Too Many Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, what if you have a picture AND words. That's exactly what Thomas Zipp does: he combines a simple graphic and lots of words to give us a new hybrid that's lovely and readable.

You'll enjoy seeing more of these kinds of works on his page at Kaufmann Repetto.


Image from Kaufmann Repetto.

Pointillist Collage

Each of Derek Cracco's pointillist collages has a specific theme that draws you in for a closer look. You can see more of these beautiful and interesting works on his Website.


Image is from http://derekcracco.com/home.html

Paint Pointillism

 I get the feeling that Zander Blom has a deep respect for paint and applies it right out of the tube to unprimed canvas so that the staining makes a natural backdrop to showcase all these "pieces" of paint. These simple and straight-forward works say so much in a very quiet way.

You'll enjoy the other paintings and installation shots from his Show at the Stevenson Gallery.


Image from Stevenson Gallery.

Aces

"Aces"

Cowboys; we think of them as the ultimate icons of manliness, strength and stability. To see this "cowboy" putting on his brace at the rodeo was quite a shock. Suddenly the whole myth evaporated and I was faced with the  fact that this is just another day at work for this man and he was doing what it took to get through it.

Artistic Lie-sense

as in - if you lie down for a while, things tend to make a little more sense.
Am currently vacationing at Seashore Campsites in Cape May, NJ.

You've probably noticed that posting has become almost none existent. That's mostly because I've been spending more time in the studio and also because the initial purpose of this blog has been satisfied. I do hope that you'll peruse the Artists (links) in the right hand column. It will give you just a small idea of how pervasive these genres are. And I would encourage you to Google any Artists that have a broken link. For all the people listed, I have at least as many more that I've never posted about and discovering all this varied art work has been a tremendous inspiration and validation for me.

Golfing For Dollars

Looks to me like this guy's got the perfect stance and perfect swing: so I'd say 2 plus 2 equals fore !
And check out the look on his face. This guy is going for the gold.

click on image to enlarge.

Titled "Your Shogunistic", this is my latest endeavor with dots and collage.

Disco Collage

Ah, the Disco. Plenty of memories there . . . .
Just finished this painting titled "Preposition" and early on it seemed to echo the atmosphere at the Disco. And by that I mean the club that I helped furbish and then later did the light show. I was going to try to paint the lighting effects of a mirror ball with mauve, chocolate and blue spots on it but realized soon enough that I wouldn't be able to properly translate my mental visuals into paint. For me, this painting says plenty and so I decided to stop and pronounce it done.

Collage, acrylic, pencil and pastel on canvas.

Say It With Paint

EJ Hauser is yet another artist who paints words or phrases.

This image is from his Website, where you can see more of his work.

TheCompositional Strength of Dots

Although Tomas Nakada describes his works as referencing patterns that are created by microscopic cells, their growth and migration; I'm again reminded of the power of using dots as the sole compositional tool and how far we've come since the Pointillists.

He's represented by Gallery Paule Anglim, where you'll see several variations on this theme and you can visit his Website.

This image is from Moon River (Blog).

Bubble Dots

Who knew bubble-wrap could look so luscious ?

Quite an attractive painting by Matteo Callegari: it draws you in because you're curious - "is that texture ?" When you look at the installation shots of his show at Ramiken Crucible, you really don't have a clue; but visit the artist's Website where the backgrounds are close-ups and you suddenly "get it". They are amazing.

Dot Sampler

A while back when Gagosian was doing the Damien Hirst Dot Extravaganza, a Blog named All About Art decided to do a Sampler, of sorts. There's more than a few pleasant surprises here and once again we're reminded of how so many different artists have their own take on any given genre.

If this has whet your appetite for all things, dots, you'll get some real satisfaction from checking out the artists in the far right column under the headings of - Paintings With Dots, Post Modern Pointillism, and Dottillism.

The image above is Joanne Mattera's "Cera 34", 2000  encaustic on panel, 24X24 inches; courtesy of Arden gallery via All About Art.

Man Of Few Words

 . . . or not.
Marcus may or may not be saying anything in his paintings - but he's not saying. By that I mean that he doesn't explain what the words say or do, other than to mention that his works incorporate "graffiti-esque" elements. Either way, I really like what's going on here and the way he treats language in his compositions.

The image is from Craighead Green Galley, but you'll find more images and more info at Markowicz Fine Art.

To The Bitter End

I experienced a lot of different emotions while watching this video of Jean-Jacques Pigeon painting in his studio. It starts out interestingly enough with this artist working on a good sized canvas in a small studio space. But just when you think he's about finished with it, things take a dramatic turn and slowly I felt saddened by the waste of a good painting and paint. Thankfully I hung in there. The result is surprising. In the end the look on his face is worth the price of admission. And as for the painting - BRAVO ! 

You can come to your own conclusions.  
Oh, and the music's really cool.

Dizzy Dots

Michiko Itatani is yet another artist who uses dots to anchor their compositions. This simple rendition might bring a smile to your face, but study her other works and series and you start to get a sense of how seriously she takes these geometrical marks and how they play such an important role.

 The above painting is from her Website,  and in the Cosmic Theater Series.

Dot Your i's

"Roman",  2013

What's different about this, my latest painting is that I formed the word Roman by putting blue masking tape on the under painting and then cutting to-shape with a razor blade. When the surrounding dots were finished I removed the blue tape to reveal the markings underneath. So far, the reactions have been favorable.

Pause or Finish

Each artist tackles their paintings differently. Some have a master plan and work on sections at a time, others, like myself advance the piece in a general overall manner. And in doing so, there are "pause points' - times when one can sit back and thoroughly enjoy the visuals as they are and take one's time considering the next move.

At the moment, this particular painting with the working title of "run" is giving me great pleasure; so much so that I'm tempted to pronounce it "done". But there have been times in the past when I've been too anxious, and later regretted varnishing a work when further changes could have been made.

So I think I'll just take my time and enjoy this little number while it cures.

  

Martian Venus

"Martian Venus"

Sometimes a little glare goes a long way.
In my rush to tweak this painting for a Show, I had it photographed before it was varnished. The lovely blue-glitter effect that you see is glare on the gloss medium from the extra lighting for the photo shoot. And I must say IMO, that it adds a lot to the painting.