Artist of the day

Saturday, May 16, 2026

Artist of the Day, May 16, 2026 : Karen Stamper, a British painter, collage artist (#2528)

Karen Stamper: Growing up on the east coast of Yorkshire as a happy beachcomber I was attracted to paint-peeling wooden boats, gaudy plastic scraps and brightly colored fishing floats. As a child I was free to wander, explore and collect. It is these boatyard memories that have become my subject and endless inspiration.

At Art College I was immediately draw to the dense flat colors of silk screen printing, for which I received a commendation. It was on a travel scholarship that I saw Matisse’s cut-outs for the first time; it was the scale of his work, the intensity, the pin holes, crease lines and torn edges that fired my imagination.

Whilst secondary school teaching I developed my collage work. I combine found papers with layers of painted paper and water-based paint to create an integrated surface.This is constructed and deconstructed many times; scratched, sanded, repainted, recut, until a patchwork of urban marks and worn surfaces bond together. As this collage work has developed it has become increasingly physical, moving from paper to wooden panels.

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Karen Stamper or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Ms. Karen Stamper

Walking in the sun, 2014

Globe Trotter, 2014

The big white square, 2014

Wait for me, 2015

By the sea, 2016

If walls could talk, 2016

Veronika, 2016

Like a bird on a wire, 2018

Bebop, 2020

When the day is done, 2020

Circus Call, 2021

Last Leg, 2021

Shipmates, 2021

Anchors Aweigh, 2022

Go to Sea, 2022

On our way home, 2022

Salvage 1, 2022

Salvage 6, 2022

Sea Worn, 2022

Shore Leave, 2022

Where the Ocean Waits, 2022

Boatyard Party, 2023

Coastal Report, 2023

Hullabaloo, 2023

Just a Lick of Paint, 2023

Regatta Day, 2023

Salvage 8, 2023

Salvage 19, 2023

Undercover, 2023

Beyond repair, 2024

On the run, 2024

Friday, May 15, 2026

Artist of the Day, May 15, 2026 : FAILE, an American collage, painting and multimedia collaboration (#2527)

FAILE (Pronounced "fail") is a Brooklyn-based artistic collaboration between Patrick McNeil (1975) and Patrick Miller (1976). Since its inception in 1999, FAILE has been known for a wide-ranging multimedia practice recognizable for its explorations of duality through a fragmented style of appropriation and collage.

While painting and printmaking remain central to their approach, over the past decade FAILE has adapted its signature mass culture-driven iconography to an array of materials and techniques, from wooden boxes and window pallets to more traditional canvas, prints, sculptures, stencils, installation, and prayer wheels. FAILE's work is constructed from found visual imagery, and blurs the line between "high" and "low" culture, but recent exhibitions demonstrate an emphasis on audience participation, a critique of consumerism, and the incorporation of religious media, architecture, and site-specific/archival research into their work.

McNeil was born in Edmonton, Alberta; Miller was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. McNeil and Miller met during their youth in Arizona. Separated in 1996 when Miller remained in art school in Minneapolis and McNeil continued to New York, by the end of the decade, the duo reconnected and, with the addition of then artist Aiko Nakagawa, "A Life" was conceived. By early 2000, the trio contributed to the emergence of a nascent street art culture by circulating their screenprinted and painted work on city streets, usually using the subversive processes of wheatpasting and stenciling. During the ensuing years McNeil, Miller, and Nakagawa solidified both their omnivorous style of pop-cultural collage, and changed their name to FAILE (an anagram of A Life). Nakagawa left FAILE in 2006, gaining success in her own right, while McNeil and Miller continued on to increased commercial and institutional visibility.

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by FAILE, Patrick McNeil, Patrick Miller or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only