30 July, 2009 Abstract by JMJ Studios

Joy braille NYC female oil or acrylic
Originally uploaded by Cherry Spectrum

30 July, 2009
Artist: JMJ Studios, NY
Title: Joy
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Available: Etsy.com
Appeal:

Painting is such a visual medium but art is one step removed from what we percieve it to be. What do I mean? Art should be interactive but visual art, particularly painting, has only one means of interaction. We may look but we may never touch. I believe the touchability of art decreases in direct proportion to it's price or percieved value. No one would walk up and touch the Mona Lisa but we would tear the same picture from a magazine without a second thought if we needed to. We probably wouldn't mind touching the same image on a TV screen but are less likely to touch it on a laptop, as the screens are so sensitive and expensive to replace. Have you ever touched a painting in a museum? Not likely, and if you did you are probably still praying to the art Saints for forgiveness.

Artist JMJ surely recognizes that but has an unusual dillema. One of her three children is blind. How does a painter share their passion with someone who is completely removed from visual arts? JMJ takes a daring approach and tosses off convention by creating a painting that not only can be touched, can be understood if one can read braille. Her impasto technique creates noticably raised dots that spell out the word 'joy'. Her abstract composition is a pleasing, colorful balance that brings joy to my eyes as well.

29 July, 2009 Abstract Landscape by Mandy Budan

Spring Light
Originally uploaded by Cherry Spectrum

29 July, 2009
Artist: Mandy Budan; Canada
Title: Spring Light
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Available: http://www.budanart.com/ also from Etsy.com
Appeal:

Budan does landscapes primarily in acrylic and I just love them. Simplified, almost cubist but with enough elements to recognize their underlying inspiration, the shapes fit together like a child's puzzle cut from wood, with bright, energetic, organic colors. I think this particular landscape, or folliage, piggybacks well on the prior portrait "Michelle" by Alice Linda, as though this is what should have been the background just above the portrait's head. Shape is the main character here, where shadows, corners, edges and curves are all given a life of their own.

28 July, 2009 Portrait by Alice Linda

Michelle AOC finger paint Bemidji MN
Originally uploaded by Cherry Spectrum

28 July, 2009
Artist: Alice Linda; Bemidji, MN
Title: Michelle
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Available: Etsy.com (see seller alicelinda)
Appeal:

Who hasn't finger painted? But tell me this, how many paintings done exclusively with fingers turn out like this acrylic portrait? This restricted brush stroke reminds me of Georges Seurat's pointilism technique in which he would paint complex landscapes using only colored dots, or a television set, which uses three colors to make up everything imaginable. Alice's ability to do this suggests to me that she is obviously a master of color and her work her certainly seems to agree. The subjects' face is a mix of peaches and pinks that verge on blurry impressionism but somehow work together to form a very distinct image and beautiful portrait. What's more impressive is the expression Alice captures here: friendly, kind and sweet. The subjects' light smile and soft eyes have a warmth more inviting than Mona Lisa's. I'd sit down for a quiet sip of tea in the garden with this portrait anytime.

24 July 2009, Abstract Landscape by Sylvia Grantins

The Red School acrylic on wood Ont Canada
Originally uploaded by Cherry Spectrum

24 July, 2009
Artist: Sylvia Grantins, Ontario Canada
Title: The Red School
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Available: etsy.com, sylviagrantins.blogspot
Appeal:

Red, black and white are always a commanding color combination. Don't believe me? Have a look at the Nazi flag or White Stripes album covers. Perhaps it's because the contrasting shades allow red the spotlight and we can all identify with red. Red is a stop sign, the blood that pumps through our heart, our face when we're embarassed or excited. Some may have gone to schools whose exteriors were painted red. Why red? Perhaps it made it hard for kids to say "I couldn't find the building" as an excuse for their tardiness.

We have a red schoolhouse of that sort here. It stands out from the snow like a sore thumb, so to speak. We're looking at it at an unsual time, however, as most schools operate during the day. Notice the wild night sky, fully of starry activity. Stars dance overhead like dreamy sugar plums for the school kids asleep in their beds at the same time this setting takes place. Is this to say school, early school at least, may incite childrens' imaginations? I know my early childhood educational experiences still influence me today.

What I really love about Grantins' works is how fluid everything is. The snow melts but the building seems to want to melt also- as if everything were one big candle that we've lit many times but never seem to fully finish. Dreamy.

23 July, 2009 Abstract Landscape by Kyra Wilson

23 July, 2009
Artist: Kyra Wilson; Vermont
Title: Purple Trees (Enchanted Forest Series)
Medium: Oil and metal (copper) on canvas
Available: http://kyraart.blogspot.com/
Appeal:

Real trees are not like this. They are rigid, dark and only move when the wind is blowing but here the trees are wild, flowing and seem to have a mind all their own. The swirls seem so chaotic while simultaneously fitting together as if part of a larger puzzle. Life can be like that sometimes- a jumble of chaos, compartmentalized. If this picture symbolizes that on some level then where does our moon fit and what might the moon represent? It's significant presence is like a lighthouse in an unnatural storm made by nature. A forest like this would be an enchanting thing to walk through on a moonlit night- provided the trees didn't eat me when I passed by. :-)

22 July, 2009 Portrait by Bees (of Bees and Trees)

1980 HighSchoolPortraitScienceLab giclleeprintoforiginalGoucepainting bees
Originally uploaded by Cherry Spectrum

22 July, 2009
Artist: Bees (of Bees and Trees); Asheville, NC
Title: 1980 High School Portrait Science Lab
Medium: Gauche on paper
Available: Etsy.com
Appeal:

Were you or did you know a dork growing up? Did they look anything like this girl? I love this painting because it captures that same vulnerability I felt in High School. This girl looks like, pardon the cliche', a deer caught in headlights; uncertain what to expect next. We're thrown into this Lord of the Flies chasm facing what seems like life and death which forces us to sink or swim. Those who survive can look back and laugh at how unfashionable we looked doing it and maybe wince wondering what it might be like on a second go-round.

Bee's unsure vulnerable teen summarizes the American High School experience in true early 80's fashion; her subject obviously surviving but wonderous of what lies ahead. Can you imagine how much her life changed when contacts became widely available and affordable? Ah, the future we have yet to see- now DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!!

20 July 2009, Still Life by Veronika Nagy

Pick a Number Between 1 and 8 AOC
Originally uploaded by Cherry Spectrum

Artist: Veronika Nagy; Rocklin, CA
Title: Pick a Number Between 1 and 8
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Available: Etsy.com
Appeal:

Nagy paints a subject that never had a Superbowl commercial yet most people know about and have participated in. It's a simple chilldren's game but how simple is it to find a subject matter so many share in common? Nagy's execution of this, her focus on the hands and toy alone, give no identity to the party holding the game allowing viewers to imagine they are back on a school playground playing with their best friend. Brilliant.