Artists of Note

From time to time I'd like to feature some other artists I admire who have either blogs or websites. The internet has been a revelation to me in many ways, not least of which is discovering the phenomenal number of high-quality artists that are out there doing their thing. Sometimes I feel completely intimidated and humbled by the sheer level of quality and accomplishment I see, but mostly I have to say the experience has been hugely inspiring. Most artists love a broad range of art, not just what they do--here are a few of the many artists who interest me:

Yesterday I was fortunate to come across the work of a talented and interesting artist named Susan Beauchemin. Susan paints beautiful watercolor studies. There are a couple of richly expressive self-portraits, as well as fantasy collaborations with her three year old granddaughter and objects and scenes from daily life, elevated by her personal touch.

Marc Roder does enigmatic, large-scale, expressionistic oils in a style that I guess might be termed neo-primitive. They are heavily textured works painted with passion and intelligence. Marc's paintings are often funny, frightening and thoroughly intriguing, all at once.

I don't know what it is about Jeremiah Palacek, a young painter from Prague, but I love his stuff. These are decidedly funky paintings with a deadpan, retro palette. He often paints "stills" from video and computer games. Other subjects include dashing plumbers with plungers, suburban gangstas, and a panhandling Darth Vader.

I'm blown away by David Malan's work. He is a brilliant draftsman, illustrator, caricaturist and fine artist, all rolled into one. He is fluent with traditional as well as digital media techniques.

Timothy Horn is another new (to me) discovery. Timothy is a Bay Area painter who does wonderful plein air paintings and studio work that has the feel of being painted on location. His paintings are direct and painterly, with a terrific feel for color and design.