bruce metcalf

shell doll, 2008, Brooch, Abalone shell, cowrie shell, painted wood, sterling silver, 2 3/8 x 1 1/2, flame, 2003, Painted maple, 24k gold-plated brass, 5 1/2 x 3, costa rican with lips, 2006, Painted maple, 14k yellow gold, 18k yellow gold, 24k gold-plated brass, 23k gold leaf, 12 x 5 , jagrabbit, 2004, Painted maple, 6 x 4 1/2 , claw, 2007, Painted wood, 18k yellow gold, 4 1/2 x 1 5/8, rhyme and pun necklace II, 2008, Wood, cork, model tire, glass cabochon, copper electroform, aluminum, weed-trimmer string, partly painted, 11x11

luscious materials and craftsmanship...see more here.

squeak carnwath

Attempting To Be Happy , 2000, Oil and alkyd on linen over panel, 70 x 70, Then, Now, and When , 2002, Oil and alkyd on linen over panel, 77 x 77, Once Around, 2006, Intaglio, lithography, woodcut,35 1/2" x 71" Edition of 15, No Nothingness, 2004, oil and alkyd on canvas over panel, 77 x 77, Beginner, 20092008, oil and alkyd on canvas over panel, 70 x 70

see more here and here and here.

Yvonne Piner Kleiman

All: Untitled, Smoke on Canvas, 12 x 12

In the act of creating, memories and images bubble up from the deepest crevices of my psyche and transform into visual metaphors. The process prompts psychological exploration, luring me to the paradox of both losing and finding myself. Automatism reveals my thoughts in its purest form.
I am drawn to process art making because of its meditative, cathartic, and liberating influences. It allows me to invest my intensity, history, body, and self in a safe and meaningful way that communicates complexities verbal expression cannot.

fumage is making marks with the soot of smoke from a candle or the like. i just taught this process to my alternative materials class at tyler and anyone who has ever tried it would admire this artist's control...see more here.

sunday church drawing

cell series 2

Lance Letscher

Nervous System, 2008, Collage on masonite, 27.3 x 17.8, Lab #3, 2008, Collage on masonite, 11.0 x 8.5, Heel, Collage on masonite, Giant Robot, 2008, Collage on masonite, 28.3 x 19.0, Double Mind, 2008, Collage on masonite, 31.0 x 20.0

i had a dream about these collages last night...in real life, i think they're just amazing...see tons more work here and here.

jaqueline rush lee

Petrified Book, 8 x 11 x 7, Book of R’s, 2003, 15.5 x 15.5 x 11.5, Anthologia (Devotion Series)(detail), 2008, Used, assembled books, hand-painted, sanded, burnished inks, bookmarks, archival glue, 9 x9 x6, cube, In the Collection of Allan Chasanoff, NY, Unfurled, 6 x 9 x 6

...For almost a decade I have found myself drawn to the intimate, tactile, and symbolic qualities of used books. I am interested in how these recycled books come with their own histories of use and meaning and how they serve as potent vehicles of expression. With the idea of working with them as my canvas or building block, I transform the books into sculptures that explore and redefine the book as familiar object, medium, and archetypal form. By scrambling the formal arrangement of the book and transposing its material and conceptual qualities, I aim to create evocative art forms that suggest an alternative narrative....

read her entire statement and see more work here.

vanessa yanow

migration, 2005, Flame worked glass, blown glass, wire, boiled and burned organza, nylon, felted wool and two antique embroidery frames, 14 x 11 x 3, Untitled, 2007, Flame worked glass, blown glass, swarofsky crystals, fabric, felt, flock, metal and reflective glass beads, 23 x 30 x 30, Collaborating With Her Story – Incarnation II, 2009, A 1970’s unfinished, anonymous cross stitch project, flame worked and blown glass, window glass, wool, fabric and a photo (by Melissa Campbell) of the original piece before transformation, 24 x 14 x 8.5, Animalcules, detail view of installation at Salle Sawyer, Montreal, 2007, Heat set and burnt organza, flame worked glass, fishing line, wooden spools, thread, metal, magnets and Velcro. Dimensions variable, Approx. 2 meters x 6 meters x 2.5 meters, Depleted Anthozoa, 2008, Flame worked glass, heat set and burnt organza, fabric, aquarium pebbles, wire, metal and magnets, Modular piece, Dimensions variable, Approx. 40.5 x 12 x 22, Lux Operon, 2008, Flame worked glass, blown glass, crystal rhinestones, fabric, wool, flock, copper tubing, pvc, metal and battery operated led’s, 18 x 20 x 20

My subject matter is loosely based on micro-organic, zoomorphic forms which are inspired by nature and sometimes more specifically derived from the micro-organisms, bacteria, viruses and parasites that can be found in the body. Having personally combated a series of illnesses, I take an intimate interest in the body and what enters it. My work does not conform to status quo notions of beauty. It is the strange and the grotesque, and the beauty found in these that interests me...

fiber and glass, together at last...see more work and read the entire statement here. also read a fiberarts article about her work here.

hadieh shafie

14635, 2008, Paper, Ink & Saffron, 30x30, Radiate Out, 2008, Ink on paper on wood panel, 16 x 16, 16346, 2008, Paper & Ink, 30 x 30, Radiate In, 2008, Ink on paper on wood panel, 16 x 16, 27898, 2009, Paper and Ink, 48 x 48

another artist who stood out to me last week on our first friday stroll was at pentimenti-my favorite gallery that never lets me down. i love the enticing surfaces of the tightly rolled paper, like flowers or bubbles-something happy...i saw the work from the street and just had to go in...see more here.

ashley payne

No Title, 2008, mixed media on water color paper, 42 x 64, Wissahickon With Suzanne, 2008, mixed media on water color paper, 42 x 63, The Way We Give Comfort, 2008, mixed media on water color paper, 42 x 57, The Whale That Ate a Barbie and Crapped Out Pink, 2008, mixed media on water color paper, 42 x 87-1/2

...In my work there is a constant struggle to trust my instincts, impulses and initial desires. The images that appear in my paintings become a sort of metaphysical conversation. In the end, whatever exists on the paper is a manifestation of what is going on within my psyche.

i saw this artist's work at the painted bride last week on first friday and i just loved it and her sense of humor...see more work and read her entire statement here.

sunday church drawing

cell series 1

during the next few weeks i'll post images from my first group of church drawings from years ago. simply named, the cell series, i've sold a few of these so each has a number.