john newman

red sweater fossil, 2005, wool, straw, cast polyester resin, wood, rope, acqua resin, armature wire, papier maché, wood putty, 21 x 10.5 x 10.5, saffron writer's block with blowback, 2002, extruded aluminum, paper, wood, foam, acqua resin, epoxy enamel, oil paint, 15 x 19 x 12, crystal floral bubble, 2007, cast bronze, brass wire, oil paint in extruded copper, wood putty, acqua resin, museum board, gouache12 1/2x 8 1/2x 14, pompom battery, 2004, mold-blown glass, sholapith, copper wire, mutex, sisal, papier maché, styrofoam, japanese paper, acqua resin, wood, wood putty, armature wire, oil paint, 18.5 x 19.5 x 12.5

these sculptures make me laugh because the artist combines such a vast array of disparate materials and even the shapes of the sculptures themselves are totally ludicrous!! but i absolutely love them and love the courage of this work...see more here.

wendy white

Pile Driver, 2008, Acrylic on four canvases, 195 x 81 1/4, Freshkills, 2009, Acrylic on five canvases, 92 x 160, Post Rap, 2006, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 60 x 92, Bent, 2008, Acrylic on five canvases, 72 x 124, nevercracked/roomy, 2007, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, steel, soccer balls, 86 x 96 x 16

see more here.

kenji fujita

systematic gaiety (1), fractured fairy tales (2-4), rock paper scissors (5)

I make sculpture and works on paper that relate to the terms “abstraction as process” and “truth to materials”, but these terms only tell part of the story. Working with wood, cardboard, plaster cloth, felt, aqua-resin, paint and objects, my process follows no predictable sequence. Work gets made and discarded. Cast-off material litters the studio floor. Accumulations of neglected objects pile into corners. The promise that abstraction can transform has yielded to a sense of disappointment expressed by the cast-off. The paradox, however, is that this disappointment is a fiction. It’s a narrative that allows me to return to something that I have abandoned in order to see beauty in the accidental. It’s a process of making and forgetting that is something that I have to go through over and over again so I can revisit the familiar as something strange and new.

trash...i love it...see more here.

cindy tower

Frick, 2008, oil and enamel on canvas, 72x48, Tommy Knocker, 2007, Oil on silk, 68 x 43, Gizzard, 2007, Oil on Upholstery Material, 43 x 70, Factory, 2008, oil on fabric, 96x72, Big Wheel, 2008, oil on canvas, 41x32

Today I am performing as I paint highly articulated works in raw conditions with encyclopedic detail in hopes that I can provide evidence of their making in situ and engage the viewer in a visceral, otherworldly experience. Composite views of decrepitude become metaphors for bodily functions and reflect the political climate of our modern world. Wet, gloppy oil paint is loosely applied with control--in a manner in which subjects miraculously dematerialize and reemerge continuously. The additive painting approach mirrors the concept of gradual accumulation and provides an exhausting, claustrophobic sensation that raises questions regarding the complexity and saturated level of exchange in our modern world. As a culture, we’ve accrued so much wealth that we’re outsourcing. Nothing is being made except for art and we’ve attained a tryptophan-like overload, wallowing in the afterglow of our accumulations.

This year my painting style has changed. I’ve switched mediums (from working with artist-grade oil paint to left-over, industrial-grade paint salvaged from dumpsters) and am applying paint more loosely. To me, the melting of painting surfaces mirrors that of the economy’s deterioration. I feel as though I am painting the actual recession.

give yourself some time to really take in these incredibly detailed paintings. read her very interesting statement in its entirety here and see video painting performances and loads more work here.

sunday church drawing

lisa lightman

The Girls of Juarez, 2007, mixed media on board, 42 x 40, In the Evening Sun, 2007, mixed media on board, 60 x 48, Unspeakable Love, 2009, mixed media, collage on board, 45 x 35, After We Said Goodbye, 2009, mixed media, collage on board, 23 x 52, On the Verge, 2007, mixed media board, 48 x 60

these paintings are homey and warm, the familiar scenes resonate and give me comfort in pleasant memories...see more here.

holly roberts

the rapture, mixed media, 23x24, startled, mixed media, 16x24, man with elephant, mixed media, 36x36, shopping, mixed media, 20x16, forest mother, mixed media, 32x23, dry land, mixed media, 8x10

part humorous, part dark, part dream, part nightmare...see more here.

books i love: weird rooms

weird rooms by alexander vertikoff is filled with images of fun people who collect, arrange and live with interesting objects. i purchased this book because i'm interested in collecting as a concept in art and in my home as well.

i wouldn't call these weird rooms, i just wouldn't want to dust any of them!

takako yamaguchi

The Fire next Time, 2005, Oil & bronze leaf on canvas, 36 x 46, Untitled, 1999, oil and metal leaf on paper, 80x42, Untitled, 1999, oil and metal leaf on paper, 42x80, The Weather, the Landscape and That, 2007, Oil, metal leaf on canvas, 36 x 48, Untitled, 1999, oil and metal leaf on paper, 80x42

i get stars in my eyes when i look at these paintings...see more here and here.

marti sommers

Heart, Earth, Birth, mixed media on panel, 30 x 36, If It Be Your Will, mixed media on panel, 40 x 40, Chrysanthemum Over Crane, mixed media on panel, 48 x 48, Human Kind, mixed media on panel, 48 x 48, Pleine Floraison I, mixed media on panel, 36 x 36

[marti sommers] explores such subjects as the fragility of nature in contrast to modern life, the human form in balance with other living creatures, and simply the magic found in an ordinary day.

i love the child-like wonder and tranquility of the scenes portrayed in these paintings..they take me back to a much simpler time in my life...see more here and here.