favorite collage work of 2011

sunny belliston taylor...see original post here.

candace walters...see original post here.

miranda lake...see original post here.

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

tomorrow: favorite collage work of 2011

favorite craft based work of 2011

liza lou...see original post here.
melanie bilenker...see original post here.

jennifer perry shingelo...see original post here.

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

tomorrow: favorite collage work of 2011

favorite sculpture/installation work of 2011

brian dettmer...see original post here.

brian dickerson...see orignal post here.

kate mccguire...see original post here.

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

tomorrow: favorite craft based work of 2011

favorite drawings/works on paper of 2011

sebastiaan bremer...see original post here.
lydia diemer...see original post here.
michiyo ihara...see original post here.

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

tomorrow: favorite sculpture of 2011

favorite paintings of 2011

eric blum...see original post here.

michael cutlip...see original post here.

alexandra pacula...see 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 three favorites in five categories that will be featured monday-friday 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 of 2011

Merry Christmas!!!

sandy skoglund, sock situation, 1986, color photograph, 21x37.5

Merry Christmas everyone!!...see more here.

phillip allen

untitled, 2002, oil on board 14x18, the falestorm, 2002, oil on board, 36x47x5, motherland gem, 2010, oil on board, 20x24

plump paint and pattern...see more here and here.

beatrice pediconi

corpo sottile 6, 2006, scomposizione 1, 2006, movimento 2, 2006

makes me want to float in a salt bath...see more here.

christina pierson

time traveller, 2009, cut fresnel lenses, archival permanent ink on mylar, 6x10, phi bloom, 2006, cast resin,  18 diameter, time slice 3, 2008, cut fresnel lenses, archival permanent ink on mylar, 6x5

delicate transparency...see more here.

joshua dildine

four winds, lightening seeds, acrylic, charcoal, graphite on canvas, 36x36, a slice of the good life, 2010, acrylic and oil on canvas, 48x60, quicken the heart, acrylic, charcoal, graphite on canvas, 24x24

bold, paint loaded strokes that swoon...see more here.

ty pownall

formation level, 2011, mixed media, dimensions vary, landscape, 2010, steel, tarpaper, graphite, 3x15x15 feet, landscape, 2010, steel, tarpaper, graphite, 3x15x15 feet

love the lines....see more here.

sunday church drawing

see this post for an explanation of the changes to the sunday church drawings.

graceann warn

comet, 2011, encaustic, oil and paper on wood panel, 31x41x2, exhale, 2011, encaustic, oil and paper on wood panel, 36x48x1.5, june, 2011, encaustic, oil and paper on wood panel, 16x48x2

i've always been such a fan and saw her work in person one again (which is a must) recently at the pma craft show. so exciting to watch an artist grow over the years....see more here.

stephanie hargrave

bursiform 1, encaustic on birch, 12x12, black spine, encaustic on birch, 52x48, husk 10, encaustic on clayboard, 12x12

lovely wax...see more here.

michael knutson

crossing oval coils v, crossing oval coils viii, bipolar coils ii

flower roller coasters...see more here.

corina gamma

la leisure 1, 2007, c-print, la leisure 5, 2007, c-print, la leisure 11d, 2007, c-print

loving the strong graphic lines...see more here.

gabe brown

puddle, 2008, oil on linen over wood panel, 15x12, the sun that bends the branches, 2008, oil on linen over wood panel, 48x40, spring fever, 2008, oil on linen over wood panel, 20x16

bold graphics and dreams....see more here.

sunday church drawing

see this post for an explanation of the changes to the sunday church drawings.

the heron's wife

chad merritt, the heron's wife, paper cut print....see more here.

from the book the third angel, by alice hoffman....

Out of Nowhere

She was standing in the marsh and everything was blue. Water, clouds, reeds. He was a heron in the sky, then he fell to earth and was human. They believed love could be simpler than it seemed.

Out of the Darkest Night

When he was in her house everything outside was hazy. Snow, fences trees. His broken wing had become a broken arm. His life in the sky had become tea, biscuits, a bed with blue sheets. There was a past, but it was far away. They believed love could be too strong to fight.

Out of the Blue

She was high above them so she could see everything clearly. House, laundry on the line, pillowcases, sheets, shirts that were his size. When a heron cries the salt falls to the earth below. The world of the air meant nothing to her. She couldn't taste anything but her own blood. She tried to be human, pulling out her feathers, but there were too many and she was unchanged. She believed love was everlasting.

Out of Mind

He saw the feathers on the ground. Blood, bone, blue. He remembered things that the fall to earth had shaken out of his mind. He thought of nests, heartbeats, wind, her body beside his. He believed he had made a promise, but to whom had it been spoken?     

Out of Honor

He couldn't ignore the before just to get to the after. He had seen a trail of blood, feathers plucked from her own chest. He cast off his cloak and became who he'd been before. The earth became distant, but he could hear it calling him back. He believed he could leave and never look back, even though he saw it spinning, so beautiful and blue, whenever he closed his eyes.

Out of Hope

She waited every day. She waded far out in the water. Crabs, shadows, songbirds. She took the feathers she found on the ground and sewed them to her dress. She pinned them to her shoes, her hair, her coat. She climbed into the highest tree, where the branches shook in the wind. She looked like blue leaves about to rise. She looked like heartbreak, faith, desire. Why wouldn't he love her, come back to her? Why couldn't she fly away? She believed she could find him, but more than that, she believed in fate.

Out of Ashes

They both saw him, his wife on the earth and his wife beside him, and then they didn't. He was between them and then he wasn't. Hunters shot him as though he were a crow, as though no one had ever loved him, yearned for him, mourned him. The sky looked smaller than it ever had. A cloud stretched across the earth. They had believed love would keep him safe.

Out of Somewhere

They were standing in the marsh and everything was blue. Water, clouds, reeds. They did this every day. His wife on earth and his heron wife. They never spoke. They didn't have to. They believed love was more complicated than it seemed.

this post is dedicated to my hero, joseph dibernardo...go here to see what an amazing person he was.

happy birthday...love you always, joe.

margaret lanzetta

arc of stability, enamel, acrylic, mixed media on canvas on panel, 36x50, eternity in an hour, oil and enamel on panel, 17x17, jorhat 0376, oil and enamel on panel, 24x24

you just have to be happy after looking at these paintings...see more here.