Casey Ruble

Casey Ruble's artwork reminds me a little bit of fabric design. It's almost like quilt work in a painted form. Casey creates unique patterns and then incorporates those patterns into her paintings. Casey is represented by Foley Gallery. The press release for Ruble's current exhibition: "Except in Struggle" describes Ruble's patterns as:

"... derive[d] from sources including Islamic architecture, Art Nouveau designs, Chinese lattices, and 1960s op-art geometries. Each painting is meticulously cut out from the paper on which it's painted, lending the pieces subtle dimension while also calling attention to their flatness."

View more of Casey Ruble's artwork.

Joe Sorren

I absolutely love the artwork done by Joe Sorren. I love the colors, I love the playfulness, and I love the imagination. The third image has always reminded me of a Midsummer Night's Dream. It will always amaze me how artists, such as Joe, come up with their ideas and creativity. Joe has an amazing sale right now, two for the price of one. See more of his work at Joe Sorren.

Art and Ghosts

I love the goth look of these images. The hat in the first image reminds me of the technique used on monsters to create furry images. That technique slaps down some black ink and then uses an air brush to spread the ink. I love the look of the soft fluffy hat, not being able to see the subject's eyes and the red accents. I first saw this image on SwissMiss. These images are for sale via Art and Ghosts on the European-type etsy called folksy.

Harrison Howard

Without a doubt I am a huge fan of Harrison Howard. Not only because he creates these absolutely gorgeous pieces of art, but because he has a kind and warm thing to say to everyone. What first caught my eye about Harrison's art is, naturally, the color. I love his color choices, they are bright and cheerful. But, what really captured my eye is his imagination. I am a huge fan of romance and fantasy, anything that gets you daydreaming and having creative thoughts, and that is what happens to me when I look at these paintings. For me, Harrison's paintings tell a story, a fairytale of sorts. I love it if a piece of art can take me away from reality even if it's just for a moment. Thank you Harrison for sharing your talent with us! If you are interested in capturing more of his artwork, visit his website. Also, if you'd like to find out more about Harrison himself, Annechovie had a one on one interview with him.

Scott Garrette

I like the freshness and simplicity of Scott's artwork. I like his line of work with the trees. His idea to create these trees literally came from a dream that he saw a tree with circles floating at the top. Scott is from Kansas City, MO and has an etsy shop where you can purchase the above prints. What you might also find interesting is his handmade studio made out of straw bales with earthen plaster and clay floors and walls. You can view the photos on flickr.

Dolk og Pøbel

How fun would it be to be driving through the country side and seeing these paintings? I would like this much better than billboards. In Minnesota, we have a ton of old abandoned barns that are just aching to be painted. Found on Wooster. Originally from nrk

Joe Ramiro Garcia

I first saw Joe's artwork several years ago and I just happened to come across it again. I like it just as much today as I did back then. Fun stuff. Joe says that his paintings don't necessary mean anything and I love that. I've had people ask me what I think a painting means, or why I like it so much and I just look at them with a blank look on my face. I agree with Joe. It doesn't necessary mean anything, it just gives me a feeling that I like.

Joe says:

"I believe that we possess more than five senses and I’m convinced these extra perceptional senses allow us to create and digest art. If there is a message in my painting, it’s that I’m not sure of anything and I’m okay with it." See more of his artwork at joeramirogarcia.com

Takashi Iwasaki

I think I'm going to name my all of my children Takashi, because I know they will be artistically talented. If you don't know what I'm talking about go here to see the talent of Takashi Murakami. But, the amazing artwork you are seeing is not Takashi Murakami, but Takashi Iwaskai. What's not to love about his artwork? It was so hard to narrow it down to just a few pictures.

I know that some people do not appreciate abstract art, and I think it is because they don't really understand that it still takes a lot of talent to be able to make abstract art. We've all heard people say things like 'my child could paint this...'. So, I want to help people understand that no, their child could not do this.

So, for those who want to understand more about abstract art, I want to share my thoughts with you. If I were to attempt something like this, my first challenge would be balance. Each object needs to have some sort of balance in the final composition. If it isn't somehow balanced, the piece just won't feel right. Next, the colors have to work well together, they need to be the right tones, shades, hues, brightness etc....When you mix the colors they could all turn out to look like mud.

Sometimes, I think abstract art can be much more challenging than painting something that stands right before you. So, that's all. When you see abstract art as beautiful as this, that grabs your attention, gives you a happy feeling inside, understand that there is an enormous amount of talent behind that piece of art. I think Takashi describes his art best in just a couple sentences:

"...Shapes and colors in my paintings and drawings evoke figurative qualities which embrace a kaleidoscope of emotions. Life is too short to take gravely all the time. I want to delight in what I can when I can. Having this as my essential philosophy, my goal of art making is to create a positive and playful atmosphere, and generate warm feelings of intimacy and substance through my work..."

To see more of this amazing work by Takashi Iwasaki, just click here.

Pinky Toast

Pinky Toast has so many fun prints, it was hard to narrow it down to just these few. Pinky Toast describes herself as the following in her etsy bio: Living and working in Brooklyn, NY, Pinkytoast...has a soft spot for all things, (well, most things) sweet and sour. Her original paintings, dolls, and drawings are peppered with pinks, sour pouts, big eyes, raindrops, baby doll dresses, twins, moon balloons, and flying bananas. Check out her etsy shop here.

Camille Young

Would you believe all of this is done by the same artist? Yes, it is. The very talented Camille Young. The first image is called incense and was orginally painted by her mother back in the 70's. Camille dug the painting out of the closet and digitally painted it in illustrator. Adding a few of her own details and nearly 3 months later, Camille created this very colorful piece of art.

What I love about the next few pieces of Camille's work is that they were all done in polymer clay. Yes, folks, polymer clay. The flowers are actually pieces of jewelry you can wear. And Camille has done what I admire most, she has shared her techniques on her blog. I love it when artists share their knowledge and let us know how they have created their works of art. Thanks Camille!

Douglas Walker

I love how Douglas uses many shades of one color in his paintings. I love his use of brush strokes and I love the sexy appeal. His paintings have a mysteriousness about them. They are dark, sexy, elegant,and oh so creative. Just beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. See more of his work at his website: Douglas Walker

Painting on a Chair

This is what I had in mind when I was talking about painting on furniture. At the time, I couldn't find a photo to go along with what I was trying to say, but this is perfect. I would love it more in color. I found the photo on Designer's Block. Painted by Sugoigen at Suge!