Jacqueline Rush Lee

"For almost a decade I have found myself drawn to the intimate, tactile, and symbolic qualities of used books. I am interested in how these recycled books come with their own histories of use and meaning and how they serve as potent vehicles of expression. With the idea of working with them as my canvas or building block, I transform the books into sculptures that explore and redefine the book as familiar object, medium, and archetypal form. By scrambling the formal arrangement of the book and transposing its material and conceptual qualities, I aim to create evocative art forms that suggest an alternative narrative." - Jacqueline Rush Lee

To see more of her work go to http://www.jacquelinerushlee.com/

Merlin James

"Merlin James's paintings are highly diverse: erotic figuration; land- sea- and skyscape; various conditions of abstraction; interior and exterior architecture; references and echoes from past art. His heterogeneity is not, however, the result of any conceptual project or pretext, and he has repeatedly affirmed the work's intuitive nature and underlying coherence as painting. The end - the picture - is what counts." - Mummery + Schnell

To see more of his work go to http://www.sikkemajenkinsco.com/merlinjames.html

Chris Hawthorne

"Preparing to work in the studio is much like preparing a special meal. The ingredients are ready, the plan is formulated and now the focus, timing, spontaneity and intuition must carry from the beginning to end. Hot glass has a rhythm and cadence which are dictated by the scale and design of the finished piece. It cannot be rushed or delayed. It must be caressed into existence with determined persuasion and precise timing. Working with glass allows me the luxury of uninterrupted focus on something I love to do. When a piece is produced with all the preparation, work and timing assembled like the presentation of a gourmet meal, the end product is something I am delighted to share. " - Chris Hawthorne

To see more of his work go to http://www.hawthronegallery.com/

How Beautiful!

These beautiful maps by Harold Fisk can be found on the website Radical Cartography at http://www.radicalcartography.net/?fisk. Seen on Share Some Candy.

Lily Poran

"My creations are works of collage, sculpture and objects made of gathered materials. My sculptures and objects hint at household utensils, ancient ritual vessels, laid out scorched and silent as if they were just unearthed. My work shows yearning for the past, for the ancient Israel, the Bible stories, for a world that has perished. It tells of sorrow, fading nature, it's preservation and commemoration. My inspiration comes from ancient civilizations which existed in our region, archaeological and ethnographic objects belonging to a variety of nations and communities. The warm hues of the Mediterranean landscape, desert scenes, nature and human views of my beloved hilly Galilee make their way into my work. " - Lily Poran

To see more of her work go to Del Mano Gallery at http://www.delmano.com/artists/mixedMedia/lPoran/portfolio01.htm

Marvin Wax

These ethereal images are by photographer Marvin Wax. To see more of his work go to https://www.artfulhome.com/artist/1027.html

Carla Reiter

"I began knitting wire because I imagined a necklace that was like a simple wiggly line drawn around the neck and I needed to figure out how to make it. Knitting made sense. I've been developing the technique for more than a dozen years, expanding it, and figuring out ways of combining knitted elements with fabricated ones. I like its combination of randomness and structure. I like the way it feels on your body - surprisingly soft and caressing. I like that its hollowness allows me to make big sculptural forms that are still very light and comfortable to wear. And I like its organic, just-excavated feel." - Carla Reiter

To see more of her work go to http://www.carlareiter.com/

It's Fun!

After seeing some of these rocks on various websites, I went to the beach and gathered a bunch of smooth stones. I took a fine Sharpie and drew patterns and then sealed each with spray polyurethane. I now have a fun way to decorate both my garden and the tops of my houseplants. You can also use rubber stamps with water-based ink.

Renee Adams

"Renee Adams sculpts fantasy flora in meticulous detail. Her use of polymer clay, wood, flocking, and other mixed media transcends the materials creating a surreal realism. You almost want to water these plant critters or feed them bugs." - John Casey

To see more of her work from her 2008 show go to Swarm Gallery at http://www.artbusiness.com/1open/101008a.html

Scott Gordon

These mikxed media collages are by California artist Scott Gordon. To see more of his work go to Hooks-Epstein Galleries at http://www.hooksepsteingalleries.com/artists/thb_gordon.shtml

J. Paul Fennell

"My experience of making works of art is largely rooted within the desire for creative expression. The medium I have chosen is wood, and stems from my deep reverence for the material since childhood. For me, one of the first physical steps of the process of making involves the lathe, a machine which allows me to explore forms very quickly, with found wood that is generally not available commercially. Most of my work concerns the aesthetic of the vessel form, one of the most relevant and oldest artifacts of human civilization: it is timeless and ubiquitous throughout multitudes of cultures—past and present." - J. Paul Fennell

To see more of his work go to his website at http://www.jpaulfennell.com/

Susan Skoczen

"Jewelry has been the perfect medium where I can spend a lot of time in such a small space. It is this small space that I am attracted to and what keeps me making work. I am able to take a rolling pasture and shrink it down to a condensed version but with a lot of information." - Susan Skoczen

To see more of her work go to her website at http://www.susanskoczen.com/

Tamar Kander

"I work with a variety of materials, including powdered gesso, cold wax, dry-wall compound, acrylic medium, marble dust and oils. I build my surfaces onto canvas, after making sketches, notes and diagrams which can be found in my sketch-books, on scraps of paper, and scrawled on the walls of my studio. I then continue the process of realizing my initial idea - my subjective response - by adding more layers, some comprised of pigment, all the while refining and continuing to build up the image, while introducing ink, graphite and oil sticks.
Although primarily non-representational, my work is influenced by landscape and architectural symbols, and our relationship to these factors. I attempt to expose the beauty hidden in the so-called mundanity of everyday life." - Tamar Kander

To see more of her work go to http://www.tamarkander.com/

Stephen Rolfe Powell

These extraordinary colorful blown glass vessels are by artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. To see more of his work go to his website at http://www.stephenrolfepowell.com/

Kentaro Nagai

Graphic artist Kentaro Nagai has rearranged the world map into the twelve animals of the Japanese zodiac, a 2007 project called Piece Together for Peace. To see more of the animals on his website go to http://www.graflexdirections.com/project/piecepeace/01/movie/index.html

Harold O'Connor

For Harold O'Connor, jewelry presents a contrast between texture and smooth surfaces. He has experimented with various forms of casting, including cuttlefish bone, which leaves a porous imprint on the metal. He also favors reticulation, a method of texturing metal by dusting it with minute particles of silver or gold and then heating the piece until the granules become part of the surface, and mokume, a Japanese technique of laminating metals to create a surface for repousse design. He is an expert at laying metal until it looks like crinkled paper. Most recently, O'Connor has inlaid pieces of granulated metal in rock as one more exercise in the study of surface differences. A favorite stone of his is spectrolite, a feldspar discovered in Finland in 1938 that appears opaque and dark upon first observation. When the light strikes it at 30 degrees, it takes on brilliant hues of green and blue. - Mobilia Gallery

To see more of his work go to Patina Gallery at http://www.patina-gallery.com/searchresults.php?artistId=1571&submit=Search%21&low=&high=&id=19A9-CGGH-6E59&start=1

Carol Odell

"Inspiration for my work comes from observations and perceptions of the natural world as well as my study of art of all peoples; in short, art is everywhere! Living in a coastal environment unquestionably has some influence on my aesthetic sensibilities, but when I work or start to compose, my goal is to clear my thoughts of all things and attempt to create by improvisation a certain harmony from disparate elements - color being the most expressive component of my work. Process and materials are motivational and I hope my joy of working is evident in the final work." - Carol Odell

To see more painting and monotypes go to her website at http://www.odellarts.com/co-paintings.html