Recent Art by Exceptional Artists

David Arms is an artist who’s work I have enjoyed for several years. He is one of those artists that paints at a level of detail that is astounding to me and he is also an artist who’s purpose I readily identify with. He is the other artist presently doing a show at the Bennett Galleries which I mentioned in the previous post. If you follow the links below you will find that he sells originals as well as reproductions and both of his sites are well worth spending your time on.

What I like about “Faith” by David Arms

Sledge hammer/Ambiguity - Often David’s purpose or message he is communicating is as clear as a sledgehammer but there is also enough ambiguity in the way that message is communicated that you stay involved with the piece for a long period of time. You can literally stare at one of his paintings for hours.

Productivity - This is not so much about the painting “faith” but it a testimony to david’s discipline that he is able to produce the amount of paintings he does each year and that they are conducted with such a high level of skill. I imagine he must think about these symphonies over a long period of time before he begins to create the finished painting.

The Basics - He handles all of them well. You never give it a second thought that these birds landed on his still life setup so he could paint them. When the basics are handled well you don’t even think about them.

Look and Enjoy!

David’s Website

David’s Blog

Limited Edition Giclees

“Winter Morning” 30″x48″ Oil On Canvas

On Monday morning I was delivering a commission piece to the Bennett Galleries in Nashville TN. While waiting for the paper work I went upstairs to see what was hanging in the current show. There is nothing like seeing art in person. It tells you so much more than you can ever observe on a computer or in print and these paintings by Jason Saunders just took my breath away. Every piece in the show was worth posting on this blog and by following the link to his website at the bottom of this post you can see all of them.

What I like about “Winter Morning”

Values - All of Jason’s work has this. Solid values in a limited range which portray a wonderful sense of reality. I was amazed as I viewed his painting at how closely related the values were but yet maintaining the degree of difference needed to provide contrast. Jason really does this well.

Harmony - My guess is that Jason has spent a significant amount of time painting on location. When you paint out in nature, nature itself gives you some beautiful harmonies.

Color - You could say that this painting has limited color as well as limited values but all of the color swatches are accurate in there degree of difference which just makes these puppies sing! I can’t tell you howe much I enjoyed looking at his work and how much I learned from seeing how he handles the different aspects of painting. You should really stop by the Bennett Galleries and see what I mean.

Look and Enjoy!

Jason’s Website

Jason has some very reasonable workshops available!

“Still Life With Homegrown Basil and Tomatoes” 4″x6″ Oil on Panel

Abbey Ryan is one of a very select few “daily painters” that consistently stuns me with her work. I am not usually drawn to paintings that have this level of detail but I find that Abbey’s work has a poetic aspect to it that draws me in. Another compelling aspect to her work is the consistency of her productivity and her amazing ability to paint on such a small scale. As you will see below, her work is also priced where most collector’s could add several of her paintings to their collections.

What I like about “Still Life With Homegrown Basil and Tomatoes”

• #1 Sense of Light - The modeling of form makes you feel like you could reach out and grab one of these tomatoes. There is no doubt what direction the light is coming from and the warmth of the light source is evident but not overdone. As I have mentioned before, this feel of light comes from careful observation and skillful interpretation of what nature has set before the artist.
• #2 Poetry - I never really know how to explain this in words but it is certainly a part of this painting. I don’t normally find a poetic feel in still life paintings but that feeling is evident in the majority of Abbey’s work. This most likely comes from having a good idea of what compositions communicates to our emotional side.
• #3 Color of the highlights - O.K. this is one of my pet peeves. The highlights on objects have color. They are almost never white. It’s evident that Abbey understands this. I really like this little painting.

Look and Enjoy!

• Abbey’s blog
• Bid on this painting!
• Abbey also has an interesting blog entry on “becoming a daily painter”. It gives some good information on the start of the PAD movement several years back.

Morning Exercise 6″x6″ Oil on Masonite

Before I jump in to talking about this oil painting I want to mention how much I appreciate artists who maintain decent websites and blogs.  If I post an artist on this site it is usually for two reasons: The art is exceptional and the art is accessable.  This was brought to my mind while looking through Karen’s website. It was a very enjoyable “browse” and I encourage you to check out the link at the bottom of this post.

Karin is one of the few “daily painters” I have come accross that has a great variety of subject matter.  She does have some reoccuring themes but it seems that she simple paints a subject that grabs her.  I really respect the honesty of this approach and it has resulted in some wonderful paintings.

What I like about the oil painting “Morning Exercise”

• #1 The Subject Matter. I love coffee. I would love to only comment on the artistic merits of a piece of art but the reality is that subject matter plays a large roll in why we respond to art. Most people purchase happy art because it is enjoyable to live with.
• #2 The Sense of Light.  Karin has handled the values in a way that you can feel it is morning. Another example of an artist observing what nature gives her and then translating it with her own skills and leanings.
• #3 The Squint. Non-artist may not understand this concept so I should probably do a post on squinting. In any case, the handling of the newspaper reveals an artist who knows how to squint!

Look and Enjoy!

• Karin’s Blog
• Karin’s Website (This is a fun website to check out)
• I had intended to put a link here to bid on this painting but did not get this posted until after the painting was sold. Sorry about that. I’ll try harder next time. You can keep up with her available paintings on her blog.
• By the way Karin also does workshops. For information please see her website.