Winter

Here's another collection for the New Year. My intention was not to create a conceptual collection. There's no overall themes of death and rebirth or anything like that. I just wanted to gather up some wintry images to remind us that while it may be cold, wet and miserable, it can also be beautiful. I realize that this has a hemispherical bias, so to all those who happen to be south of the equator (or in the tropics for that matter), sorry. Hope you'll enjoy these images anyway.

Click on the artist's name to link back to my previous post of their work. There you'll find a link to their website. Happy New Year everyone.

Peter Archer

"Northern upland, snow remnants" 35.5x51cm

Chester Arnold

"Left Behind"

Amy Bennett

"Surviving Winter" 9" x14"

Matt Brackett

"Doubting Thomas" 25"x48" 2007

Jana Brike

"Hunters From Sunday School" 55 x45 cm

Michael Brophy

"January" oil on canvas  78" x 95 1/2"  1997

Chris Charlebois

"Winter Field Midday"  oil on canvas  18" x 24"

Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson  Untitled, Winter 2007  Archival inkjet print  58 1/2" x 89 1/2"

S. P. Goodman

"Snowy day 2-6-09" 7x7" oil on panel

Alex Gross

"Departure" 28x28" 2001

Chelsea James

“Snowy Hill” 12" x 12" oil on masonite

Kathleen Lolley

"Herd of Reindeer" gouache on paper 2009

Tim Lowly

"Listen" 1995

Andrey Mamaev

"North-West night" oil on canvas 2008 100X80 cm

Nora Sturges

"Platform"  2010  oil on MDF 8"x10"

Aron Wiesenfeld

"The Oath Breakers" oil on canvas 62"x47.5" 2009

Andrey Zakirzyanov

"Adoration of the Magi" 1997 160x160cm

Karin Kneffel

2009  210x110cm  oil on canvas

2009  180x550cm  oil on canvas

2008  130x300cm  2008

2009  180x190cm  oil on canvas

2008  70x70cm  oil on canvas

Karin  Kneffel is a German artist who has been tackling the realist approach  for almost three decades now. Her work is extremely varied and I won't  try to sum it up here. I still haven't looked at her entire website (www.kneffel.de) which features individual galleries for every year starting in 1984,  plus additional galleries for her watercolors and graphic works. For the  last couple of years she has played around with ordinary human spaces  viewed in some extraordinary ways. Quite a few of her paintings use the  motif of the window to depict inside and outside simultaneously,  employing darkness, light, reflection and moisture on the surface of the  window itself, to abstract the image into pattern. Pattern is another  one of her obsessions, whether it is the formal pattern of fabric and  wallpaper, or the the organic pattern of tree branches. All of this  comes together to create an overall impression of "looking" as the  subject matter of her work; Looking in, looking out, not at something in  particular but at whatever is there, and seeing patterns and  connections between patterns...  It is fascinating and beautiful work,  and a reminder to take the time and look anew at the ordinary spaces  around us all the time.

(I'd like to thank www.bluecanvas.com/calcavecchia for directing me to the artist's work)

Kelly Reemtsen

Character assassination  42" x 42"

Fastidious  36" x 36"

Heavy Handed  20" x 20"

Add caption  20" x 20"

Not Every Pill Is Bitter  36" x36"

What would the girl who has everything like this Christmas? How about a 1950's cocktail dress and a chainsaw? Better yet a painting by Kelly Reemtsen. With an obvious nod to Wayne Thiebaud, a bit of J. C. Leyendecker and a compelling sense of fashion accessorizing, Ms. Reemtsen offers up some entertaining images of the mid 20th century woman. There is a bit of fantasy meets reality to the pictures; the glamorous dressed up look combined with the tools of hard labor that were more often than not, part and parcel of keeping the home. This dichotomy is also captured in her vibrant candy-like depictions of pills. "Mothers little helpers" I believe they've been called.
Check out her website:  www.kellyreemtsen.com

Happy Holidays everyone.
And thanks to firmhandshakenetwork.org for the heads up.

Matthew Troy Mullins

 "VHS Tape Collection, South Pole"  watercolor and gouache on paper  30" x 96"  2010

 "VHS Tape Collection, South Pole" detail left






































"Northern Regional Library Facility"  watercolor on paper  24" x 32"  2010

 
"Entymology Archive"  watercolor and gouache on paper  48" x 36"  2010

"Book Stitching Machine"  watercolor and gouache on paper  48" x 36"  2010

"Construct"  acrylic on canvas  4' x 6'  2007

Matthew Troy Mullins is as much a journalist as he is an artist. He reports from the worlds of science and technology, with an artist's eye for mundane detail, to report back on environments and working spaces that most of us would otherwise never witness. His conscious decision not to depict the people who normally occupy these spaces allows us to view the scene as if we were those people. He is particularly fascinated with places that collect knowledge, that gather and store information, spaces that form a collective attic space/workshop for the human race. Being something of a science nerd myself, I find these images remarkably evocative. The flat lighting and the complete lack of intentionally aesthetic decor do not evoke the sort of soullessness that is seen in so much artistic interpretation of technology. Rather it reminds us that the tremendous knowledge and impact of the human species consists of a vast accumulation of simple tasks and bits of information in innumerable obscure places. It is, in its own peculiar way, quite wondrous.

Check out his website: matthewtroymullins.com

And congratulations to Mr. Mullins on having his work featured in the 91st issue of New American Paintings

Vladimir Stankovic Rus

"The Forbidden Dance"
colored pencils, markers and watercolors on paper  25 x 18 cm

"There You Shall Find All That You Could Desire!"
watercolors, colored pencils, color markers on paper  12.5 x 17.5 cm

"Secret Gathering"
Mixed technique on paper  25 x 18 cm




































"The Spell Has Been Broken"
colored pencils, color markers and tempera on paper  25 x 18 cm

 "I Overheard a Secret"  Mixed technique on paper

Vladimir Stankovic Rus is a young graphic designer and illustrator from Serbia (currently residing in Finland and, I think, enrolled in a Masters program. His interest in and pursuit of commercial work however has not hindered his unbridled creative vision. Applying colored pencils, watercolor, color markers, tempera and probably anything else handy to paper, he creates an arresting allegorical vision. There's a strong hint of Gustav Klimt in the way he builds shapes, not with modeled coloring effects, but with rich patterns that give the work an unexpected depth. The shapes butt up against one another and overlap in surprising ways that spell out a puzzle-like narrative of human, semi-human, and monstrous relationships. The menagerie of stylized mythical creatures that seem to lurk throughout much of his work also evoke hints of Heironymous Bosch. These works are small and dense, and worth a good deal more than a glance. Take your time with them.
There's a lot of art to look through, plus some fine graphic design work on his Flickr page.