Rathin Mitra

Line drawings of Mussoorie by Rathin Mitra

Zuzka Vaclavik

The UGA grad and artist Zuzka Vaclavik adds a refreshing twist to Modern Graffiti with her playful and complex landscapes of shapes and letters. It's pop art with a calming color palette.

An International artist, Vaclavik teaches and works in Italy, Costa Rica, and Germany. In her artist statement, she says: "In my new works I make post-graffiti, bio-morphic, automatic gestures. I want to create intimate new worlds of wonder where culturally familiar tags of decay mix with a micro/macro flip-flop, pulling the viewer into their world- tumbling from familiar references into other strange passages of bio science fictions. "

See more of her work at:

http://www.vaclart.com/Zuzka_Vaclavik/Zuzka_Vaclavik.html

Tall Totems

My newest painting - Part of my Totem series

Rooted 35" x 59" Acrylic on Canvas 2010

Queen Mary's Doll House

We all have secret obsessions of one kind or another. Mine just happens to be homes. . .very small homes. Doll houses.

Queen Mary's Dollhouse is a marvel in the world of miniature homes. It was built in the early 1920's (it took four years to complete) for Queen Mary as a present from her cousin Princess Marie Louise. The Princess recruited well-known artists and top craftsmen to add their expertise to the replica of Windsor Castle.

"It was made to a scale of 1:12 (one inch to the foot), is over three feet tall, and contains models of products of well known companies of the time. It is remarkable for its detail and the detail of the objects within it, many of which are 1/12th replicas of items in Windsor Castle. These were either made by the companies themselves, or by specialist modelmakers, such as Twining Models of Northampton, England. The carpets, curtains and furnishings are all copies of the real thing, and even the light fittings are working. The bathrooms are fully plumbed; that includes a flushable toilet and miniature lavatory paper." - thanks Wiki

Betsy Youngquist

For lovers of beautiful quirky objects, look no further than artist Betsy Youngquist. Her intricate sculptures make me smile and laugh while starring in awe at her elaborate patterns. Just Splendid!

Visit her website at:

http://www.byart.com/

Art Melt Honor- New Work at Community Gallery

Over the weekend, I was given the pleasant news that I was honored with the Forum 35 award at ArtMelt this year. Being the starry-eyed artist I am, I was oblivious to this fact (the results were announced three weeks ago). Thank you for the honor. My work will be displayed through August 28th at the Louisiana State Museum of Art.

A reminder that the closing reception for my two person show with Tom Lorio at Community Gallery will take place this Friday from 6 - 8pm at 427 Laurel St. Come take a look at my new work.

Aschenputtel Mixed Media on Board

Natural Fashion

I came across the Omo Valley people a few months ago while researching nomadic tribes. German photographer Hans Silvester spent six years documenting the sophisticated patterns, color palettes, and natural embellishments of the Surma and Mursi tribes. They are permanently on display - walking canvases. These beautiful people will certainly be an inspiration for future paintings.

"In this region of East Africa, the rivers that run through the dry savannas are home to abundant flowers, papyrus, and wild fruit trees, and this luxuriance becomes an invitation to creativity and spectacle. Within hand's reach, a multitude of plants inspire fanciful and ephemeral self-decoration, and the Omo react spontaneously: a leaf, root, seed pod, or flower is quickly transformed into an accessory. As in the West one might don a hat, people create caps from tufts of grass. As one would knot a tie or scarf, they ornament themselves with banana leaves or a stem laden with flowers. These decorations are embellished with butterfly wings, buffalo horns, boar's teeth, colorful feathers, and the like, and are further enhanced by body painting with pigments made from powdered stone, plants, berries, and river mud." - book description from Amazon, "Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration From Africa."

A photo series can be found on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGLR8wEvRfQ