Dots, Marks & Scribbles

.
In general, you could call Laura Pakrow a minimalist. I say that because from a distance her works look like undulating monochromatic shields or emblems. And at first glance they tend to look very similar, but closer inspection reveals all the tiny and wonderful details. It was hard to pick two pieces that would fully represent her oeuvre because the more you look, the more differences you see, both in mood and execution. Please click to enlarge.
.

She covers a lot of bases as she manipulates and maneuvers within her world and pretty much every work is a winner.

Take a look at the works on her page at the Rosenfeld Gallery and you'll understand my comment about minimalism. But you'll need to visit her Website to see all her work and enjoy the sophisticated candor with which these works speak and to appreciate the full range of her repertoire.

Artist Statements are a funny thing. Hers is short, sweet and enigmatic, but I almost feel like I understand what is meant. There's definitely a lot of commitment to each piece. Some are packed full with dots, marks and scribbles, while other have more breathing room.

.

.

Enigmatic Marks & Gestures

.
Steven Poser is a psychoanalyst in New York City with a studio in the Hudson Valley. While some of his works are obvious landscapes, most are unusual, fascinating abstracts made with marks and gestures; all are untitled, leaving you to your own imaginings.
.

.
These images are from Carrie Haddad Gallery via Gallery Driver, where you can compare the 23 different manifestations of his oeuvre.
.

.
He's also represented by Art Rent & Lease. They have 24 examples of his work with more of the landscape type.
.
.

Kitsch With Dots

.

Works by Christina Niederberger have a feel of luxury about them. The comparison that comes to mind is a family with enough financial stability to thoroughly and inventively fix up the " nursery" for a new child. There's some sort of quiet exuberance going on here; a calculated happiness. But alas, it's all about kitsch. You can read her (pdf) Article Here.

I'm fascinated that when she attended the University of Bern from '81 to '89, her main subject was Psychology with secondary subjects being Pedagogy and Psychopathology.

Dots ? The woman does dots with abandon. They might look like doilies, candy, poker chips or waterlilies, but the effect is always captivating and happy. She has several subsets to her oeuvre, each with it's own charm. She's represented by Jill George Gallery. To see all her work just click on Paintings in the left menu, then click on her name and then you can click on any of the 5 years, listed. I think you'll be a little surprised by the variations in her endeavors..

You may also want to check out her Research Student Profile at Goldsmiths University of London.

.

Top images are from Jill George Gallery.

Bottom image from SwissInfo.
.

Jumbled Words

As I studied these intimate and labor intensive pieces by Susie Grant, it piqued my interest as to what her Artist Statement might say. I was refreshingly surprised by the low key attitude she expressed. Simple and realistic, her Statement paints a picture of her thoroughly enjoying the work that goes into creating these small collages. Nothing super fantastic or earth shaking is going on here. Just a very creative and patient woman who doesn't mind taking the time to really, cut & paste with a sense of humor. Some of her pieces are pleasant abstracts composed entirely of different size and colored O's. Other works contain many letters that instantly set you to searching for words and phases.

It's unfortunate that there's not more about her on the Web; we'd like to see more by this talented artist.

These images are from her Website. Clicking on the images there, will show a closeup that lets you more fully appreciate the labor that has gone into these little gems.

This shows the detail from the image below.

This work is titled All I Have Is What I remember, a collage on 11" x 10"panel.

Line/Form & Color

.
There's a wonderful comfortableness to the Line & Color Drawings by Stacy Elaine Dacheux. For me it was all-too-familiar artistic territory. So many of my own works included words that I'd colored-in some of the closed spaces. These drawings represent the basic building blocks of almost all painting; the sketching and then the painting-in of those spaces as the subject matter gets fleshed out.

And there's also something very art-historical about these pieces. The more you look at them, the more artists come to mind. There's such a calm, rational beauty here that evokes many a well known master. As intriguing as the shapes are, some of her gestures are reminiscent of letters and we find ourselves searching for words.

.You'll find 10 larger examples of these works on her Website by clicking flora & fauna. These images are from the 14 examples she has on her Flickr page.
.

Firework Drawings

.
Many an artist has tried to capture the beauty and excitement of fireworks in painting or photography, but Rosemarie Fiore actually uses the fireworks themselves to produce the lovely works you see here. These are collages, really and it's fascinating to read about the process.

She's represented by Priska C. Juschka Fine Art where they have images of her work, installation shots and pictures of her "working"(like the one below).

You'll certainly want to visit her Website to see more of her work. Be sure to check out the Projects page; she's got some other wild stuff that's pretty fascinating. You'll enjoy watching her "bombing" as she explains her oeuvre in this YouTube video.

.

Easy Art

.
There are several things about this image that give me great pleasure. It's always such a happy surprise to find works of art like this that remind you that simple, casual ideas really can work.
.
.

And the interaction between the two adults and child is quite fascinating. I don't know what the relationships are here and they might not even be discussing the painting, but the whole thing is just so cozy.

.

The image is from a post about the - Lincart Gallery in collaboration with David de Rothschild's Adventure Ecology & Sculpt the Future Foundation: SMART Art ­ Trash into Treasure - Exhibit on the Art Business Site, which posts reviews and pics of exhibits in San Francisco.

.