Croning My Way Through Life
This will be a busy week for me, as I’m sure it will be for you. Besides the big “T” day, I’ve got lots of things to do between today and next Sunday. Which, except for the cleaning, is good.
But I wanted to give you a sneak peek at what’s in store for you in the Gallery in coming weeks!
Hope these pique your interest and love of Creativity in ALL its forms!
Love you ALL!
Every once in a while I like to devote a week to highlighting some of my Sunday Evening Art Gallery galleries. There are so many unique artists and galleries at my other website … 618 so far.
618 individuals taking Creativity to the next level.
To me, there’s nothing better.
So next week, for seven days, I’m going to highlight art in several different categories:
I realize that’s eight categories and there’s only seven days in a week, but, hey — I’ll adjust.
There are beautiful and bizarre and amazing artworks in each one of these broad areas — I’m sure you’ll find something you like! They are all so much fun!
If you ever have suggestions for artists for me to research and include, just let me know — through this post or any post.
Your input is always welcome. Always!
It may be redundant and self-serving, but I was wandering through past Galleries at Sunday Evening Art Gallery and was (and still am) amazed at the creative diversity of Artists around the world.
In Humoring the Goddess I’ve posted blogs touting dozens of different and strange and beautiful works:
Starting in January of 2020: Saturday Stroll Through The Gallery included:
Then came along Saturday Morning in the Gallery in November of 2021:
Then came the Saturday Morning Gallery Preview November of 2022:
So this Sunday I thought I’d do a little more self promoting. But really, these artists are so different, so creative, you won’t be sorry you stopped by!
I hope you come stroll through the Gallery when you have free time. You’ll be amazed at what you find!
I have been combing the world — and the Internet — for unique artists for upcoming Sunday Evening Art Gallery blogs, and I must say, I am so pumped!
Thank you for being a part of my past and my future. Unique art is everywhere — let’s find it together.
Since (at the moment) I am hanging around the campground, trying to relax after running back to town to watch my (four-year-old) grand daughter’s dance recital, I thought I would share a few amazing and fantastic Galleries I’ve shared in the past.
Maybe hold on till evening — grab a goblet of wine or chocolate milk — and have a tour! Love you all!
Mézesmanna — Judit Czinkné Poór
Valeriya Kutsan and Alexander Khokhlov
I am just tickled pink about all the new artists I’ve found for my Sunday Evening Art Gallery blog! I’m so glad I decided to extend Sunday night to a couple of evenings during the week, too.
Sometimes the well is dry, meaning I have only about six or seven artists lined up and ready to visit you all. But other times it’s like I’ve hit the jackpot with unique — and I mean unique — ways of expressing art. Every once in a while my “unique” entails strange, uncomfortable, or off-the-wall sorts of creativity.
Other times there’s just enough “awww” factor or “ah ha!” familiarity for you to say, “I didn’t know they created that!”
I try and keep it interesting and amazing. I hope I’m doing that. I know I keep saying “WOW” to myself when I find new artists and their over-the-top talent.
Do me a favor — tell ONE person about my art blog, Sunday Evening Art Gallery. Just one. If you know someone who loves unique and unusual, send them my way. I will do my best to keep them entertained.
Here are a few artists I have in mind for the future:
Come See the Magic! Here AND There!!
Thanks a million!
I thought I’d do a little self promotion this fine evening.
Not just because it’s MY Gallery, but I can’t begin to tell you how many unique, different, extraordinary artists there are in the world! I am blown away by these people’s ideas, whether it’s miniatures, fabric art, ceramics, photography, metal work, or dozens of other mediums.
If you are bored one afternoon or evening and want to get a more detailed look at some of the fantastic artists I’ve come across, stop on by. We’re open 24/7, there’s no admission charge, and you never know what creative world lies just around the corner!
Bisa Butler
There is more — so much more. Take a break from the confusion of life and see what Art is really all about!
Ruby Silvious is a Philippines-born, US-based artist who has found an ingenious way to regenerate used tea bags into stunningly intricate works of art.
She draws, paints, prints and collages moody, evocative and sometimes whimsical art on used teabag paper.
Silvious attended Art Print Residency in Arenys de Munt, a municipality in Catalonia, Spain.
While at the printmaking residency, she found time each evening to paint a used tea bag, usually inspired by random activities or places she had explored that day.
By the end of her stay, she had amassed several used tea bags and a small, intimate collection of miniature paintings.
In 2015 she started a project called 363 Days of Tea, a visual daily record of her impression of the moment, using the emptied-out tea bag as her canvas, and altering it to create a new work of art every day for 363 days.
Silvious wants viewers to keep an open mind and think beyond the boundaries of what they may consider traditional art.
“It seems to me that even non-tea drinkers are fascinated with my work. Maybe it’s because it’s just a unique canvas,” she reflects.
More of Ruby Silvious’ ingenious paintings can be found at https://www.rubysilvious.com/.
Now that I am retired I am not as much against Mondays as I was when I punched a time clock at work. If the day has nothing in particular scheduled, I sleep a little later, enjoy my coffee a little longer, and waste a little more time on my computer.
My Sunday Evening Art Gallery folder is filling up fast. Plus I have 2 pages of possible unique artists to explore.
I know no one is as excited or interested in the array of unusual and unique artists I’ve discovered, but I think that’s true for all of us, no matter what our creative outlet.
I’m a unique art fan. I also love writing and crafting (only one particular item). My family isn’t terribly interested in any of the above, which is alright by me. At least I’m not in competition with any of them.
But it’s nice to find others who are interested in the same things you are. I’ve let writing simmer on the back burner for a while now, but I have friends who are writers and poets and I love where they are going with their work. I have friends who have turned from active poets to active painters, and others who are active woodworkers or crocheting superstars.
I believe in shining no matter how good or talented you are.
But that’s just me.
But I digress.
The Gallery folder is filling up faster than I can post. I can’t even keep up with the actual gallery, although it doesn’t get as much traffic as my blog.
The seat of creation has to lie somewhere, doesn’t it?
Here are a few images of artists waiting in the wings:
I hope you all stay around for the ride. I love this stuff! I hope you do too. And stop by the Gallery and see all of the artists I’ve added!
Happy Monday, kitties!
For those of you who enjoy my Sunday Evening Art Gallery entries, I have added quite a number of beautiful images in many artists’ galleries. The depth of these artists (and many more) is just amazing.
Come stroll through the Galleries any time!
I am in quite a quandary about sharing art from an artist that may or may not exist.
Sometimes appreciating art and a specific artist leaves you nothing but a name and an image. So it is with artist Nenad Vasic.
All I could find on him was that he is from Kladovo, Serbia. I could find no history, no profile, no personal thoughts on his life or artistic journey.
I don’t even know if his work is personal or the result of some computer generation. But unique art is unique art no matter what, isn’t it?
I was drawn to Vasic’s colorful style which I call “modernistic electric painting.”
His offbeat style of separate lines to display buildings, scenery, and portraits is unusual and different.
Whether digital art, hand-painted originals, or printmaking, his work puts a fresh modern and futuristic touch on classic scenes.
Sometimes to appreciate art you need to let go of the personal and just let the moment of color or shape or texture assault your senses.
So, for now, that is how it is with Vasic’s art.
More of Nenad Vasic’s unique art can be found at https://nenad-vasic.pixels.com/ and at https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/nenad-vasic.
Back on January 18, 2015, I posted a delightful Sunday Evening Art Gallery on Stairways to Nowhere. It’s amazing how how many strange sets of stairs there are that go nowhere. Here are some of the highlights from the Gallery.
You can find many more delightful staircases over at the Sunday Evening Art Gallery. See you there!
Chris Garofalo grew up in Springfield, Illinois, earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana, and has been living in Chicago since 1980.
Following extensive experience with printmaking and graphic design, Garofalo was introduced to ceramics.
The artist creates ceramic sculptures that draw inspiration from plant and animal forms.
An avid gardener, Garofalo took quickly to the medium, finding gardening and ceramics very similar, especially in smell (the clay and the dirt) and the condition in which both activities leave her hands.
Garofalo’s sculptures blur the distinction between land, sea and air, plant and animal kingdoms.
By applying the principle properties of development, and by ignoring genetic, behavioral, environmental, social and mating restrictions, Garofalo creates a re-imagined evolutionary history of forms at once recognizable and unidentifiable.
Her work is intricate yet delicate, expressive of earthly forms that could have existed had conditions been different.
More of Chris Garofalo’s amazing ceramics can be found at https://www.chrisgarofalo.com/.
Since I have crossed my Internet usage limit until Tuesday, I thought I would repost this one from 5 years ago today!
I have often found that letting the artist explain his craft is the most rewarding explanation of all.
So it is with Don Esser: Blacksmith, Metal Artist, and Sculptor.
Since 1976, using hammer and anvil, I’ve been pounding, twisting, and shaping hot metal.
As a self-taught artist, my approach to life and art has always had an element of fearlessness to it. From childhood on, art has always been a natural, joyful part of my life.
There is a fluid lightness to my work partly because I’m enjoying making it and partly because, after so many years, I have learned the language of my materials.
I try to capture the essence in as few lines as possible, with a sense of fluidity and grace that can be achieved working in the forge.
It is a little like stealing fire from the gods and my goal is to put a bit of that sense of wonder into each piece I make.
That playful quality in my work also means that most of my pieces are one of a kind.
People often ask, “How long does it take you to make it?”
My answer is, “36 years of practice, 50-plus years of training, and a lifelong desire to make art.”
More of Don Esser’s remarkable work can be found at Steel Wool Studio (http://steelwoolstudio.com/don-esser.htm).
A sculpture made of glass that appears as if flowing effortlessly like water, exuding a dancing rhythm – such is the beauty created by Japanese artist Niyoko Ikuta.
The artist started making these sculptures in 1980, as she was fascinated by and explored the capacity of light to reflect and refract while passing through broken sections of plate glass.
Thus she laminated together sheets of glass, exposing their cross sections to create these sculptures.
Breaking boundaries of imagination, in these sculptures the artist gives form to feelings of “gentleness and harshness, fear, limitless expansion experienced through contact with nature, images from music, ethnic conflict, the heart affected by joy and anger, and prayer.”
The one thing that makes this art form so engaging and accessible is that these are not arbitrary forms created for aesthetic appeal.
Rather, they stimulate and bring forth these feelings in the viewer, breathing life into their surroundings.
More of Niyoko Ikuta‘s delicate work can be found at https://lighthouse-kanata.com/artists/niyoko-ikuta and http://www.artnet.com/artists/niyoko-ikuta/.
Nancy Cain has always been fascinated with handcrafts, whether it was clay, paper, buttons, fabric or simply found objects.
Cain studied art in college and worked as a graphic artist for 16 years, all the while exploring various handcraft techniques. 
She found her artistic niche in beads.
Cain’s favorite stitch is peyote and over the years has only added two other stitches, netting then herringbone.
She calls these three stitches ‘sister-stitches’, since they transition from one stitch to the other effortlessly.
Her style is clean and contemporary with minimalist embellishment. She likes the structure to shine through.
“I feel that the beads alone give me the most inspiration. If you understand the physics (mechanics and technicality) of the stitch, then you can create whatever your heart desires.” Cain explains.
:Knowing what each bead size, shape and finish will do and how they react with each other, plus how the beads respond to thread weight and use, the sky is the limit for designing.”
More of Nancy Cain‘s amazing beadwork can be found at http://nancycain.com/.
Contemporary Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn is a leading figurative sculptor whose work is inspired by such masters as Michelangelo and Rodin.
His monumental public art and smaller, more intimate pieces transmit his passion for eternal values and authentic emotions.
Quinn is best known for expressive recreations of human hands.
“I wanted to sculpt what is considered the hardest and most technically challenging part of the human body’, he asserts. ‘The hand holds so much power – the power to love, to hate, to create, to destroy.” 
Quinn’s creative ideas spark quickly into life: ‘The inspiration comes within a millisecond’, he says, as he is driven to sculpt by observing life’s everyday energy.
Yet a finished project takes months to realize, and it has to carry clear meaning. 
Quinn’s work appears in many private collections throughout the world and has been exhibited internationally during the past 20 years.
More of Lorenzo Quinn’s sculptures can be found at https://www.lorenzoquinn.com/.
I can’t believe it was way back in late December of 2014 that I brought the magic of Martin Koegl and his water drop photography. Well, back then I did call it Waterdrops. So I have cleaned up the gallery, dedicated to the original photographer Martin Koegl, and now bring you …. Water Drops.
You can find more of Martin Koegl‘s amazing photography at my Gallery, or his website, http://waterdrop-photography.com/
Have been working diligently on my Sunday Evening Art Gallery main site. Here are some of the newer galleries I’ve added….more images, more variety … Can’t wait for you to come on over!
Hope to see you over there!
Are you a fan of the “Arts”? What sort of art calls to you?
Encyclopedia Britannia says: Traditional categories within the arts include literature (including poetry, drama, story, and so on), the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.), the graphic arts (painting, drawing, design, and other forms expressed on flat surfaces), the plastic arts (sculpture, modeling), the decorative arts (enamel work, furniture design, mosaic, etc.), the performing arts (theater, dance, music), music (as composition), and architecture (often including interior design).
I can dig all those categories.
Some of us are very invested in the Arts. We are musicians, painters, sculptors, novelists. We show and sell our interpretations of life and the world to others who want to feel what we feel.
Others of us are merely voyeurs. Nothing wrong with that — our lives are so busy that there’s not often a free moment to just sit and stare at a watercolor or pen and ink drawing. We look, we say, “hey! That’s cool!’, and go on our merry way.
At least we stop.
I think if you love creativity it’s hard to follow only one path. I have a couple of friends in here that do everything from quilting to watercolor painting, from drip art to portraits. It’s such a wide and encompassing world it’s hard to resist playing in it, either by being a voyeur or a participant.
Last night I spent a couple of hours downloading images from an amazing jewelry shop in Japan. Why would I do that? What was I doing there?
As often the case, I don’t know how one thing led to another to another and another and there I was, appreciating the craftsmanship and style of a culture way on the other side of the world from me.
Is it art, though?
I realize my Sunday Galleries are always art from my point of view. You may love Andy Warhol or Claude Monet. You may prefer jewelry artists to barn artists. Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism.
That’s the beauty of Art. It’s something different to everyone.
We all have our tendencies, even if we think we are totally objective. I can see I like structure, texture, and designs that make sense (to me). I like landscapes, jewelry, and sparkly things.
But I try and balance that with truly unique art I’ve never seen before. Discovering artists such as Bisa Butler (quilting) or Ron Ben-Israel (cakes) or Tina Lane (glasswork) or Chris Maynard (feather art) has been the most rewarding and fun times of my life. I mean — who knew they were even out there?
Sometimes an idea pops into my head (scary thought!); other times I see a sample on Facebook or a reference online someplace or even while reading. Some pan out, others are just one special thing among a hundred blah things. And, OMG, just now, while Googling “What is Art?” in images I just found about six or seven new, wonderful, creative artists! See? You can do it, too!
Stick with me. This ride will open your eyes to the creative world around you.
So tell me. What kind of art do you like?
Originally from Spain, Lana Privitera graduated in 1983 from the Fine Arts School of Zaragoza, where she majored in Fashion Design and Art History.
After working in Advertising for a few years, she moved to the USA in the early 1990’s. 
After a long hiatus, she returned to painting watercolors again in 2014, focusing this time in highly realistic Still Lifes.
Privitera’s large watercolors have been accepted and exhibited in numerous USA and International competitions, winning top awards in a number of them.
Her work is incredibly clean, clear, and full of light and life.
Sometimes you will find yourself asking — is this a photograph or a painting?
Everyday things take on an extra depth and hue in Privitera’s watercolors.
More of Lana Privitera‘s amazing paintings can be found at https://www.watercolorsbylana.com/.
Rachael Pease’s lush drawings, crafted in India ink on frosted Mylar, create mystical settings from trees and plant life observed in reality.
Pease grew up in rural Indiana surrounded by vast lands and forests, which influenced her works.
Her pieces often start with a trees she’s come across – in the woods, at national parks, and sometime in the city.She takes pictures from different angles, prints them, and stitches them together to make collages, transforming what she’s observed in her daily life into surreal and timeless landscapes that contemplate the impermanence of the natural world.
She also consciously frames the drawings in a circle or oval, which seems to emulate the perspective of binoculars or a telescope.
In some works, the branches of the trees dominate the composition, in others, it is the strong labyrinth of roots.
Her work is inspirational and lively, intricate and magical.
More of Rachael Pease’s intricate drawings can be found at .https://www.rachaelpease.com.
Born in the late 40’s in Akron, Ohio, Woodrow Nash is the product of sanctified churches, 1950’s television images, and black inner city neighborhood schools run by predominantly white middle-class educators.
Nash’s consuming passion to elevate the human spirit takes the form of sculptures, building a sense of mystery and charisma into each piece.
Through his work, Nash achieves his goal of integrating expression, complex symbolism and sophisticated aesthetics to yield striking embodiments of the human soul and sensuality.
Examining the contemporary male and female physique, he explores the body’s natural form and mythology.
Incorporating various styles and techniques utilizing stoneware, earthenware, terracotta or porcelain, Nash’s work is fired electronically, pit fired or via a “raku” effect – creating an “African Nouveau” trademark that’s solely his own.
While the images are African, in general, the concept is 15th century Benin with the graceful, slender proportions and long, undulating lines of 18th century Art Nouveau.
More of Woodrow Nash’s colorful sculptures can be found at https://woodrownashstudios.com/.
Lately I have been going through my blogs over at my Sunday Evening Art Gallery, double checking links, adding more images, correcting picture spacing, turning it into the blog it’s SUPPOSED to be.
Funny how, at first, I was more anxious about getting the images up and running, not thinking through what I would want to see and experience if I were visiting for the first time.
I think we all are over anxious at one time or another.
I don’t have as many followers over there as I do here. I still start out sharing unique art as a Goddess thing. It’s only after a few months that I give the artists their own world, their own room, so their creations can be slowly and thoughtfully and individually perused.
Quality should be in everything you do. When they say “quality over quantity” that is so true for so many things we do these days. The quality of one or two friends overrides mass popularity on Facebook or Twitter. The taste of homemade spaghetti sauce that has taken hours to prepare rocks over the $1.99 jar substitute. Going to a live concert/sports game/class is far more rewarding than seeing the same on TV or the computer screen.
That’s why I want the images I share with you be clean, communicative, and organized. Just like you were strolling through a gallery in an art museum. The gallery should be dedicated to just one artist. No extraneous words or music; no distractions. Just a chance for you to take your time and really look at the creativity around you.
Here’s a few gems I have come across that I almost forgot about….
I hope you take time to wander around a gallery or two. Follow if you’d like; just stop by if you don’t. It’s amazing how much unique art there is around the world.
And I plan on discovering it all one gallery at a time.
Chad Knight is a 41-year-old visual artist from Portland, Oregon.
Chad was a professional skateboarder for 16 years. During that time, it served as his creative outlet.
Now he creates mind-bending 3D drawings and incredible sculptures that highlight issues such as global warming and loss of habitat for animals.
Chad Knight’s amazing and incredible sculptures seem so realistic that people sometimes want to choose them as their travel destination.
According to Knight, “Everything on my work represents something or someone. My art is very much like an encrypted journal that I can share publicly.”
Knight laughs that he has a very overactive, noisy mind.
“Now that I do not have the opportunity to do it (skateboarding) as often, combined with being less enthusiastic about broken bones, my visual art explorations have become my new outlet.”
You have to admit that all of these concepts blow your mind in one way or another. They do look real to me.
More of Chad Knight‘s amazing digital art can be found at https://www.instagram.com/chadknight.
I wanted to address the reactions to yesterday’s Sunday Evening Art Gallery, Bruno Pontiroli. Bruno is a surrealist, and his paintings are creative in an uncomfortable way.
Those of you who responded that they made you uncomfortable; that you didn’t really care for the vibes the images gave you — Thank you. I can’t tell you how good feedback feels.
That is the purpose of Art.
I don’t remember how I found Bruno, but I’ve had him in my gallery repertoire for some time. His paintings are clear and expressive. But the images themselves made me take a step back and wonder. Should I? Or shouldn’t I?
I honestly enjoy all the artists I highlight. In that same vein, I’m not always comfortable with their art.
Look at Zdzisław Beksiński. or Anton Semenov. H.R. Giger. Even some of Salvador Dali‘s work is mind bending. Who knows what their motivation was.. Haunting visions of reality.
Some art is really hard to look at. To understand. Hard to like.
I am proud of those of you who had adverse reactions to yesterday’s art and said so. You said nothing derogatory about the artist — just the form the artist took.
Keep your minds open.
Its good for you, it’s good for the world of art. If a certain style or piece of art stirs something inside of you — good OR bad — then the artist has achieved what they’ve worked a life time to achieve.
A Reaction.
Bruno Pontiroli is a French surreal artist, whose aim is to “turn the narrow vision that we have of the world upside down and disturb our imagination while shaking an accepted reality with images that are as comprehensible as they are familiar”.
In Bruno’s fascinating and unusual body of work, he begins his artworks with easily-recognized animals that he then shapes “the way a child plays with modeling clay or a building set.”
An admirer of René Magritte, Bruno finds inspiration in situations, books and images that surround him.
Pontiroli creates mind-bending explorations of the relationship between humans and animals.
The artist shies away from labeling his work as Surrealist or Dadaist, instead proposing a new version of reality without categorization.
His work is so enjoyable precisely because it’s familiar yet strange.
According to Pontiroli, “My aim is turn the narrow vision that we have of the world upside down and disturb our imagination while shaking an accepted reality with images that are as comprehensible as they are familiar. Distorting a symbol or mixing opposing universes allows me to question the identity of things so that I can reinvent them.”
More of Bruno Pontiroli‘s mind-bending work can be found at https://www.instagram.com/brunopontiroli.
Paul Stankard is an internationally acclaimed artist and pioneer in the studio glass movement..
During his ten year scientific glassblowing career, he became a master of fabricating complex instruments.
In 1972, Paul left industry to pursue his dream of being creative in glass full time.
His translucent orbs bursting with activity and life are made entirely from glass.
When Stankard suddenly directed a decade of industrial glass working techniques into the interpretation of flowers, bees, vines, and leaves encased in glass, it wasn’t long before art dealers discovered his work and he began to create art full-time.
According to Stankard, ““By blending mysticism with magical realism, I work to express organic credibility through my botanical interpretations.”
“Crafted in glass, I reference the continuum of nature and celebrate on an intimate level her primal beauty.”
More of Paul Stankard’s amazing glasswork can be found at http://www.paulstankard.com/.
Way back in October of 2014, I asked the question:
Glass is exquisite in its delicate beauty. A crystal vase, a hand-blown wine glass, a stained-glass window, all stir the pot of reactions that make the word “sparkle” sparkle. Working with glass is an incredible art. It is so delicate, so refined, a true art of mind over matter. So what if glass represents a disease? Is it still “sparkling” and “refined”?
In the midst of today’s pandemic, Luke Jerram seems to have found a way.
These, and other microscopic cells and diseases made of sparkling glass, can be found at my Sunday Evening Art Gallery and at https://www.lukejerram.com.
Jess Bell is a Canadian photographer and animal lover.
Bell is very passionate about animal photography, and recently created artistic images of animals in action.
The bright colors and dynamic swirls are captured in real time, the powder acting as a perfect action amplification device.
As a result, every single image is unique and highlights the amazing differences between how dogs of various breeds and body shapes move. 
Bell says, “Animal photography is my passion. I endeavor to create impacting images that go beyond the standard photograph to become true works of art.
“I use light, color and the beauty of the natural world to bring images alive; to convey the love and energy embodied by our four-legged companions.”
“As a result, every single image is unique and highlights the amazing differences between how dogs of various breeds and body shapes move.”
More of Jess Bell‘s amazing photography can be found at http://www.jessbellphotography.com.
A beautiful summer’s day outside. I should be out there, walking, or at least fetching the dog, walking down the paths, daydreaming of new story lines or what color to color my hair.
Instead, I’m inside, sitting in front of my computer. Final editing, I say. Looking for dinosaur remote cars for my grandson, I say. Ordering the six disc Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies, I say.
This is insane.
I’m going outside in five minutes. I just wanted to share that I have found so many amazing, beautiful, unusual artists for upcoming Sunday Evening Art Galleries that I’m about to burst.
Humankind can be sooooooo creative. Amazing to the point where they put me to shame.
Happy, it’s okay shame, so to speak.
Here are a couple of pictures of upcoming blogs: Take a look and be amazed, too.
There are more, more, more. I hope I don’t overcrowd your Reader. But I want to get the majesty and quirkiness and beauty of the Arts out there where it is loved and appreciated — in your hands.
Continue your creative quest. Keep trying. Don’t be afraid to be the same; don’t be afraid to be different.
And share your creativity with those around you. With me. With the world.
Gotta go outside now……
Morgana Wallace is a Victoria, British Columbia based artist.
Her mixed media compositions are created through a fine treatment of collage working the paper to create multiple layers and various textures.
Additionally, she will apply gauche to many of her works to add detail.
Each piece brings together references of various mythologies with fantastical and dream like elements, creating engaging and complex works of art.
Wallace often uses Japanese linen paper in her work because of her attraction to its texture, mixing it with thin card stock to create her characters’ flowing hair.
Other materials used in her works include X-ACTO knives, water colors, gouache, and pencil crayons.
To create depth and shadows she also uses foam board which adds to the painterly quality of her scenes.
More of Morgana Wallace‘s work can be found at http://www.madronagallery.com/artists/morgana-wallace.
December, 2014. Snow. Blow. For many of us, thoughts of a winter landscape are still six months away. But reflecting back on the beauty of these ice formations, I tend to think of them more as spun glass than ice crystals.
Find more snowflakes in the Gallery — open all day and night!
Rebecca Louise Law is a London-based installation artist, best known for her breathtaking interactive large-scale installations consisting of thousands of suspended flowers.
Rebecca is widely recognized for colossal floral artworks sculpted using her signature copper wire.
She works with fresh or dry flora and allows the work to change naturally.
Large scale artworks are site-specific, designed with the space, patron and local culture in mind.
Smaller scale sculptures are encased in Victorian-style vitrines that
serve to preserve the contents – flowers, foliage and sometimes
insects – in a moment of time.
Law has been working with natural materials and flowers for over 17 years. Her work is underpinned by her love of exploring the interlinked relationship between humanity and nature.
Law is passionate about natural change and preservation, allowing her work to evolve as nature takes its course and offering an alternative concept of beauty.
More of Rebecca Louise Law‘s amazing work can be found at https://www.rebeccalouiselaw.com/.
Could it only have been December of 2014 that I introduced the world of Crowns to my friends and followers? One stone on one crown on one head could pay for your house. Two stones would allow you to fly around the world. Let’s go play in the imagination and see what royalty would bring us!
A lot more Imperial Crowns can be found over at the Gallery. Come on over and try a few on!
I have noticed that the number of followers for my blog has been slowly increasing lately, and for that I am soooo grateful. It means so much to me that you are either enjoying my BoHo Chic Old Lady offerings, my newly discovered Faerie Paths, or my love of discovery of unique art.
And I’ve been thinking. I would bet that more than a few of you are artistically inclined. The spectrum of creativity is far and wide. And I’d love to know about it. About YOU.
I’ve gone on about others’ creativity for years. I have made friends with poets, painters, fabric artists, and potters. I’ve shared their art and websites to encourage my readers to explore further the gifts we all are given.
If you are developing an artistic talent, why not let me know? You don’t have to be first in your field to talk about your creative direction — just someone who loves what they do.
Send me an email at writing.unicorn@gmail.com and tell me about your art. Do you have a website? Do you have pictures of your work? Are you trying to learn a particular skill? Have questions? You can also answer this post and I can go through it and put something together.
True artists get excited about other artists. Help promote each other. Encourage each other.
Let me share a little bit about you!
Benjamin Sack is an American artist who received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011.
Sack’s work explores architecture as a flexible medium capable of expressing the unique space between realism and abstraction; where interpretation and our ability to create meaning is in flux.
Sack draws a majority of his inspiration from art history and classical music.
By combining these interests, Sack’s works become symphonies of ink.
Skyscrapers, bridges, cupolas, and arches all packed densely together create a city that could hardly be navigated, but when viewed from above result in a sort of chaotic perfection.
His work invites the eye to explore drawings of the “big picture,” to gaze into a kaleidoscope of histories and to look further into the elemental world of lines and dots.
More of Benjamin Sack‘s intricate work can be found at https://www.bensackart.com.
Amy Giacomelli started her career in art in 1988 by joining the Entertainment Industry union as a mural artist.
Over the years she has painted countless murals and backdrops for studios such as Disney, CBS and Warner Bros., as well as lots of independent shops.
Her colorful gallery includes cats, birds, flowers, dogs, landscapes, and other subjects that burst with color and imagination.
For Amy, color is at the core of her style.
She does a fabulous job of conveying emotion and movement through vibrant shades, well mixed to create bright and beautiful pieces.
Often depicting nature, her work draws inspiration from real life, while translating it into more abstract expression..
With a background in painting murals, it should be no surprise that Amy enjoys large pieces, sometimes broken up into multi panel works..
More of Amy Giacomelli’s work can be found at https://amy-giacomelli.pixels.com/ and https://www.etsy.com/shop/AmyGiacomelli.
Mark Messersmith (1955-) was born in Kansas City, Missouri lives and works in Tallahassee, Florida where he teaches at Florida State University.
The artist extends beyond the frame of his central images surveying man’s ruin. He also includes a small frieze of vignettes at the bottom and sculptural adornments at the frame’s edge.
His work explores themes of spirit and struggle within the modern world’s natural environments.
Messersmith likes to focus on the habitats of Florida’s animals in the way they live and react to one another.
In his words, “My work is really about our relationship to all other living creatures at this precarious moment, a place midway between hope and despair.”
His works reflect plants and animals, which are still able to survive, often in small isolated natural habitats, and the effects of their inevitable forced migration, dislocation, or isolation.
His works build on stories (either real or conjectured), along with observations and concerns for the creatures that move within the shrinking environs they inhabit.
More of Mark Messersmith‘s inspirational work can be found at https://markmessersmith.com.
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was an architect and writer whose distinct style helped him became one of the biggest forces in American architecture.
Wright started his own firm and developed a style known as the “Prairie School”, which strove for an “organic architecture” in designs for homes and commercial buildings.
These were single-story homes with low, pitched roofs and long rows of casement windows, employing only locally available materials and wood that was always unstained and unpainted, emphasizing its natural beauty.
Wright believed in designing structures that were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture.
As a founder of organic architecture, Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing three generations of architects worldwide through his works.
Wright designed original and innovative offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, museums, and other structures. He often designed interior elements for these buildings, as well, including furniture and stained glass.
Considered one of the most radical architects in history, Wright used revolutionary building technologies and materials and experimented with using the natural landscape as part of his designs.
Wright was a great originator and a highly productive architect. He designed some 800 buildings, of which 380 were actually built and a number are still standing.
You can find out more about Frank Lloyd Wright at https://franklloydwright.org.
Molly Hatch is an artist designer with a formal education in drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University.
She received her BFA from the Museum School in Boston, and her MFA from the University of Colorado.
Hatch, an artist-designer, creates everything from fabric patterns, furniture, jewelry, prints, pen to ink drawings and painting.
Her installations have been featured by the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Clayarch Gimhae Museum in Korea, and Philadelphia’s The Clay Studio, among others.
Hatch installed her largest museum commission to date at the Newark Museum in Newark, NJ. Commissioned by Chief Curator Ulysses Dietz, Hatch designed and executed a triptych of almost 600 plates for a wall installation for permanent installation titled Repertoire.
Hatch has a remarkable talent for putting together a myriad of designs with plates of all colors and sizes.
Her ceramic installations, inspired by historical decoration, have been exhibited and collected all over the world and has garnered her a loyal and fervent following.
More of Molly Hatch‘s wonderful designs can be found at https://www.mollyhatchstudio.com and at https://toddmerrillstudio.com/designer/molly-hatch.
I think one of my favorite Sunday Evening Art Gallery posts was from back in November, 2014, when I shared images from the artist Svetlana Bobrova. A surrealistic artist from Russia, the figures in her paintings are hauntingly beautiful. I cannot get enough of her and her imagination.
You can see more of Svetlana Bobrova‘s amazing work at my Sunday Evening Art Gallery blog or at the blue link above.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) was a Dutch draughtsman, painter, and printmaker.
An innovative and prolific master, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history.
Rembrandt’s works depict a wide range of style and subject matter, from portraits and self-portraits to landscapes, genre scenes, allegorical and historical scenes, and biblical and mythological themes.
Rembrandt’s portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits, and scenes from the Bible are regarded as his greatest creative triumphs.
Rembrandt’s foremost contribution in the history of printmaking was his transformation of the etching process from a relatively new reproductive technique into a true art form.
He was also an avid art collector and dealer. 
Rembrandt lived beyond his means, buying art, prints, and rarities, which probably helped his bankruptcy in 1656, by selling most of his paintings and large collection of antiquities which included Old Master paintings and drawings, busts of the Roman Emperors, suits of Japanese armor, and collections of natural history and minerals.
Unfortunately, the end of his life was far from the famous painter he would become.
Rembrandt died in 1669 in Amsterdam and was buried as a poor man in an unknown grave in the Westerkerk. After twenty years, his remains were taken away and destroyed, as was customary with the remains of poor people at the time.
More of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn’s amazing life and art can be found at http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt.
Back in November 2014 I came across a group of artists that did amazing things with tape. Yes, clear package tape. Going back to their website, I was pleased to see they have expanded their repertoire, filling their site with more — tape art. Take a look at their marvelous work!
More unusual art — tape and more — at http://www.numen.eu/.
Born in Tokyo, Dusseldorf-based artist Ramon Todo creates beautiful textural juxtapositions using layers of glass in unexpected places.
Starting with various stones, volcanic rock, fragments of the Berlin wall, and even books, Todo inserts perfectly cut glass fragments that seem to slice through the objects.
This results in segments of translucence where you would least expect it.
His small sculptures of rocks and books embedded with polished layers of glass, seamlessly introduce disparate materials into a single object.
This creates an unusual intention, as if these objects have always existed this way.
The random pieces of obsidian, fossils, volcanic basalt, and old books are suddenly redefined.
Todo’s stay in Dusseldorf over ten years brought him Western culture, and generated an original yet universal aesthetic which appeal to broad range of people.
More of Ramon Todo‘s remarkable artwork can be found at http://www.thephotophore.com/ramon-todo/ and http://artfrontgallery.com/en/artists/Todo.html.
Painter and sculptor James Michalopoulos was born in 1951 in Pennsylvania. 
Michalopoulos received a BA from Bowdoin College. After managing the Boston Food Co-op for two years, he began to sketch. He has never stopped making art.
In 1981 he was drawn to New Orleans as the last bastion of hippie bohemian culture in America.
He began sketching artists and musicians, houses and street corners.
Fascinated with the duality of beauty and decay, the architecture of the city became his muse.
Capturing the spirit and the essence of his subject in layer upon layer of thick impasto paint, a portrait of the city appeared, brimming with color and energy.
In the early 1990’s Michalopoulos operated a studio out of Lausanne, Switzerland, and exhibited both there and in Geneva, London and Berlin. 
Today he divides his time between New Orleans and Burgundy.
The French countryside, with its Roman era stone buildings and verdant fields, has become a large focus of his work, but there is nothing better than New Orleans.
More of James Michalopoulos‘ wonderful art can be found at https://www.michalopoulos.com/.
My Sunday Evening Art Gallery is not only for unique artists and their work — it’s also a show-off gallery of odd, beautiful, and unusual collectibles that fit into one topic. My first fun Gallery was Stilettos back in November of 2014. Try these on for size!
More stilettos at https://wp.me/p5LGaO-2H.
Diana Al-Hadid was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1981, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Al-Hadid’s sculptures, hanging works, and works on paper are built up with layers of material and history.
Her rich, formal allusions cross cultures and disciplines, drawing inspiration, not only from the history of distance civilizations, but also from histories of the materials themselves.
Her work borrows from a variety of sources ranging from Old Master paintings to the innovative works of the Islamic Golden Age.
Described by Al-Hadid as “somewhere between fresco and tapestry,” her unique process is entirely additive.
Holes and gaps form not from puncture, but through controlled dripping, methodically reinforced such that the image dictates the structure.
These works have been made as hanging objects, architectural interventions, and most recently as outdoor installation.
More of Diana Al-Hadid‘s incredible work can be found at http://www.dianaalhadid.com/.
I don’t often do repeats on the original Sunday Gallery, but since today is Easter, nothing is more befitting than the beauty of Fabergé Eggs.
Way back on October 14, 2014, I highlighted the microscope photography of Dr. Gary Greenburg. His website, Sandgrains, has fascinating explanations of something we take for granted every day — sand. You must stop by his website and read the explanations yourself.
Check out more at Sunday Evening Art Gallery.
Rice Paddy Art, called as “Tanbo Art” in Japanese, is a work of art in which gigantic pictures are drawn on the rice field as canvas by mixing different colors of rice plants instead of paint.
Its detailed description and high artistic quality bring a large number of tourists every year.
Rice paddy art began in 1993 when purple and yellow rice plants were used to make a picture of Mt. Iwaki along with letters on rice paddies.
This curious art style, started in a village called Inakadate in Aomori Prefecture drew in so many people, the topic spread all across Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
The main purpose behind the creation was to take advantage of the tradition of manual work in rice cultivation to give people an opportunity to learn more about rice farming and agriculture.
The massive pictures are elaborately designed using perspective drawing methods to make them look their best when seen from the observation platform.
These days there are over 100 locations doing rice paddy art. 
On February 11, 2014, I published a delightful blog called “Bubbles.” Do we believe everything we see? Or do we merely wish it to be so?
More at Sunday Evening Art Gallery
I am home bound (like most of you), and see no exit for the foreseeable future (except to grocery shop). The world is stressing all of us out, and I myself can do nothing about it except to stay inside and away from the virus.
So…..
I have decided to post a few more Sunday Evening Gallery artists during the next few weeks. We need more beauty, more creativity in our lives. We can’t do much about what’s going around except stay in and stay away, so why not fill your world with unique and beautiful art?
On days I don’t introduce someone new I will repost some of my early Gallery artists so you can revisit their unique beauty.
Stay in, stay safe, and dream of green fields and fresh air.
We’ll be set lose soon enough.
Jakarta, Indonesia-based pastry chef Iven Kawi says she made her first honest attempt at baking in December of 2013 when she made a batch of Christmas cookies for her daughter’s school.
Kawi now runs a bakery shop out of her home in Lippo Karawaci called Iven Oven where she creates elaborately decorated baked goods.
Among her specialties are cakes adorned with terrarium environments where buttercream frosting is sculpted into an abundance of cacti and flower petals atop beds of crumbly sand or dirt.
Much like her flower cakes, Kawi’s succulent-inspired sweets feature flora sculpted with frosting made from powdered sugar, butter, and food coloring.
Once her desired consistency and colors are achieved, she uses a piping technique to create realistic leaves, spines, and needles.
Like real-life cacti and other water storing plants, each buttercream figure is unique in color, size, and shape.
When grouped together in the bunch-like arrangements characteristic of Kawi’s aesthetic, the buttercream succulents bloom into verdant gardens and transform into cake-topping terrariums.
More of Iven Kawi‘s amazing cakes can be found at http://ivenoven.blogspot.com and https://mymodernmet.com/ivenoven-succulent-cakes.
Lamp worker and designer Melissa Schmidt works out of her 120 year+ studio in St.Louis, Missouri.
Inspired by her antique blown glass buttons, her work is whimsical and unexpected as the buttons she found two decades ago.
Her glass mastery is mostly self taught, having experimented with years of refining techniques.
Schmidt’s work is at once tactile, visual and auditory as movement creates delight for the wearer and observer.
She uses borosilicate glass material with frit, glass powder, grinding, sewing, and 35 mm slide film, as well as foils and precious metals.
Schmidt’s creativity is a delight to the eye, a unique sparkle in the world of jewelry.
More of Melissa Schmidt‘s amazing glass work can be found at http://www.melissaschmidtstudio.com/.
Wenqin Chen studied at the Art & Design School of Fuzhou University 1995-1999.
Since 2000’s, Chen has used Chinese calligraphy, sculpture and installation to explore the relationship between life, art and their diversity.
The being of life, the wonder of the human experience, and tensions in our living environment are intrinsic to and evident in his work.
As a source of inspiration and research, Chen studied extensively the human body, various scientific journals and statements, real life examples, and countless images.
Working in mostly stainless steel, Chen’s sculpting is a process of comprehending and elaborating on the vastness of life.
“Everything has life, life is everywhere,” is the truth he consistently explores in his work.
He has successfully combined his art and pursuit of academia with ancient Chinese culture and contemporary western art.
More of Wenqin Chen‘s work can be found at http://wenqinchen.com/.
Christine Van Sickle‘s creative journey started in the early 1990’s. 
In 1994 she had her first art piece published in the Green Bay Press Gazette, and from then on she was hooked.
Van Sickle has always loved the creative process, and later in life it became a much needed escape from the daily stresses of life.
Van Sickle’s work includes realism and surrealism pieces. They are often nature inspired, and usually start as a normal landscape or animal.
She has worked with ink, watercolor, and other mediums, but prefers acrylic on canvas.
The artist makes a point to listen and watch other artists. She also encourages others to pick up a brush and try it themselves.
More of Christine Van Sickle‘s artwork can be found at www.cvansicklestudios.com, or her Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/cvansicklestudios/.
Send inquiries (custom, original art, or print requests) to cvansickle16@gmail.com.
Sally England is a fiber artist living and working in Ojai, California.
During her time in graduate school in 2011 she was inspired to further her work in soft sculpture and explore a new form of macramé (knot-based textile construction) for who we are today.
Her ensuing large-scale modern macramé work using thick cotton rope became a catalyst for the recent revival of the craft, inspiring many to learn or relearn the art of knotting.
According to England, “My art is an exploration of texture, dimension, and scale, in which I use traditional hand techniques such as knotting, basketry, twining, and weaving, to create expressive and fluid forms.”
“Not confining my work to a set outcome, I let the material evolve organically as it will.”
“Through a process of working from muscle memory in a meditative state, I see patterns of time travel and architecture, tapping into ancient skills and archetypal symbols while dwelling in the intimacy of fibers and skin.”
More of Sally England‘s amazing macramé can be found at http://www.sallyengland.com/
Snow Snow Snow! Wonderful to look at, fun to ski or toboggan in, yet hell to drive through. Alas, you in the southern part of the country/continent/Earth ball — yours will come. Right now for me it makes for a wonderful meditation background.
I have some great Sunday Evening Art Galleries coming up. If you have favorite artists and styles, be sure to let me know. But here’s a peek at a few up-and-comers:
I have been behind in adding galleries to my actual gallery, Sunday Evening Art Gallery. Here are a few recent additions:
No matter if it’s snow or sand, come take a stroll through the Gallery. I hope you enjoy looking at their work as much as I enjoy bringing it to you!
Pierre Sterlé (1905–1978) was a French jeweler, known as the ‘couturier of jewelry’.
Sterlé may be one of the most important jewelry designers you’ve never heard of.
His lyrical, highly-engineered creations are some of the most distinctive designs of the 20th Century—and some of the most collectible.
But because his business was so exclusive and his clientele so elite, his name isn’t as widely known as some of his contemporaries.
Considered during his lifetime to have been an inspired innovator, he reached his apogee in the 1940’s and 50’s.
His work with precious stones and metal – often inspired by nature – still commands strong interest at auction.
His well-crafted jewelry often used motifs from nature; birds, flowers, leaves and feathers.
Coupled with personal tragedy which plagued him throughout the 1960’s, he ultimately was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1976 and liquidate his stock.
Most of the stock was acquired by Chaumet, who retained Sterlé as a ‘technical consultant’ until his death in 1978.
.
Duro Olowu is a Nigerian-born, London-based fashion designer. He is best known for his innovative combinations of patterns and textiles that draw inspiration from his international background.
He grew up living in both Nigeria and London and spent summers in Geneva, immersing him in multiple cultures.
From an early age, his enthusiasm for fashion was inspired by the unexpected mix of fabrics, textures and draping techniques of the clothing worn by the women that surrounded him.
He is best known for his innovative combinations of patterns and textiles that draw inspiration from his international background.
His first collection in 2006 was an instant hit with fashion editors and buyers worldwide and an international sell out in its worldwide stockists at the time.
Alluring silhouettes, sharp tailoring, original prints juxtaposed with luxurious vintage fabrics in “off beat” yet harmonious combinations are Olowu’s signature.
His colors are bright, mismatched, yet coordinated, reflecting the brightness of life and of being a woman.
Olowu says, “My idea [was] to create a beautiful feast for the eyes reminiscent of a warm and joyful season filled with international treasures and signature fabrics.”
More of Duro Olowu’s designs can be found at https://duroolowu.com.
A photographer for over forty years, Nolan Preece has devoted his career to understanding and mastering the challenging techniques of early photography by creating chemigrams.
Preece been working with these chemically derived images since 1981.
A chemigram combines the physics of painting (varnish, wax, oil) and the chemistry of photography (photosensitive emulsion, developer, fixer) without the use of a camera, an enlarger, and in full light.
Experimentation with chemistry and photographic paper to produce various visual effects and themes describes the direction of this work.
These photographs are a combination of cameraless photography and the manipulation of photographic materials by using them as painting media.
The printmaking aspect is the resistance he puts on the paper. He uses chemistry to create the final product.
It is also important to state that this method of working often produces several levels of meanings brought together to create a sense of connection which is intuitive, unconscious and abstract. The images are more accurately felt than observed.
More of Nolan Preece’s amazing work can be found at http://www.nolanpreece.com/
Rob Mulholland is a sculptor and environmental artist based in the United Kingdom who exhibits throughout the U.K and world-wide.
Mullholland explores the complex relationship between humans and the natural world.
Utilizing a wide variety of forms and materials, his sculpture installations interact with their surroundings.
He incorporates mirrored surfaces in his sculptures to reflect the given environment and alter the viewers perception of the space.
The reflection is purposely distorted inviting the viewer to question their individual relationship with their surroundings.
As leaves change colors and fall, clouds and storms pass by, daylight waxes and wanes, and people walk by, these stationary figures shimmer and change, creating a reflection of the mood around them.
They can be eerie, ghostly, magical, and whimsical by turns.
More of Rob Mulholland‘s remarkable visions can be found at http://robmulholland.org/.
The most widely acclaimed African American artist of this century, and one of only several whose works are included in standard survey books on American art, Jacob Armstead Lawrence has enjoyed a successful career for more than fifty years.
Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1917. The son of Southern migrants, he moved with his mother and sister to Harlem in 1930 at age 13.
Lawrence’s paintings portray the lives and struggles of African Americans, and have found wide audiences due to their abstract, colorful style and universality of subject matter.
He create paintings drawn from the African American experience as well as historical and contemporary themes, such as war, religion, and civil rights.
In 1940, he received a grant from the Rosenwald Foundation to create a 60-panel epic, The Migration of the Negro (now known as The Migration Series).
The panels portray the migration of over a million African Americans from the South to industrial cities in the North between 1910 and 1940. 
He was credited with developing a unique aesthetic known as Dynamic Cubism, which would be attributed, not to European influences, but to “hard, bright, brittle” Harlem.
More of Jacob Lawrence‘s artwork can be found around the Internet including MOMA Lawrence and Artnet Lawrence.
The goal of Tresor Mukonkole’s artistic vision is to illustrate certain complexities, including his artistic point of view, of the world.
Mukonkole comes from the Congo, an unstable country on all fronts, underground rich in minerals, yet full of numerous conflicts between different political and economic factors.
From the soil of the Congo, his homeland, his work as an artist is about the analysis of the presence of man on earth, and his impact on everything, especially the environment and the future of nature.
Mukonkole says he produces a narrative from his paintings with butterflies in order to express himself on the beauty and the fragility embodied by nature and the earth.
His artistic work aims to illustrate his perspective as an artist on the threats to our environment by presenting a glimmer of positivity to replace the darkness.
Despite the complexities of his world and his artistic calling, his butterfly paintings are bright and full of life and hope.
More of Tresor Mukonkole‘s beautiful work can be found at http://mukonkole.com/lipekapeka/.
Time and reflection change the sight little by little ’till we come to understand.
~ Paul Cezanne
Colin Fraser is a contemporary Scottish painter known for his detailed still life, landscapes, and interiors.
Fraser has long been established as one of the world’s leading egg tempera painters.
Born in 1957 in Glasgow, United Kingdom, he studied art at Brighton Polytechnic before moving to Sweden in 1981.
Fraser’s use of egg-tempera gives his work a light-filled, translucent quality unequaled in other mediums.
It is notoriously hard to control and seldom used by contemporary artists.
“It’s a medium fraught with technical difficulties, but therein lies its charm. Brushstrokes dry instantly and are never really fully opaque, so just about every mark the painter makes shows,” Fraser has explained.
“You can’t force your will on it, it forces you to accept the marks you make and live in the ‘moment’, with each brushstroke that is applied to the panel.”
More of Colin Fraser‘s work can be found at galleries around the Internet.
Santiago Rusiñol i Prats (25 February 1861 – 13 June 1931) was a Spanish painter, poet and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the Catalan Modernism movement.
His training as painter started at Centro de Acuarelistas de Barcelona under the direction of Tomás Moragas. Like so many artists of the day, he travelled to Paris in 1889, living in Montmartre with Ramon Casas and Ignacio Zuloaga.
It is said that much of his work in Paris belonged to the Symbolism painting style, although most of his work reflected the Art Noveau style of swirling lines and often ethereal nature.
Rusiñol is best known as a painter of Spanish gardens.
His paintings have a surrealistic tinge to them, making you want to step right through them and see the landscape for yourself.
The ancestral home in Sitges Santiago Rusiñol inherited was converted by the painter into a Museum. He showcased the fruit of his work as collector throughout his life, which included irons and Catalan glasses and antique ebusitas Cau Ferrat alongside his own paintings.
When a Madrid-born journalist interviewed Rusiñol at the end of his life, he asked: “Why have you painted gardens preferably?” The artist replied: “Because with the gardens I had my first success in Paris, and then, for having felt this modality (sensation) more than the others.”
More of Santiago Rusiñol‘s beautiful paintings can be found http://www.santiagorusinol.com/ along with other sites across the Internet.
Sharon Weiser, who grew up in Wisconsin, began painting as a child and went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts and K-12 teaching certificate from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.
After living for twenty years in Phoenix, Arizona, Weiser returned to the Midwest where she currently teaches painting and drawing at her studio.
Clearly, the time Weiser spent in Arizona left its mark artistically as she continues to create her joyfully close-up cactus compositions.
Painting in either oils or acrylics, Weiser works primarily from her own photos – cropping, replacing, re-positioning or enlarging forms to expertly compose her dynamic light-filled canvases.
It is bold colors, a remarkable attention to detail and a singular sense of design that makes her paintings stand apart.
Her artwork also continues to evolve as her curiosity compels her to keep experimenting with different color palettes, subjects and ideas.
Her choice of southern colors reflects the beauty of her surroundings, adding depth and almost a fluorescence to desert life.
More of Sharon Weiser‘s beautiful paintings can be found at http://www.sharonweiser.com/.
Ronnie Hughes was born in 1954 and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
He learned glassblowing with the help of a friend after graduating from Wake Forest University in 1976.
.In 1980, after hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Hughes came upon a field of hundreds of breathtaking Pink Lady Slipper orchids, which inspired him to change his subject matter completely.
Using both clear and colored glasses, Hughes create his wildflowers and then integrates them with his free-formed, solid glass bases. 
His sculptures stand entirely on their own in continuous glass, a more challenging and time-consuming process.
Hughes believe that the purity of clear glass lends a mystical feel to the flowers, emphasizing the delicacy and fragility of our natural world.
The colored blossoms provide a vibrant focal point while the clear glass challenges the observer to look more closely and to use their imagination to complete his vision.
More of Ronnie Hughes‘ delicate, beautiful work can be found at https://hughesglass.net/
Humoring the Goddess 