Alex Gross: Pop Surrealist

Alex Gross is a painter working in LA. He attended Art Center College of Design, the school I used to visit in 1968-69 and dreamed of attending. Gross was an honor student there and received two faculty grants.

Gross' paintings have a classic realist look, but with a juxtaposition of odd subjects with themes of globalization, technology, Victorian photography, and Christianity.

Joe Coleman: A Disturbed Painter

Joe Coleman painstakingly paints his visions with a one hair brush using jeweler's magnifying glasses. His detailed Heironymous Bosch style paintings are often filled with grotesque images and "storyboards" of outlaws, serial killers, movie stars, self-portraits, friends and family, as well as religious images. Coleman thinks of himself as his own Jesus Christ. He is obsessed with the gross, violent, seamy side of life and collects disgusting items, such as body parts and artifacts from killers, for his Odditorium. To look at his paintings is like watching a circus sideshow or having a nightmare of the apocalypse or hell. We are dealing with a disturbed individual with a talent for painting the macabre.

Rosa Parks: Artisan of Social Change

Finished another ink drawing of Rosa Parks for my Artisans of Social Change series.

Gary Houston and Voodoo Catbox

Gary Houston is a graphic and poster artist located in Portland, Oregon who has been doing posters for many years. I saw his posters at a Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland and love his designs.

Anguished Prayer: Scratchboard Series on Prayer

Yesterday I finished another scratchboard in my series on prayer.

Ernst Fuchs: Visionary Artist

Ernst Fuchs is an Austrian visionary artist and one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism (1948). He converted from Orthodox Judaism to Roman Catholicism in 1956. Christian themes can be found in many of his paintings. Fuchs is also a draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, architect, stage designer, poet, and singer. He was a friend of my favorite artist of all time, Salvador Dali.

Kre8: Airbrush Artist

Had Thanksgiving yesterday at my nephew's house in Scio, Oregon. He rebuilds old cars. Since I'm an artist he thought I might like to see the hood of a silver Chevy Impala he's working on. It was the artwork of Kre8 a 29 year old airbrush artist from Spokane, Washington. The detail was impressive. You can find his work at: http://www.kre8airbrushstudio.com/

No More Racism: Revelation 21 Series

Finished the 7th painting in my Revelation 21 series: No More Racism. The burning cross and the noose symbolize the darkest and most blatant elements of racism in US history. At the same time racism is a systemic issue, not just a matter of personal prejudice nor existing only in its most overt manifestations. Today racism is more hidden, denied, and embedded in our social, economic, political, and judicial systems.