Sewing Pattern Paintings

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There are 89 art destinations in my Google Reader and another 34 that I visit weekly or monthly. Researching an artist that captures my attention leads to yet more artists and Web sites. You might say that on a daily basis I see a whole lot of art. There's a general flow to all of this with it's high and low points. But sometimes I'll come across something that spins me around.
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John Westmark uses acrylic and paper sewing patterns on canvas to show us once again that painting never was dead. He takes this simple and innovative concept seriously and does it well.

This image is from Art Opportunity Monthly.

You can visit his Website and the Galleries that represent him to see more of his work.

The image below, is from the J Costello Gallery. They have 17 images.

A.S. Gallery has 8 images - 2 of which are different.

And you can check out the 5 images at Chicago Art Source to see if you missed any.

You'll really enjoy visiting ArtQuiver. They give you a 3-D experience that allows you to see the actual size of the works in a virtual gallery setting.

And lastly, check out this one, totally different work at Gallery Bienvenu..
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Dots As Pattern

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I'm a big fan of Madeline Adams work. And although it fits nicely into my category of Dottillism, that's not really the way she thinks about, or goes about making her paintings. But she does go full tilt with the dots and her colors are wide awake.



Read her Statement and view the complete oeuvre at her Website.
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She also does abstracts and the work below, feels like a transitional piece where the dots have decided to merge and morph.

When viewed next to the abstracts, the dot paintings make it seem as if she's corralled and controlled those colors more tightly; a very nice juxtaposition.

And then, what's interesting is that her Works on paper are all about circles . . . .

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The Party's Over

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That's the song I tend to sing when we come to the end of our vacation each year, to the great annoyance of everyone. Today is our last full day at the campsite and for our last supper, we'll be having pizza and french fries on a deck overlooking our favorite beach. We'll then enjoy one last swim in the ocean as the sun goes down.

We made a cool sand castle with a concave courtyard one day. Another day, a huge four foot tall clown face staring into space, which we watched deteriorate as the incoming tide began to consume it.

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Wednesday I had the pleasure of taking my niece to the Philadelphia Museum of Art; a much delayed birthday present.

She was pretty much in awe, but finally loosened up, once we got to the contemporary galleries. I wanted to take a pic of her jumping, so we could send it to the Jumping In Art Museums Blog. Her ankle was still sore so this is what we came up with.
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Tomorrow we'll pack up and head for a campsite in Elizabethtown, PA. Then Saturday we'll make the final push to go back home. It's been a wonderful two weeks of being on vacation.

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Regular posting will resume next week.

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Lovely Lines

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Another artist who's re inspired me about certain aspects of my own oeuvre is Charles Christopher Hill. Whether he's doing dots, lines or spirals in his signature color of red or black, it's his process that give these works their specialness.

The following quote from the press release for his "new paintings: Dots to die for" Exhibit at Rocket Gallery gives much insight into that process. "The paintings are built- up of multiple layers of acrylic paint -yellow, orange, red, green and black applied in random order - and endless layers of clear acrylic 'medium'."

Here, you can view installation shots of his 2008/09 Exhibit at Rocket or click the link to see the quoted, 2004 Exhibit.

You can visit his Website to see an over-view of his work.

He's also represented by and you'll find additional images at Greenfield Sacks Gallery. If you're interested in seeing really huge images of his work, visit their page at FADA.

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His lines paintings are especially appealing to me. There seems to be a vibrating, undulating "life" to them. It'd be wonderful to see these in person.

Top image is from his page at facebook.

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Bottom image is from a Google search. The landing page looks like his site, but you can't actually find this particular image AT his site . . .
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Child-Like Paintings

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When you look at the work of Marie-Cécile Aptel, it's easy to see the influences of the artists she admires and there are many other artists who also come to mind that make child-like, carefree paintings and drawings. This label is in no way an insult, but rather praise and a badge of honor for those who address their canvases in this fashion.


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Art On The Mark has quite a few images of her works on canvas and paper.
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Timothy Tew gives us insight into her oeuvre and then you can also see 15 images here.
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Abstracts With Writing

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After all this time, I'm still always amazed by artists who write in their paintings; artists who combine abstraction with writing. By now you're well aware that this is no small niche. It's so pleasant to find those who do it well.
Val Rossman is one such artist and this example is from her Balance/Hubbub Series. The works here, are either pastel, or oil on steel.

There's a lot of rich variation in her oeuvre and three other series at her Website show the different directions in which she's leaning. Although there are gems in her Recent Work (which is a touch more spare and geometric), her Series - The Women, was by far my favorite.
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Bottom image was found at Creativearts.
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Making New Marks

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Look at these works by Judith Foosaner and you're reminded of so many other artists I've researched and posted about on this Blog. This deja vu experience is almost like an aerial view of a landscape populated by artists who subscribe to far ranging ideas about writing, mark making, layering and gesture, too name a few.



These four examples of her work show the amazing similarities to those artists and remind us of how different people can come to the same conclusions in their oeuvres.

Quite surprisingly, her Artist Statement address an issue that bedevils all of us and gives a different insight into this artist's approach to drawing and painting. You'll most certainly want to visit her Website to study and appreciate the full tenor of her oeuvre.

All images are clickable for a larger view except this second one.

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She's represented by and all images are from the Lora Schlesinger Gallery.

This Review by Ann Elliott Sherman paints a beautiful verbal picture of her work.

A Yahoo Search shows some examples of her work using color, but good luck trying to find the works at the sites . . .

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Layering & Repetition

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In my book, James Jankowiak is both a colorist and a pointillist. His adventuresome colors speak volumes and his subject matter is dealt with in parts and pieces.

Postmodern Pointillism ? That's how I see it; not that it's on his mind, but technically speaking, I think his oeuvre qualifies. His Artist Statement speaks of the ritual of repetition and organic composition. And reading this concise Bio at Urban Gateways pretty much fills in all the blanks and gives you a good sense of "where he's coming from". You'll see plenty of images at his Website to help you form your own opinion.

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Getting There

can really be fun . . . . .

This is my youngest brother and his family.

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Time For A Break

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I'll be heading for the shore in the next few days.

Hopefully, posting will resume shortly.

Thanks for your support.

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Overpainting

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The work of Arnulf Rainer is at the very least astonishing. Many more words will come to mind as you study his oeuvre, but you might want to do a bit of reading before you come to a final judgment. What amazed me most was his overwhelming, careening drive to make nontraditional art. That zeal took him down some very unusual paths. You'll come to understand the title of this Post as you see and read about his work. But the irony, for me, is that the word overpainting also becomes an adverb for his actions (as in someone going too far).

Before you go to the image links, please read this one paragraph from ArtInfo. It helps set the stage for all that follows.

I don't remember hearing the term overpainting before and it's the perfect description for most of his work. The more you study his oeuvre, the more newer, younger artists come to mind and again we're reminded of how artists ruminate and regurgitate what's been done before. It's almost like the retelling of a joke; it may change in the telling, but the punchline remains the same. Here we have the original in all it's flawed, inglorious rawness.

And with that I'll leave you to your own discoveries and opinions.

Artnet has 63 images and you'll find 31 images at madelcambre.

If you're still interested after seeing those, you might want to see the 37 images at oseculoprodigioso. And I must warn you that the music that starts to play will put you in a mood like no other and add a tremendous amount of psychological depth to what you're viewing.

Here's a concise timeline of his career.

This Biography and a very readable Review by the NY Times, round out the picture.

An enjoyable, candid Review of the Exhibit at the Arnul Rainer Museum in Chelsea, by Lilly Wei in Art In America.

You'll find a wider range of image results at Bing.

There's much to think about here and come September 27 of this year they'll be opening the Arnulf Rainer Museum, dedicated to his work, in Baden, Austria.

Top image from PBase.
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Uncanny Pointillism

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The familiar scene below, is not what you think. This version, by Chris Jordan, depicts 106,000 aluminum cans. That's the number of cans used in the United States every thirty seconds.

Chris' photography puts a face on our consumption. You'll want to visit his Website to see all the other tantalizing images and read his Statement.

Statistics can be so boring and he's found a way to hold our attention and let the figures sink in. Here's a detail from the image above. Click the images for a larger view.

I'm not sure just exactly how he makes these works, but that question seems very unimportant compared to the tremendous message that's being conveyed.

This image shows the skill involved.

All images are from his site.
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Pill Pointillism

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Andy Diaz Hope takes a photograph, cuts it into a grid and then puts those pieces into gelatin capsules, presenting us with pointillism-with-a-theme.

You can read about those themes on his Website, where you'll find explanations for each slice of his interesting oeuvre.

He's also represented by the Catherine Clark Gallery.

Bottom image is from Art Business (San Fran Gallery openings).

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Paintings That Speak

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Suzanne McClelland was an early favorite of mine. By that I mean that during my Web searches, years ago, she was one of the artists who immediately caught my eye. Isn't it awesome that an artist can take some words (a thought) and make a painting with it? There's an old saying, that I'm sure you've heard too, that a painting "speaks to me". Well, in this case it's a definite yes if your reading the words in Suzanne's paintings
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What sparked this post was seeing the above image and following it to her Website. I was a little disappointed with the site. As with a lot of artists these days they don't have an Artist Statement, but instead have "Press" where you can read what the critics say. Although educational, I'm still a big fan of hearing the artist explain their own oeuvre. And there weren't as many images of her work as I had expected, so I'm including links to four Galleries that either represent or exhibit her work. Between the many images and the text, you'll be more able to fully understand and appreciate her oeuvre.
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You'll find 24 images and installation shots at the Sue Scott Gallery.

And at Lorissa Goldston Gallery, 22 images.

A whopping 46 images at One Eye Pug.
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The above image is from K.S. Art Online where they have installations shots of her small works.
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