happy new year!

it's great that we always have a chance to make a fresh start at the turn of the year. remember to make 2 new years resolutions this year-one that helps you and one that helps someone else.

two years ago on january 1st, my husband and i decided to keep all the money we found while walking on the street, the total to go to a charity that we would decide on at the end of the year. our total this year was $21.05 (amazing how those pennies add up!) which we'll give to farm sanctuary.

have a very happy and creatively abundant New Year!

favorite craft-based work of 2010

abigail doan...see the original post here.


karin birch...see the original post here.


matthew harris...see the original post here.


melissa vogley woods...see the original post here.

see this post for what the posts this week are about.

hello all, i received a very interesting (and unfortunately anonymous) comment on this post. please read the comments section of this post to see it and my answer. one of the main reasons i put this blog together is to change this kind of thinking!!

i would like to hear what you all think on this subject. please leave your comments in the comments section of this post. thanks!

favorite sculpture/installation of 2010

travis townsend...see the original post here.


hiroyuki hamada...see the original post here.


jeesoo-lee...see the original post here.


jacob hashimoto...see the original post here.

see this post for what the posts this week are about.

tomorrow: favorite craft-based posts of 2010

favorite drawings/works on paper of 2010

kiki gaffney...see the original post here.


val britton...see the original post here.


lubos plny...see the original post here.


heather patterson...see the original post here.


see this post for what the posts this week are about.

tomorrow: favorite sculpture/installation posts of 2010

favorite paintings of 2010

albert oehlen...see the original post here.

jovan karlo villalba...see the original post here.


robert straight...see the original post here.


jackie tileston...see the original post here.

the week between Christmas and New Years is a time of reflection on the past and hoping the dreams of the present become the reality of the future. so in light of this, i went back through this year's posts and managed to choose four favorites in four categories that will be featured monday-thursday this week. because the work i post is work i love to begin with, to pick the love of the loves was not an easy task! the work made it to favorites week if i found myself drawn to look at it repeatedly, if it moved me enough to stay with me for a period of time and if it inspired me to try something new in the studio. i hope revisiting some of my favorite posts of the year prompt you to rediscover one of your favorites or discover something inspiring that you may have missed the first time around. either way, enjoy and have a great week!!

tomorrow: favorite drawings/works on paper

sunday church drawing

tracy miller

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, 2006-2010, oil paint on canvas, 72x72, Wave, 2007, oil paint on canvas, 72x72, Trio, 2006, oil paint on canvas, 48x48

eat, drink, be merry and have a blessed holiday...see more here.

stay tuned...next week's posts will feature my favorite work from 2010!!

michael burges

reverse glass painting no. 49, 2010, acrylic, plexiglass, aluminum, 11.8x11.8, reverse glass painting no. 44, 2010, acrylic, plexiglass, aluminum, 11.8x11.8, reverse glass painting no. 15, 2010, acrylic, plexiglass, aluminum, 11.8x11.8

i recently described reverse glass painting to one of my students who had never heard of it, i'm happy to see some painters are still working in this way. of course, you must see these paintings in person to appreciate them...as far as they relate to holiday week, think lavish holiday dessert tables with sparks of gold, sprays of flowers, glowing candles and zillions of cakes lusciously slathered in gobs of thick frosting...see more here.

stay tuned...next week's posts will feature my favorite work from 2010!!

bill komoski

3/20/06, 2006, acrylic paint on canvas, 94 x 74, Untitled, 2004, acrylic paint on canvas, 68 x 56.75, 10/4/05, 2005, acrylic paint on canvas, 96 x 84

wintry landscapes with just a wee bit of sunshine....see more here.

stay tuned...next week's posts will feature my favorite work from 2010!!

barbara f kendrick

Nursery, 2008, Watercolor, gouache, pencil, pastel, 21 x 20.5, Waiting, Watching, Waiting, 2009, Watercolor, pencil, ink, 22 x 19, Hearsay, 2009, Watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink. 19 x 22

i chose these paintings because of their explosive beauty and references to elaborate holiday flowers, decoration, lights, love...see more here.

stay tuned...next week's posts will feature my favorite work from 2010!!

andrew long

thoughts without words, 2007, acrylic on baltic birch, 48x48, cactus garden bloom, 2007, acrylic on baltic birch, 30x30, a thousand years, 2007, acrylic on baltic birch, 48x48

this week i have a special line-up of fun, festive flora & fauna to celebrate the holidays. this is the first artist whose bold, bright, simple shapes and colors remind me of my decorated house back in the 70's when i was little...see more here.

stay tuned...next week's posts will feature my favorite work from 2010!!

sunday church drawing

wendy seller

conversation, oil on canvas, 34x30, drawn to roost, oil on canvas, 34x30, holistic perspectives, oil on canvas, 34x30

dreamy, lovely...see more here.

josette urso

rose path, oil on panel, 11x14, city gate, 2009, oil on canvas, 16x20, near saratoga springs, 2009, oil on canvas, 24x30

even though these paintings are stunning in their own right, i keep seeing them as quilts, tapestries and beautifully knitted blankets...see more here.

deborah zlotsky

Jarple, 2010, powdered graphite on mylar, 6 x 5 1/2, Lumdrumvarum, 2010, powdered graphite on mylar, 10 ½ x 5 ½, Hillbitty, 2009, powdered graphite on mylar, 36 x 25, Vumb, 2010, powdered graphite on mylar, 60 x 48

In my drawing series, LifeLike, I manipulate powdered graphite on sheets of mylar through a process of documenting what I imagine I see as the velvety material is spread, painted, blown, erased, wiped and smudged. While the results are fictitious, the concreteness of the illusion I conjure up blurs boundaries between documenting nature and inventing nature. The uncertainty between the two raises questions about the ambiguities of nature and what we identify as natural. Despite the accidental way I search for signs of life in the smears, the botanical/biological forms acquire the irregularities, complexities and beauty of the natural world. Each drawing is named through a similar process: a piecemeal soldering of fragments of sounds and grammatical parts to construct a credible whole.

mysteriously, beautifully freakish...see more here.

cara tomlinson

future plans, 2007, oil on canvas, 36x40, obe, 2010, oil on linen, 60x72, subject/object, 2007, oil on canvas, 40x42

i love it when paintings look like textiles...see more here.