Archive for September, 2008

David Connolly

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

The architecture of the east coast has clearly had a lasting effect on David Connolly’s paintings.  There is a striking stillness to his works, which feel more like portraits than landscapes.

Kate Domina

Monday, September 15th, 2008

I was lucky enough to beat the rain on Saturday, and therefore double lucky, because there were many amazing artists showing at Trinity Bellwoods park over the weekend.  For those who weren’t able to make it I’ll be posting about a couple of my finds this week.

Kate Domina creates scenes full of characters that seem to be very aware of being watched, which makes the experience of watching them a little eery, and I like that.

Most of the new works that I saw in Kate Domina’s booth can also be found on her blog.  Enjoy!

Queen West Art Crawl

Friday, September 12th, 2008

If you are in the Toronto area this weekend you would do well to check out the Queen West Art Crawl.  It’s a fantastic three days of art events including studio tours, the outdoor art show and sale at Trinity Bellwoods park, and a launch party tonight at the Gladstone hotel.  

Artist’s like Melanie MacDonald (and many many more) will be showing off their work all weekend so soak it up!

Adria Sartore

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

I found an article about Adria Sartore’s New York show of portraits over on nymag.com and I’m very glad I did because her portrait work is fantastic.  Check out more of her work here on her blog (note: the blog is written in Italian, so this may be a good time to brush up on your romance language skills)

Deborah Hamon

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

This painting is called Best Friends Forever For Now, an image and title that perfectly captures life at that awkward pre-teen age.  

In fact, all of Deborah Hamon’s work is a look at that period of time in life, specifically  for girls, and in the process she manages to capture the insecurities, joys, confusions and altered states associated with no longer being a child yet not quite being an adult.  Now if I could only put the memories of my own awkward years to such good use.

Dave Kinsey

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

There is an incredible energy coupled with the strong graphic elements in Dave Kinsey’s paintings.  Very cool stuff.

Christian Northeast

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Christian Northeast’s illustration work makes up the vast majority of the material on his website, and while this work is excellent,  I think his paintings are even better.  

His small portraits of brick buildings and other objects exist in a strange and dark landscape that manages to feel foreboding yet intimate and compelling. Go see them now.  

Also, as long as you’re there, check out his Genius Ideas.  Good times.

Nancy Prator

Friday, September 5th, 2008

If your childhood was anything like mine there were two things that defined you as a person:  The comic book characters that appeared on your Underoos, and the pop culture references included on your bed sheets.

You can understand my excitement then when I stumbled onto Nancy Prator’s “Bed Sheet Series”.  Her painted portraits are hand-embroidered onto classic pop culture bed sheets.  It’s a glorious thing.

By the way, in case you were wondering, I was a Spiderman/Return of the Jedi child, respectively.

Marc Burckhardt

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Like old children’s fables, Marc Burckhardt’s paintings tell bizarre tales that are hard to forget once heard (or rather, seen.)  

His illustration work as well as his gallery work can be found on his site, but he also maintains a blog where you can find background information and fantastic detail images of his paintings. It’s a great resource, and a great reminder of how much easier it is to connect with art/artists in this online age.  Of course, if you have the option, a visit to the flesh-and-blood work is still the best way to experience art.

Edward B. Gordon

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

There are many “painting a day” blogs out there now, among them Edward B. Gordon’s is a favourite.  He has over 600 daily paintings so far and is still going strong.  Check out his back catalogue here.