Jeane Myers

"Far South of Dawn"  oil and cold wax on panel  36" x20"

"Her Hand Me Down Idea"  oil and cold wax on panel  24" x24"

"Sitting In The North"  oil and cold wax on panel  16" x 16"

"White moth in the Closet"  oil and wax on panel  24" x 24"

"She Saw The Claustrophobia"  oil and beeswax on panel  12" x 12"

I don't post abstract work all that often. Not because I don't think it's worthwhile but mostly because I myself don't work that way and feel I have less to say about it. But sometimes some work just grabs your attention, and for the very reason that you're not sure why, it demands an attempt to explain it. In these oil and wax paintings Jeane Myers is pursuing a form of abstract expressionism, building up layers of thick encaustic textures, spreading pigment is gestural swathes and scraping and scrawling through it to allow previous layers to emerge. Her relatively monochromatic palette lends the work an earthy, almost archaeological feel, as if these were segments of some ancient stone walls that had been alternately plastered, painted, cracked, scratched, gouged, graffitied, and worn by the elements over countless centuries. Some look like the interior of a cave where you can see indications of geological layers covered over with deposits of lime and guano and subsequently clawed by some errant bear. Perhaps it is this intimation of time that appeals to me. They are truly abstract and make no direct reference to the observable world, but all visual art, even the most purely abstract is still a response to that world. I cannot help but think the artist must build these images with the compression of time in mind, trying to recreate through the creative process, the layers of chance events that accumulate over vast expanses of time in the textures that surround us, mostly unnoticed and unappreciated.

Not all of her work is pure abstraction. "Figures -", she says, "they come all of a sudden and stop just as suddenly". They have made an appearance in her most recent pieces. Who knows how long they will linger. Will they recede into the surface of the work, dissolving back into abstraction gradually or will they simply vanish all at once? Or will they linger and evolve into a new kind of work for the artist? To find out you can follow the artist's blog: www.jeane-artit.blogspot.com

To see many more paintings go to her website www.jeanemyers.com
or better yet check out her Flickr page.

you can see her work in person in Port Townsend WA at Simon Mace Gallery
and also on Bainbridge Island, WA at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts.

Todd Sargood

"Versailles (Profligacy Hybrid IV)"  mixed media on masonite  48" x 48"

"Thermopylae"  oil on canvas  60" x 48"

"Manassas"  oil on canvas  48" x 60"

"Hastings"  mixed media on masonite  192" x 83"

"Stowe" installation detail  mixed media on masonite  84' x 8'

 Art history no longer has a single through line. It used to be thought that new forms of expression made previous ones obsolete. Pop art was supposed to have been the demise of abstract impressionism. But as Todd Sargood points out, artists like Cy Twombly and others didn't get the memo. Fortunately for us. And artists like Todd Sargood carry on the tradition, demonstrating that while it may no longer be the avante-garde, abstract expressionism still carries loads of potential and has plenty to say. Todd Sargood's paintings and installations have all the energy and frenetic excitement that is the primal state of drawing itself. Hovering just beyond the boundaries of representation they embrace chaos while at the same time contain within themselves the components of order as if meaning might emerge from them at any moment. His titles, which often reference famous battle sites, may elicit the tension and unleashed energy within the creative endeavor, or they may simply be an endless source of dissociated names. Either way it is the work itself that matters. And fortunately for me this is work being done in my own town of Portland, Oregon, so I'll actually be able to go see it in person (a rare treat for me).

To see more check out the artist's website: http://toddsargood.com/

(PS: a note from the artist let me know that the titles are not just battles, but also sites of historic peace accords and other  situations where two cultures came together, which still conveys the idea of tension and resolution without necessarily evoking violence.)

Katie Metz

"Downtown Twenty"  acrylic on panel  17.5" x 24"  2010

"City Darshan 3"  acrylic on panel  25" x 40"  2011

Downtown Eighteen"  acrylic on panel  17" x 28"  2010

"Downtown Fifteen"  acrylic on panel  19.5" x 24"  2010

"City Darshan 2"  acrilic on panel  18" x 35"  2011

Katie Metz portrays a unique vision of the city. Through what appears to be equal measures of painting and scraping on a textured surface she assembles a shimmering portrait of buildings and traffic. The work often teeters on the edge of pure abstraction. The tendency toward abstraction is a natural one. A city is, after all, little more than a collage of architecture, abstract human designs in three dimensions. But the work ultimately stays in the realm of representation. She wants you to see the city in her work. As much as she enjoys building up marks and textures, it's the city, it's vibrant chaotic hum that she wants you to see, and maybe to hear, and smell, and feel. She portrays it's energy in the day, at night, in the rain, in the heat. It's mood changes in each situation but it's energy is unrelenting. Exactly the same can be said for Katie Metz's paintings.

See more of her work at her website katiemetzstudio.com

and at www.friesengallery.com

Helen Verhoeven

Helen Verhoeven employs a loose expressionistic style to evoke a highly charged psychological world. The events in her work are not always clear but there is a sense of tension, or disconnection, a brooding question mark hangs over the participants as if they might be unaware of their own or each other's motivation, or even actions. With her two large "Event" projects from 2008 she created large almost mural sized paintings of large ceremonial social gatherings. She then created a whole series of separate paintings that were details of the the original. Or the other way around. But the effect is one of minute scrutiny into an opaque and incomprehensible social event. Even her painting style contributes to the sense of unease, suggesting that crowds and cultural and social behaviors consist of unknowable or perhaps primitive individual motivations and are therefor, ultimately, even disturbingly, abstract.
There is plenty of wonderful work to look through on her website that shows an ongoing and fascinating transformation of style and intent over time.  www.helenverhoeven.com












"Event Two", acrylic on canvas, 208.5 x 418 cm (82” x 164.5" inches), 2008

"Event One", acrylic on canvas, 198 x 404 cm (78” x 159" inches), 2008

Out of these large scenes she recreated many details as their own paintings....

"Event One" detail 4 (room with portrait)  oil on canvas, 183 x 152.5 cm (72” x 60" inches), 2008


And here's one of the paintings in the above painting done as it's own painting. I really enjoy the multi-layered reality of all this.

"Event One – Detail 6 (Portrait with Sons)"  oil on canvas, 183 x 122 cm (72” x 48" inches), 2008

Here's some context to give you an idea of scale.

And here's a couple more pieces from other series....

 "Half After - 3"  oil on canvas, 150 x 200 cm (59 x 78.7 inches) 2009

"Don't Do Me Any Favors" oil on canvas, 106.7 x 147.3 cm (42" x 58" inches), 2007


I'd like to credit booooooom.com with first bringing her work to my attention.

Eric Aho

A lot of the artists I've posted are just people I've stumbled upon though visual art networking sites. Some of them are fairly successful. Others will be eventually I am sure.
Eric Aho is about as successful you get. But he's new to me, and I loved these images before I read his bio. There's a big long interview with him at paintingperceptions.com and you can see more work on his website (www.ericaho.com).
















"Blasted Tree" 50x70" 2008
















"Fire Three" 50x70" 2007















"Ice Jumble" 30x36" 2008