Tovrea Dreams

 

Last Monday I featured a painting of an Arizona landmark.  This week I'm featuring another painting this time of a Phoenix landmark.  I discovered this painting in the lobby of a downtown Phoenix office building hanging near the elevator bank.  It's called "Tovrea Dreams" and features  the well-known Phoenix landmark, Tovrea Castle.  Only this depiction has taken on a surrealistic tone with the castle sitting on the back of a giant turtle.

The artist is Rafael Navarro who is originally from Mexico City.  He is self-taught and finds his way through painting and sculpting.  This painting was part of a show by Modified Arts called "Visions of Phoenix: Reality and Surreality."  This painting fits the "surreality" description perfectly.

You can see more of Navarro's work here.  

Mission San Xavier Del Bac

 

The artist Kirk Randle lives and works in Bountiful Utah but I see him every year at the Celebration of Fine Arts which lasts from mid-January to the end of March.  His paintings span a wide range of scenes from landscapes to farm scenes to forests.  This recent depiction of the Mission San Xavier Del Bac caught my eye immediately.  Somewhere in my archives of photos I have a photograph of this beautiful building with stormy looking clouds hanging overhead.  He must have visited the mission on a similar day.

The White Horse

 

This painting is by the artist Mathieu Bassez.  It's Called "Prudence".  Mr. Bassez grew up in Ghent Flanders and started painting in his early teens.  At University he wrote a thesis about the Japanese artist Utamaro who painted every day scenes of Japanese life.  He ended up studying at Tokyo University of Fine Arts.  His recent works have revolved around the powerful form of both horses and women.  You can read more about him here.

I saw this painting in London at the Halcyon Gallery at Harrods.  

The Card Players

 

The Card Players is one in a series of paintings made be Paul Cezanne in the 1890's.  There are a total of five paintings in the series and the one shown above is at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.  There is a smaller version of this same painting at the Musee d'Orsey in Paris and yet another in a private collection.  There is also another painting depicting three card players at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia has a fifth painting which is another version of the painting with 3 card players.  Some experts say that Cezanne became obsessed with getting the perfect picture of his peasant card players.  

You can see photos of all five of the paintings on this Wikipedia page.

Generations of Wisdom

 

I have seen the work of Katherine L Wilson at the Arizona Fine Arts Expo in north Scottsdale.  Katherine does figurative and portrait work along with illustrations for books, magazines and album covers. 

I love the name of this painting; Generations of Wisdom.  Elephants are wise and intelligent animals so the name fits very well.  This painting was sold to a collector but you can see more of Katherine's work on her website.

Patio

 

This work by Zsudaka Nzinga Terrell is called "Patio".  I fell in love with all the colors and patterns used in this image.  Zsudaka is a multidisciplinary artist and educator living in Washington D.C.  She creates works using various hand-dying and printmaking techniques using a range of textiles and multiple types of paper.  You can read more about the complex process she uses here.  

I found this artwork at the Scottsdale Ferrari Art Festival.

Entrance to the Village

 

Howard Schleeter (1903-1976) was the son of a commercial artist who studied at the Albright Art School in Buffalo New York.  He moved to New Mexico in 1929 and like many people, he struggled to make ends meet during the great depression.  However, several WPA projects helped.

He painted mostly in abstraction as this painting shows.  

I saw this painting at the Scottsdale Ferarri Art festival.  

His work can be found in several galleries including the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Pointillism

 

This painting by Tessa Nicole features a new kind of pointillism using just one palette knife.  There is something about this style that fascinated me.  

I saw this painting at the Scottsdale Ferrari Art festival last year.  Tessa paints some beautiful landscape themes and you can see examples of her work on her website.  Her work is beautiful.  

Big Mountains and Tiny Train

 

Santiago Michalek is an artist who paints images that tend to stir feelings, memories and nostalgia.  Many of his paintings feature vintage automobiles, especially Volkswagens along with trains that have the look of yesteryear.  

This painting makes the rugged mountains the star with the train playing a supporting role.  It stirs a feeling adventure and danger.  

Santiago Michalek lives in Highland Utah and his paintings are featured in several galleries.  I saw this painting at the Celebration of Fine Arts in Scottsdale. 

A Horse of a Different Color

 

I saw this painting three years ago at the Arizona Fine Arts Expo and it immediately grabbed my attention.  I love the abstract nature of the painting and the bright colors all while beautifully depicting a handsome horse.  This painting is the work of Lexi Sundell an artist known for her bright colors and layers of acrylic paint.  Lexi lives in Montana with her husband who also happens to be an artist.  She began her career painting mostly flowers but in 2012, a dream inspired her to make animals the theme of her works. 

You can check her website and see many other wonderful paintings.