Les Biller

                            Les Biller  Manchurian  1999  oil on canvas  120" x 75"
                            lesbiller.com

Les Biller's paintings have every thing I want in a painting. They are accomplished yet obscure narratives that verge on the abstract. He is originally from Hawaii which may account for his vivid pallet and cross cultural vignettes. He attended UCLA in the 60's where he probably worked with and was familiar with Joyce Treiman, Richard Diebenkorn and others. His painting just rings with an authenticity that captures my attention and eventually my heart.

Tom Climent

Tom Climent  Hive Tower  2012  oil on board  21.25" x 25.9"
tomcliment.com

Climent paints with great sensitivity and skill. His atmospheric compositions invite the viewer to a different place and time. They are quite evocative.

Ian Fairweather

Ian Fairweather (1891-1974)  Composition ll  1969  synthetic polymer paint, gouache on cardboard mounted on hard board  41.37" x  29"
artgallery.nsw.gov.au
Fairweather was a reclusive yet well traveled artist born in Scotland and eventually settled in Australia. He had a studio on Bribie Island off the Queesland coast the last part of his life. I only wish I had know about him when I was there in the late 60's. He would have been an interesting person to meet.

Stephen Parise

Stephen Parise  Night Face  2014  acrylic on canvas  22" x 18"
stephenpariseart.wordpress.com

Gary Hudson

Gary Hudson  Untitled  acrylic on canvas

Amy Sillman

Amy Sillman   A Shape That Stands Up And Listens  2013  gouache, charcoal, chalk on paper.
thomasdane.m8.artlogic.net
What can I say about Amy Sillman that hasn't been said in the past few months. What I admire most about her work is the directness and a willingness to show how she got to where she is with her painting. Primarily through her drawing, she gives testimony to her antecedents influence and her ultimate stretch to her own unique state.

Suzanne McClellland

            Suzanne McClelland  2  charcoal, acrylic and oil on linen  59" x 49"
             shanecampbellgallery.com

Lucy Mink

Lucy Mink  She Explained Following or Leading  2013  oil on linen over panel  20" x 24"
lucymink.com

Interesting Juxtaposition

          Mark Goodwin  Archeology  2010  milk paint and beeswax on paper 21.5" x 15"
          markagoodwin.com

     

                    Steve Gibson  El Jardin  1995  acrylic and gouache on paper  30" x 22"

                   stevegibsonart.com

I came across Mark Goodwin's work on the net and was immediately impressed with his aesthetic, craftsmanship and vision as an artist. His sculpture, drawing and painting are exquisite takes on the vernacular, things we see but often over look.

The piece, Archeology reminded me of work I was doing in the 90's and I sent him the above image titled El Jardin to show him my efforts from the period. There are certainly similarities but I think Marks work has a much more nuanced quality to it while mine is more of a graphic memory of a place or time. I don't mind my clumsiness but when I saw Marks piece I was seeing what I had missed with my work, a greater sensitivity to materials and subject matter. It was one of those times where I was saying to myself " I wish I had figured out that solution".

Richard Allen Morris

Richard Allen Morris  A Word From Giotto  1961  oil on canvas  68.5 x 67.25
rbstevensongallery.com

Had a great evening viewing Richard's paintings from the 60's at R. B. Stevenson in La Jolla tonight. Many fabulous works from that period that seem as fresh today as they did then. Enjoyed a nice dinner after with Richard, Tom Driscoll and Dory across the street at a bistro discussing the past, present and future. Rare treat.

Roxanne Sexauer

Roxanne Sexauer  The Pallid Seas Of Gahnia Aspera 2007   wood engraving, graphite, screen printing and water color on paper  11" x 14"  

Roxanne is having a retrospective of her work from the past 35 years. She is a friend and wonderful print artist from L.A. The exhibition is at the Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery on the Santa Monica City College campus in Santa Monica. The exhibition will be up through Oct. 11, 2014.

Heidi Pollard

           Heidi Pollard  Head  2012  oil on canvas  10" x 8" 

           heidipollard.com

            I recently posted another image of Pollard's but I can't help myself so I am posting 

           another. This work belies the diminutive size by taking on such power in the

           paint application that it feels like a piece 10 times its size. The color is so perfect with

           out becoming saccharine. I could look at it all day.

Jon Pestoni

                  Jon Pestoni  Sugarland  2013  oil on canvas  78" x 60"
                   shanecampbellgallery.com

              I really enjoy the layers in this painting by Pestoni. Just enough said and not too
            much given. 

Galen Cheney

Galen Cheney  Night Fishing 2014  oil on canvas  36" x 40"
galencheney.com
Galen is a FB friend and an excellent painter from the East Coast. Her exhibition of paintings opens this month at the Feick Art Center Gallery in Poultney, Vermont through the 26th of this month.

John McAllister

John McAllister  Moon Had Drifted Through  2012   oil on canvas   55" x 47"
shanecampbellgallery.com
McAllister's rifts on Bonnard and other impressionist painters is updated by his formatting and subject matter. They are very seductive.

Eeva Riitta Eerola

Eeva Riitta Eerola  Posing  2012  oil on canvas  116" x 93.3" 
eevariittaeerola.com

Richard Jacobs

Richard Jacobs  Soul Delay  1997-2013  oil, acrylic and dye on canvas 52" x 48"
Courtesy Carl Belz and www.leftbankartblog.blogspot.com

Carl Belz has written an exceptional essay for the exhibition at jackgearycontemporary.com in NYC. Wonderful paintings developed over may years by Jacobs who divides his time between Bali and New England. Definitely worth the read.

Matt Phillips

Matt Phillips  Untitled  2013  silica, pigment and oil on canvas  30" x 24"
paintingpaintings.com

Phillips work straddles the line between geometric abstraction and hand made illustrative design. Compositions are tight and refined with the evidence of the hand always present. For me, he assembles just enough style without getting too refined with his subject matter. The work is not tough or overly assertive but it isn't soft or ambiguous either. He seems to know where he is going and I enjoy following along observing each step he is taking.

Alfred Boman

Alfred Boman  Umad?  2013  glue emulsion, acrylic, enamel varnish, spray paint on canvas
74.80" x 53.14"
johanberggren.com

Andrea Bergart

Andrea Bergart  Double V 2012  crayon, acrylic on paper  17" x 14"
andreabergart.com

Interesting use of geometric abstraction intersecting with pattern and decoration redux. Handsome and approachable work.

Rene Daniels

Rene Daniels  Untitled (Panama)  1987  watercolor, pencil and ink on paper  18" x 24"
metropicturesgallery.com

Daniels is a Dutch painter that unfortunately had a stroke that left him without the use of his right arm and ability to speak in the 80's. Born in 1950 he was painting in Europe around the time Polke  and other Dutch artists were blossoming as well. I like the way he subverts historical tropes with his unique manner of drawing and painting. De Chirico and surrealism crash into punk aesthetics and abstraction in an aggressively charming way. He is beginning to work again after years of rehabilitation.