Christian Van Minnen

I admit that I saw some of his earlier work and liked it OK, but I was unprepared for these latest pieces. He takes the work of renaissance artists and the bizarre Guiseppe Arcimboldo in particular, into new satisfyingly creepy territory.
www.seevanminnen.com
To see the new work go to myartspace.com






















"Still Life 1.1" 24" x 30"






















"Still Life 1.1" 24" x 30"























"Manfungus1.4" 30" x 40"























"Manfungus1.5" 24" x 30"

Seth Fitts 2

Here's a couple new pieces by Seth Fitts (see Nov 2008) demonstrating that simplicity can sometimes capture an elusive charm that no amount of painstaking detail can ever render.
Well worth looking through... at myartspace.com













"Fying Ship" 111" x 18"

And her's a very small delicate bird that appeals to me in some way I can't even begin to describe.








"Little Bird #18" 2.5" x 3.5"

Daniel Duytter

Here's some very impressive cityscapes capturing the very same twilight as mr. Reeves but in a more realistic vein. More at myartspace.com.
These first two actually form a diptych but I couldn't post them side by side.




































"Champs and After the Rain, NYC" 1m. x 1m. each























"Evening Moscow" 60cm x 80cm

Rob Reeves

A lot of the people I've been posting are clearly well established artists. Here's a guy trying to get things going, painting away in the evenings, after work and putting the kids to bed. So I can relate. You can follow his efforts on his blog and see more expressionist cityscapes at robreevesstudio.com






















"Twilight in Red and Black"


















Twilight (?) 36" x 48"

Jana Brike 2

I am going to revisit certain artists as they post new work. So here's some more of Jana Brike's mysterious children. If you missed her earlier entry go to December 2008
The following pieces along with a boy holding a cloud and a girl with mushrooms growing in her hands were posted on myartspace.com
Her website is www.janabrike.com
And she now has a blog at janabrikeart.blogspot.com


















"Hunters From Sunday School" 55 x45 cm























"Owl II" 20 x 20 cm























"The Swimmer" 30cm

Simon Schade

Although it seems he is primarily a sculptor, it was these ink drawings that really caught my eye. He also has some pretty interesting paintings also exploring these mutated fleshy presences. Oh, there's video too. Artists.
http://www.artdoxa.com/users/simonschade

There's a lot more stuff on his website but it's in German so you'll have to just dig around. Most of the pages are animated which can be either interesting or annoying depending on your point of view.
www.simon-schade.de























"Membrane"























untitled
















some sculptures somewhere in Krakow

Molly Cliff Hilts

Also at the Beaverton Show (see previous entry) was an encaustic piece. I can't remember now if it was one of these or another but it was quite arresting. The upward gazing point of view and the powerlines slicing up a turbulent sky create a nice sense of drama.
www.mollycliffhilts.com






















"Snow Geography" 48" x 48"














"Ruby Gardens"






















"Come From a Barren Tree"

Alan Rose

Recently I had a piece in a group show over in the Beaverton City Library. It was not very exciting but there were a few nice pieces, none of which, I'm sure, won notice from the juror. This one was absolutely unique. I've also included one more from his website:
www.alanrosegallery.com











"The Overexamined Life" 36" x 18"















"Illumination" 30" x 20"

Nancy Depew

Tight realism that the artist claims are NOT from life but rather, evolve in the process of painting without preconception. She does use photo reference as a starting point but as the painting progresses the gathering gloom of the forest that gradually emerges is very much her own creation. She also does some very amazing flowers though I have to admit they don't compel me nearly so much as these depictions of the dark within the forest.
depewstudio.com


















"Sleeper" 38" x 48"


















"Discovery" 36" x 48"

Roll Hardy

Here's another Portland artist having a show this month. You can see more at
www.laurarusso.com
The ones I like are great big painterly depictions of urban decay. There also smaller more intimate sketch-like paintings of the same subject matter.



















"Discarded Dream"















"The Annunciation"

Mark Andres

Here's a Portland artist that I didn't know before.
And he's having a show this month at Augen gallery, which seems to be the only place online to see any of his recent work. www.augengallery.com
His paintings appear to be equally informed by Max Beckman and the narrative format of comic books (I'm sorry, I mean graphic novels). Looking forward to seeing his paintings in real life.






















"Sleeping Beauty"























"Pages from a Diary"























"Ice Palace"