OMG! Web Findings - 3 fabulous artists

Woodblock prints above are by Lojze Spacal [1907–2000] (Slovenia).

sketchbook—
drawing the air around
the apple

DW Bender
haiku

Browsing the web in the early hours, before anyone else is awake...except for the several cats...I've had the wonderful fortune to discover for myself, three exceptional artists:

#1. The first artist of my excitement is Lojze Spacal (1907 - 2000), a fantastic Slovenian artist who worked in graphic arts as well as painting, muraling, mixed media, photography, etc. I would love to visit the Lojze Spacal Gallery in Štanjel. His woodblock and linocut prints are incredible, and bring to mind my favorite Japanese Sosaku Hanga artist, Kiyoshi Saito. I include more info on him, as most sites are not in English, and because he is my favorite find today, tickling all my right-brain art receptors. The URL below leads to a documentary on Spacal with wonderful images of his himself, his works, his house/home studio, the garden and hometown. It includes some images of the artist printing woodblock or linocut works at his press in his beautiful studio.

http://www.fatamorgana.si/SPACAL/index.htm

There is a bio in English on Vodnik website:

LOJZE SPACAL (Trieste 1907 – 2000 Trieste, buried in Skrbina) painter and graphic artist. Region: Obalno-kraška regija

Lojze Spacal has the reputation of being one of the most prominent artists in the post-war Slovene and Italian areas, and an artist of worldwide acclaim. He reached his artistic peak in graphic techniques, mainly in linocut and woodcut. He also used many other techniques: oil, mosaic, tapestry, fresco, and various mixed techniques, for example, a combination of sculpture, relief and painting. He came to be remembered as the artist of Istria and the Karst, because he derived inspiration for his work from these two regions and he interpreted them in his own artistic language. He spent a lot of time in his house in Skrbina in the Karst, where he is also buried, as he wished. His work was awarded many national and international, Slovene and Italian awards: the Graphic Award of the Biennial of Contemporary Art in Sau Paolo, Brazil (1953), Graphic Gran Prix at the Venetian Biennal (1958), the Award of the Presidency of the Chamber of the Members of Parliament of the Italian Republic (1968), the Preseren Award for Life Achievement (1974), the Trieste Golden St. Justin (1977), the Golden Star of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (awarded to him by J.B.Tito in 1978), the Golden Medal of the Trieste Region (1984), Correspondence Member of the Slovene Acedemy of Science and Arts (1987), the Jakopic Award (presented to him posthumously in 2000) and many other awards for his artistic works. He participated in numerous collective and individual exhibitions in Slovenia, Italy and in other parts of the world. He participated four times in the Venice Biennial and his works were exhibited on a regular basis in the Ljubljana Biennial. His paintings and graphics form part of numerous important gallery collections of contemporary art all around the world.
Since 1988, there has been a permanent exhibition of his works in the Castle of Stanjel.

# 2. The second artist is a living designer, Thomas Heatherwick, an Englishman who brings together design, sculpture and architecture. His beautiful sculpture for Wellcome Trust, constructed of 150,000 sphereical glass beads is called Bleigiessen, (lead guessing) a German word for pouring melted lead into water, in which the resulting shape is used for divination (future/fortune-telling).

Google "Thomas Heatherwick" for images of his works. Here is a URL link to one view of Bleigiessen:

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_wtd015326.html

#3. The third is an artist who piques my leftish-brain minimalist graphic bone. Among other mediums with which he produces his works, German artist, Christoph Feichtiner, travels around the world making "Ferrograms" (iron prints) from designs he finds on manhole covers: http://www.woostercollective.com/2007/04/ferrograms_from_christoph_feichtinger.html

His gallery site: http://www.fei.at/