William J. O Brian

               William J. O Brian Untitled  2014  felt on felt  71" x 71"  
               shanecampbellgallery.com

Alan Davie

Alan Davie  Entrance For A Red Temple No. 1  1960  oil on canvas  84" x 68"  
tate.org.uk

Alan Davie has always been one of my favorite U.K artists. He was a true maverick in the best sense of the word. He died last year in his 90's and was painting up until the end. His influence lives on through his work and spirit. I am so fortunate to own one of his etchings.

Susan Carr

              Susan Carr  Untitled  2015  spray paint and lil stick on bristol  19" x 24"  
              thepaintingsdreamincolor.blogspot.com

Susan Carr is a FB friend and painter living on the east coast. I am impressed by the way she approaches current ideas in contemporary painting. Direct, impulsive, driven to find an authentic voice in the sea of images and ideas that float through the painting milieu.

She pushes the idea that painting can be more than what others think it should be. Using thick impasto, collage, and unorthodox approaches to her search, Susan has found a way to make an impression on me.

Steve Gibson

Steve Gibson  Untitled (Agave)  2015  oil on linen  18" x 18"
stevegibsonart.com

I have been working on some smaller paintings recently. These substitute for drawing which for me is another thing entirely. Using wet on wet and tinting with subtle washes of indigo I am trying to set a mood or feeling with these. My goal is to relay a nocturnal kind of quietude and peaceful revery. The reason is personal and hopefully authentic. I do not usually engage in political or social events here but recently I have felt overwhelmed a bit. Hope this is not too maudlin but that is the way I feel right now.

Frank Lobdell

Frank Lobdell (1921-2013) Untitled  2000  etching with soft ground and aquatint  22.5" x 16.75"
dolbychadwickgallery.com

Lobdell was a bay area figure painter in the 50's along with Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn and David Park. He graduated from SFAI and taught at Stanford.  Lobdell was a major player in the Bay Area Figurative School. In the 60s my friend Jon Pittman was taking classes from Lobdell. Pittman worked in his own idiosyncratic manner which is to say smallish funky paintings. He and Lobdell had many discussions regarding scale and its importance. Needless to say, they did not agree on much. However, upon graduation Pittman brought a bottle of bourbon to Lobdell's studio and after much drinking and discussion came to at least a truce. Jon is still doing his smallish drawings and paintings and they are beautiful, personal and sometime absurd. I will post some of his work in the future.

Peter Gallo

                Peter Gallo  Blood Galaxy 2014-15  oil and found wood on linen  36" x 24"
                zsandhcom

Amish Quilt

Amish Quilt  Diamond In The Square Pattern  1920  will and cotton  79" x 79"
metmuseum.org

Liliane Tomasko

          Liliane Tomasko  Untitled  2015  oil on linen  48" x 42"
          kerlingallery.com

E.J. Hauser

          E.J. Hauser  In The Hall 03  2015   oil on canvas  33" x 29"

          reginarex.org

Marsden Hartley

Marsden Hartley  Portrait Of A German Officer  1914  oil on canvas  68.1/4" x 41 3/8"

metmuseum.org

Chuck Webster

                Chuck Webster  The Slider  2015  oil on panel  80" x 64"  
                zevitasmarcus.com

Chuck Webster's new paintings done over the past 18 months are striking in their simplicity as well as there nuanced graphic forms and surfaces. The new gallery Zevitas Marcus in Culver City is bringing some interesting new painters to town. Steven Zevitas has a gallery in Boston and is a publisher of New American Paintings. So far he and his partner have demonstrated a penchant for east coast painters but mentioned that So. Cal. artists are in the pipeline as well. Webster is one of the most interesting so far. I will be interested to see what the future brings. With ACME Los Angeles,  Kordansky  and Vielmetter this gallery looks to definitely be new stop for viewing painters in LA.

Mauricio Cortes

Mauricio Cortes  Green Stripes 2015  60" x 48"  oil on linen  
cortesmauricio.com

Mandy Lyn Ford

Mandy Lyn Ford  Audiophile  2015  gesso, acrylic and super gel on canvas adhered to wood panel  11" x 9"
mandylynford.com

Mary Heilmann

Mary Heilmann  Geometric Left  2015  acrylic on canvas  30" x 30.5"
303gallery.com

James Ensor

         James Ensor  The Banquet Of The Starved  1915   oil on canvas  45.5" x 57.25" 
          metmuseum.org
 
An early favorite of mine, James Ensor demonstrated an exceptional understanding of the human condition. His painting embodied the strength of his conviction and an authentic approach to his craft. His work was part of the lineage of other northern European painters before him like Bosch and Bruegel. 

John Pule

John Pule  The Great World (To Ha)  2012  enamel, ink, oil stick, polyurethane and varnish
79" x 79"  
kwgallery.com

Ritual Board

Ritual Board(Wenena Geerua) circa 1950  Siane People New Guinea  wood, paint, feathers fiber  55 1/8" 
metmuseum.org

When I lived in Australia in the late 60's, I traveled to Northern Queensland. While in Cairns, I thought I might take a flight to New Guinea which was not too much further north by plane. The idea of going to a place that was wild and relatively untouched by civilization seemed an exotic and adventuresome thing at the time. As it turned out so did another fellow named Rockefeller. The Met was the recipient of most of his collection of Oceania art that he shipped home. Unfortunately, he never made it home to see it in its beautiful display. Perhaps it was a fortunate twist of fate that I didn't take that plane trip. Who knows.

Oceanic art is another touchstone in my life.

Roger Brown

Roger Brown  Virtual Still Life  #5 1995  oil on canvas with object  26" x 31" x 8.5"
artic.edu

Pinwheel Quilt

                        Pinwheel Quilt  1930  Unidentified Maker (J.L.)  84" x 71"
                        metmuseum.org

The nice thing about an encyclopedic museum like the Met in NYC is the broad range of objects of cultural interest they own and display. Amish quilts have always been of interest to my wife and I. She and her family were quilters and we have many in our home. The difference in the Amish quilts and many early American quilts, was the care and quality they put into the utilitarian object they made. Hard to find that quality today. The hand made quality, attention to detail and love that goes into this craft is something I pine for.

Karen Schifano

         Karen Schifano  Inside Winter  2015  acrylic on canvas  24" x 30"
         karenschifano.com

Schifano says in her artist statement that "painting is thought melded into feeling". I could not agree more. Her work walks a fine line between object, portal and narrative. Deceptively simple compositions allow the viewer to observe surface as well as interpret wider meaning in each work. Line and form combine to seduce the viewer into a world that is both fiction and fact. The deliberateness in each work is evident with deft brush work and well thought out compositions.

Mimi Lauter

           Mimi Lauter  Untitled  2015  soft pastel and oil pastel on paper  18.5" x 14.5"
           shanecampbellgallery.com

Arthur Dove

Arthur Dove  Storm Clouds  1935  wax emulsion on canvas in artists frame  15" x 21"
metmuseum.org

Milton Avery

Milton Avery  Oregon Coast  oil on canvas

Thomas Nozkowski

Thomas Nozkowski  Untitled 1998 oil on panel  16" x 20"
danielweinberggallery.com

Thomas Nozkowski is an amazing painter. His inventiveness never ceases to amaze me. Working consistently on a small format his work holds so much more power than one would think it could. 

Emil Holmer

                 Emil Holmer  Manual  2012  mixed media on canvas  106" x 94.5"
                 emilholmer.com

Holmer paints like a man possessed. He uses every possible visual technique including collage, printing, as well as a plethora of traditional painting tools including his fingers.
He references Kippenberger, Oehlen, Salle as well as Guston and others of that generation.

However, he ultimately comes up with his own painting vocabulary and solutions. I have to say I am impressed with his verve.