Episode 5: Art that Moves You (Works)

Artist: Becky Cochrane
Twitter: BeckyCochrane
"Houston, Texas: Materials: Acrylic, glue, ink, and four 2.3-inch canvases on one 18x14-inch canvas.
Statement: No matter where I am inside my adopted city, or coming home to it, my heart lifts EVERY time I see the downtown skyline. I love the skyscrapers and the colors of Houston's parks and landscaping which are visible year-round. I'm a five-minute drive from downtown, a five minute drive from several fantastic parks, and as if that's not enough, I'm less than a ten-minute drive from the works of many of my favorite artists. I've tried to mimic some of their canvases here. I never dreamed I'd live where city streets could take me to Rothko, Picasso, Braque, Pollock, Monet, Van Gogh, Ensor, Mondrian, Newman, Cézanne, Magritte, Jasper Johns, Klein, Miró--a visual feast."



Artist: Nikie Brown
Twitter: wishnikphoto
"I live in the country and what moves me is when I come home at night and look up at the night sky to see hundreds and millions of stars. This is the night sky at my house on an extended exposure. This is one of my many attempts with the plan being to keep my shutter open all night."




Artist: Rhonda Rubin
Twitter: The_Rhonda
"Escape, Mon: Charcoal, pencil, colored pencil, and ink on sketch paper. I am two things. Well, I am many things, but for the purposes of this challenge? Two. First of all, I am a city girl through and through. Seriously, if I prick my finger, I will bleed Starbucks and concrete. Also, I am a Taurus in almost every sense of the word. As such, I love the ground. I love playing in the dirt, and I love rolling down the road on my motorcycle, on my bicycle, and in my car. That's my mental floss. Though I love living in the shadow of downtown Houston, when I roll down Allen Parkway, on either four wheels or two, I hit the gas and just fly around the curves toward sweet, sweet freedom. By way of Starbucks."











*Click on boombox to play*
Artist/Composer: Josh Newton
Twitter: Marquis66
"This composition is a serenade for strings and piano, and I tried to capture a bunch of prominent features of my home town. For one, there is this Episcopal Church on a hill overlooking the whole area that has bells that go off every hour. You can hear them everywhere when they go off, and that was the big inspiration to this piece. Second, is the Kennebec River, which runs through all of the surrounding cities, and as it passes by the house where we live, it is about 250 feet wide, and flows very strongly. It floods every spring, throwing the whole area into a mini panic. Finally, I tried to give this piece a sense of scale, since there is a lot of really picturesque moments, like the sun coming up over the river, or the view overlooking the valley from some of the surrounding hills."

Artist: Timothy Forry
Twitter: N/A
"Litchfield, CT: Acrylic on Canvas.
Litchfield, as a town, is a paradox. It is at once in love with its history and traditions, yet the thinking is very forward and cosmopolitan. To express this, I chose to do an abstraction of the iconic steeple of the 18th century church in the center of town--which is the most photographed church in New England. I think the completed piece successfully illustrates the paradox."



Artist: Jennifer Mathis
Twitter: JenXer
"My tribute to Houston street artists: Weah, Give Up, 2:12, Ack!, and Eyesore."



Artist: Micki Brown
Twitter: N/A, but she food blogs HERE
"I created a photo collage about driving. I have had two accidents in the past year, neither of them were my fault—but the experience has left me shaken. I have always been a cautious driver and now, I am a freakishly nervous driver as well.

I took a lot of close-up photographs of my car with a completely different concept in mind, but found myself gravitating to the wheels and break-lights and their crucial role in car wrecks. So this is the unexpected result—you might even call it an accident."

Artist: Brad Dumm
Twitter: N/A
"These are ink outline tracings from two different photographs I took of downtown Los Angeles. I used the copy machine to take the color out. I wanted to convey the feeling of urgency and energy as you drive into the middle of my city."



Artist: Sean Kramer
Twitter: N/A
"Peace of Mind: One thing I love to do is get in my car and drive. If I need to clear my head or just get out of the house, I get in my car and drive. It is one of my favorite activities to do around Houston. When I first moved to Houston, I would go get myself lost just to learn the city. Even with the numerous roadsigns and constant traffic, I can still find peace of mind driving around."