Last month I had a healthy debate with a friend who has decided to pull away from the internet to aid his creative mind. I wholeheartedly disagree with this approach. It’s a gift of the times that we live that we’re able to not only inspire and be inspired, but easily collaborate.
Hera and Akut (better known as Herakut) exemplify this synergism for me. While I have no idea what they accomplish individually, I think that what they create together is difficult to beat.
Next Stop Adventure is Matt Gauck, an artist and illustrator from Portland, OR. I want to live in his fanciful world where robots groom trees and albino sperm whales find themselves wedged in tree tops. I think I love the way he makes use of color in his backdrops as much as the images themselves. Also, my friend Jason wanted me to mention that I like the tiny red speckles in the monster painting below. He thinks that I’m retarded and wants the rest of you to know it too.
It doesn’t look like Matt’s site is working, but if you want to own something as much as I want to own this whale painting, you could hit him up on his Myspace or Flickr account.
Tagged Art, Matt Gauck, Monster, Next Stop Adventure, Painting, Robot, Whale
My heart immediately fell victim to these paintings by JW Caldwell. His figures are minimally detailed and largely faceless, constructed from wild folds that focus your attention on motion rather than emotion. They flip and twist to one side or the other of the canvas, suspended for that split-second before they crumple into a pile of hurt. He coats his broncos with the same bright saccharine-sweet colors as his cowboys, tying them to each other even as they are flung apart.
With its dark background and shimmery blue figures, “Spooked” appears, to me, to be unfolding on the moon. And Moon Cowboys is celebrating with a “yeehaw!”. I also love the colors in “Tossed” (above) and “Yellow Slip”. There’s nothing better than a little candy-dipped Americana!
You can purchase his work at Trifecta Gallery in Las Vegas.
Yellow Slip
Reared
My Hat
Flap
Spooked
I totally want to have a painting night where everyone paints one of these cardboard buck busts from Fred Flare.
Battle Bunny 