a quiet, peaceful smile on your face. I love that her work is grounded in strength and natural beauty. For the most part, her subject matter is the flora and fauna of New Zealand. I love that she does this complicated, difficult work and that sometimes her work is on oars and skate decks. I feel the slices of her personal life that she shares embody the same grounded, strong spirit that's in tune with the world around her. I love seeing creators who surround themselves with beauty. Hannah’s work is pure grace. Her process, her aesthetic, and her finished works bring me harmony, peace, and joy.
3. Veronica Steiner
V. Steiner dubs her work wildlife surrealism, and I can definitely get down with those vibes. She works in watercolor, acrylic, and oil. Her watercolor works are truly something to behold. It's not Dali surrealism, but it definitely has elements of surrealism to it. I am a terrible watercolorist, so I think that makes her work even that much more magical to me. I love the intensity of the color she achieves with watercolor. And I deeply love that her artwork has this cheeky element of fatalism to it. She paints wildlife that is native to Florida, and, as another Florida artist, it is important to me that the tapestry of our local ecosystem is preserved, cataloged, and presented in our own unique Florida voice. People born and raised in Florida have a unique appreciation of the Florida landscape. The meme about, “All of this used to be orange groves.” is a real thing. I said it at least twice today! The Florida of my childhood is not the Florida I'm surrounded by now. It has dramatically changed in a period of 20 years, and most of what has changed is the natural ecosystem of Florida. The characters in the story Steiner tells with her artwork will not exist in 10 years. The animals and plants she depicts will be taxidermy pieces in natural history museums. Her fatalism is cheeky, but extremely real and even more tragic, and this speaks to me every time I walk out my front door. This is such a critical story to tell because the population explosion and the land development in Florida are out of control, and the natural Florida biodome is footing the bill. Art is responsible for capturing these moments in time to engender awareness and preserve these stories for history. I love that Steiner and artists like her see and capture the beauty of a world we are rapidly losing.
4. Tiffany Anna
If there were ever another artist that was in the same vein of ridiculousness as I wish to be, it would be Tiffany Anna. Who else could you trust to paint a zebra with green hair wearing a neon pink suit jacket on a graffitied gold leaf background? It's bold. As a matter of fact, she tags her Instagram profile as BRIGHT & BALLSY ARTWORK. I love every brush stroke of neon tackiness. It's not what you would think of when you think of fine art. It’s not what you would imagine someone would purchase to hang in their home. And that's what makes it beautiful! She completely wraps herself and her work in this explosion of color and joy, and weirdness. There is an element of surrealism where you know the parts of the composition do not mesh together to form a complete, coherent narrative. Her work is outlandish, ridiculous anthropomorphism weirdness. I love the pop culture nature of her aesthetic. I love the texture, graffiti, and the looseness of the portraits. It is neon graffiti anthropomorphic portraiture on gold leaf. How could you not love that? Also, she has recently started an education series on YouTube to help other artists. Does it get any better than that? She is an amazing artist who is trying to lift up her entire profession and community!
5. Linda Colletta
Linda makes entire compositions out of whitewashed obnoxious '90s neon colors. I don’t even know how those words fit together to describe colors, but look at Linda’s work! You’ll immediately understand. Her work has a textural element to it that I just adore! It is a subtle texture that comes from loose canvas fibers, frayed edges, bumpy and wrinkled unstretched canvas, and irregular lumps of gesso and paint. It's all abstract and has a strong organic flow. I love the process of her work, she uses her entire body to create with full-body brushstrokes of paint rollers, squeegees, sprayers, and her feet. I adore the abstract product she composes. She even cuts her abstract canvases to weave them together in this raw, yet polished fiber art abstract composition. Abstract is hard. To the untrained eye, it looks like an abstract artist can sling whatever paint they want, do whatever they want, and call it art. Nothing could be further from the truth. The skills and techniques you can train yourself to cling to in realism fall apart in abstract. The abstract artist is to be much more intuitive and emotional. Abstract artists cannot rely on reproducing what the eye beholds. An abstract artist has to create emotion and meaning out of nothingness that lacks form and structure. Linda Colletta does this masterfully. Her abstract compositions are a beautiful blend of tension. They are incredibly unique, organic, and feminine. Side note: the recent flooding in Vermont dramatically impacted Linda’s art community. She is currently running a fundraiser on her Instagram page for The Vermont Studio Center. Please contribute if you are able.
6. Aparna George
How do you create something beautiful out of something as mundane and ugly as concrete? And not just beautiful, but delicate too? As a kid, my parents were avid DIY’ers around the house. I’ve worked with wet concrete. Before you mix it, it is dusty and chalky. The fine dust gets in your nose and your skin. It makes your skin dry and itchy. When concrete is wet, it is heavy, sloppy, uncooperative, and it stinks. I think of wet concrete as gritty and lumpy. I think of cured concrete as chunky, crumbly, and expansive…like a broken-up old driveway. Aparna turns concrete into intricate, delicate, detailed 3D wall sculptures. I am new to following this artist and absolutely in love! I watch her Instagram reels and revel in the patience required to apply and shape layer after layer of wet mud. People talk about “trusting the process,” and I never really believe them. That just isn’t a thing. But with Aparna, there is nothing but trusting her process. Her work is a beautiful dance between additive and subtractive processes, constantly building up layers of concrete slip to let them begin curing and then carefully carving bits away. There is a constant push and pull of masculine and feminine energies in her work manifesting at an intersection of fine art form through a purely functional medium. Her choice of subject matter is at equal odds with depictions of Heavenly spirituality in conflict with the organic forms of Earth-bound nature. Perhaps I’m being naive on this one, but now that I’ve been introduced to Aparna George’s work, all other murals seem pointless.
7. Chithra Shaan
I know very little about watercolor, so watercolor artists fascinate me! I love the translucence that Chithra is able to create. Watercolor as a medium is critical to her overall aesthetic because the medium allows her to create an aesthetic that makes you feel as if you are looking through the diaphanous layers of insect wings and fish fins or the ultra-fine fibers of feathers. It creates the illusion of light illuminating through the pigments. It's incredible to me what she's able to accomplish with paint. I feel almost like I am looking through layers of Celluloid film. Maybe another watercolor artist wouldn’t be as impressed as I am, but her work makes me happy, and that’s what matters about art. Does it make you happy? Yes? Then that is great art! She trims most of her work in gold watercolor paint, which to me, looks almost alive. She positions her work boldly on a plain white field. There is no background, no surroundings, nothing to muddy up her compositions. She presents the simplicity of a masterfully illustrated and painted singular figure on a background of white. It is gorgeous. I deeply admire her work.
8. Abby Modell
Abby is a visionary in the realm of glass artistry, and she manifests creations of blown glass that are distinguished by a burst of extraordinary colors. Her work resonates with vibrancy and metallic elements, frequently showcasing polished, mirrored finishes. Although one might anticipate such features with glass, the uniqueness lies in the fluid, organic forms she crafts in the cool, icy medium. It is this juxtaposition that lends an intriguing tension to her art. What I find noteworthy about Abby's approach is her deliberate focus on color consistency in glass, an attribute I deeply admire. There's a prevailing tendency among modern glass artists to exploit the medium's ability to fuse and diffuse color pigments to create an amalgam of colors. Abby, however, takes a divergent path, opting for singular, solid, and uniform hues in her figures. This choice, in my opinion, poses a significantly greater challenge, for any flaw in the glasswork is glaringly visible in a flat color scheme. Apart from this, Abby crafts an exquisite array of mirrored sculptures that are just the epitome of opulence and further underline Abby's talent and ingenuity in glass artistry.
9. Jodie Stejer
Jodie, an abstract artist whose work I find wholly enthralling, stands uniquely in her space as an encaustic artist. Encaustic, to me, echoes an almost magical quality, like painting with melted crayons. Jodie's ability to transform this into exquisitely abstract pieces astounds me. There's something remarkably enchanting about witnessing her work take form, as though watching artwork breathe life into itself. The encaustic toolkit is, in itself, awe-inspiring. A hot plate, miniature tins of colored wax, brushes — I marvel at how these seemingly static, opaque dim pigments become a fluid kaleidoscope of rich tones. The fascinating interplay between layers of wax as she applies the torch, inducing a symphony of pigments and colors, adds an unprecedented layer of complexity to her compositions, bordering on chaos. It's this captivating dance of creativity, envisioning an idea and translating it through hands, fire, and heat, that shapes an artwork that appears organic and self-creating. To me, fire epitomizes both the destructive and the creative, a compelling contradiction I've experienced firsthand living in Central Florida, where fire plays an essential role in our ecosystem's lifecycle. For some species, fire even sparks their awakening from dormancy, embodying a vibrant, creative energy despite its destructive persona. To my mind, encaustic artists mirror the persona of alchemists, their pigments creating compositions that exude a mystique I struggle to comprehend. They encapsulate a magical spark that lights up my appreciation of their art, and in this alchemic realm, Jodie reigns supreme.
10. Amy Shekhter
In rounding out my discussion of notable artists, I am drawn to Amy, whose work in pop art fascinates me. While pop art often bears the unjust labels of "hamp art" or "junk art" due to its popular culture focus, I am resolute in my belief that it profoundly pays tribute to our modern mass media culture. To me, this is no less significant than the veneration of religious themes during the Renaissance. I believe art serves as a cultural chronicle, faithfully reflecting the influential figures of its era. Pop Art's challenge, and where many discredit it, lies in its approach to uniquely portraying popular icons like Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn, their images so ingrained in our collective consciousness. Mediocre pop art may crudely place such images on a field of Tiffany blue and another one on a field of Barbie pink and say, “There! That’s never been done before. How original!” However, exceptional pop art offers a fresh lens through which we view these icons, providing commentary on the core values of contemporary society. In this context, these popular figures ascend to symbolize these very values. And this is the situational context where Amy’s art lives. She digitally edits public domain photos of pop icons and encases those edited images in acrylic resin surrounded by casted resin realia of toys, candy, trinkets, and baubles. In that manner, her art first encases these figures in an epoxy preserving their youthful, beautiful likeness for all eternity, and secondly includes them alongside, and thereby equates them to, an almost meaningless mass of cheap possessions. It is such a dynamic tension between glorifying the image of the pop culture icon and demeaning the icon among worthless possessions. I could go on forever about fake gemstones, microplastic glitter, mass-market consumerism, nutritionally deficient food items, and hazardous toys. This is how you do Pop Art! At face value, it is so glamorous. Look deeper, and you see the toxicity of the culture. It is so good!
While life's circumstances can sometimes shift our plans, it's essential to honor our passions and the things that bring us joy. These ten incredible female artists serve as reminders that creativity knows no bounds. Their vibrant palettes, innovative techniques, and daring subject matter indeed brighten our days, ignite our imaginations, and challenge our perspectives. From Ashley Longshore's pop culture icons to Aparna George's intricate, detailed 3D wall sculptures, the art these women create represents their unique voices, telling stories that demand attention and evoke emotion. If you have read this far, you are probably already an Instagram follower. If not, I would love to have you follow my journey on Instagram, just click the photo to see my profile. As I celebrate these artists, I invite you to explore more. Venture out and discover their pieces that resonate with you, sparking that sense of joy and inspiration. And if you wish to immerse yourself further in a world filled with color, whimsy, and bold statements, drop by my online gallery, Alice Absolutely Studios. Discover a treasure trove of creativity and express your personality through unique pieces. Who knows? You might stumble upon the next piece that will illuminate your space, spark conversations, and fuel your creative spirit.