Tom Balderas. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I have admired this artist for years. His paintings come alive. I’ve seen them in person and they are WOW on every level. I have featured Tom in the past, his work is so incredible, and though I’ve never actually met him, I feel as if he is one of the most creative people I have (almost) met…  Just read his bio… He is one I have not forgotten, I have featured so many artists over the past three years, and Tom is one that I haven’t forgotten. The bio alone will make you remember.

Well, now he’s gone and done something that I think all artists should do… He is selling his studies. Brilliant! Ok, maybe I am overusing that word, but it really is such a smart thing to do. Instead of having them sit around collecting dust, Tom is now selling them… I believe he has been encouraged by his friends to do this… why not?!!

As many of you know I work, part time, at a gallery here in Charleston. One of our artists sells her studies, Dee Beard Dean. They are fabulous and a definite hit among people perusing the galleries in Charleston! I always thought that was so smart of her. It’s a great way for people to get original art at not the regular price tag… it gives everyone a place to start.

Tom’s blog address: TomBalderasFineArt.blogspot.com

Check out Tom’s studies! SHOP STUDIES  as well as his regular paintings SHOP PAINTINGS 

All of the paintings are wonderful! Now is your chance… and FREE SHIPPING (with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii)…

Read the famous bio from Tom’s blog:

Growing up in Torrance, California, Tom Balderas lived only a few miles from the ocean, which has made nature, along with his family, the main inspiration of his paintings. Balderas attended Loyola Marymount University, where he studied film production and art. After graduating, he worked several years for NBC Productions and made many made-for-television movies. He then began studying under the tutelage of his photographer father, as well as Joseph Mendez, master painter and teacher. Balderas considers the time spent studying with Mendez to be the cornerstone of his growth as a painter.

Also, studied with charles, anne, jennifer, daniel, sophia, lynne, joseph, harold, zen, elliott, starbuck, dan, andrew, dr. block, zinaida, david, e. charlton, michael, rose, ken, walter, selden, chris, armin, joaquin, edward, bejar, valentin, george, edward, jesus, pierre, rachel, mort, marileigh to name but a few of so many.

Works towards progress. 

Told ya! Creative, eh? Catch you back here tomorrow!

Quite amazing how this woman looks like if she were to stand up, she could quietly walk right off the canvas… the obscure background puts more emphasis on the woman, and I think compliments her perfectly.

If you’re on Facebook, Bryce has a Facebook page – Bryce Liston ~ Fine Art and you’ll see how he starts some of his wonderful paintings and the progression… its pretty amazing, I suggest you check it out! Scroll through Bryce’s website… the paintings are amazing!

Read a blip about the artist from his website:

Bryce Cameron Liston

“Being an artist and painting the human figure is what compels me.
It wakes me up at night, it’s what I love and I drive myself to do it very well.
Art is my life-long obsession, pleasure and torment”. 
_______

Born in 1965 in a small town in Utah, Bryce believes his first desire to be an artist was formed at a very young age when he would go out with his mother while she painted the Utah landscape. Later in school, drawing was a comfort zone for Liston. “It was a subject that excited me- I always had energy and interest for it.” It was here that Liston found his love of the human form. “I don’t quite know why I was drawn to the human form; I suspect the seed was planted while studying the art of the great American Illustrators like N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle.”

It was then that he knew it was the human form that he wanted to portray in his art. He attended the University of Utah for a short time but dropped out before finishing his degree. “I wanted to learn about the craft of art. I wanted to learn to actually <em “mso-bidi-font-style:=”” normal”=””>produce art, not just discuss it.” With limited resources Bryce found himself working in the studio and foundry of master sculptor, Edward J. Fraughton. The time Liston spent with Fraughton provided him with a knowledge of anatomy that few painters possess and that understanding brings depth and life to the figures he paints. “In Ed’s studio I learned a lot about art.  It’s funny, I learned about painting from a sculptor- I don’t think that’s something that happens everyday.”

Bryce’s education has been self-directed and continues to be that way. Not having a formal art education can be a long and hard way to go about it but it does have its advantages. It allows you to find your own voice rather than emulating that of your teachers, a principle lesson that Liston imparts to all of his students. “Take in all the information that is presented to you, then afterwards disassemble it and make it fit into your personal vision and style.”

Bryce’s work is shown in galleries around the country and he participates in many national and international exhibitions each year. Bryce’s artwork has won numerous prestigious awards, including The Tuffy Berg Award, The Honorary Chairman’s Award and the Southwest Art Award of Excellence at the 2010 CM Russell Auction. He is a signature member of the Oil Painters of America and was awarded Best in Show at the 2008 OPA Western Regional Exhibition.  He was also named one of the Top Ten Artists to Watch by Southwest Art Magazine in January, 2009. His art has been published in many magazines as well as on book covers.

He currently resides in Holladay, Utah with his wife and three daughters. “I can’t even imagine myself not painting or sculpting. My mother was a very talented artist and I can already see some of the same abilities emerging in my young daughters.”

All images via ListonArt.com – used with permission from the artist…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

John Porter Lasater IV. Nice work. This year at the Easels in Frederick plein air competition, John won Best of Show with Generations of Frederick. Pretty nice, huh? I like the simplicity of this piece. It works nicely. This is not overworked, its a nice painting!

He also took home a Collector’s Choice award for South and Carroll. I think nocturnes are so cool and the light in this one is amazing. The stop lights and street light just add so much, don’t they?

Every once in a while John does an event on his own where he paints 24 paintings in 24 hours. Crazy! Read about one of them, see the paintings… they ALL SOLD! He did another one this month! Pretty cool idea if you can stay up that long!

If you’re interested in taking a WORKSHOP with John, he’s got some great ones lined up, check them out!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images via LasaterArt.com – used with permission from the artist…

I met the neatest artist the other day. This guy is going places. Fast. His name is Isaiah Ratterman. He is a outstanding painter and photographer. I thought “Death Before the Butterfly” was a brilliant painting with such a clever title. It made me smile. I’m happy to know that the little green men’s bullets can’t really shoot… therefore NO BUTTERFLY WAS HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PAINTING, hee hee.

This is a painting of absolute beauty. Isaiah executed it so elegantly, the bottom koi seems to be dancing in the water, while the koi at the top of the painting seems to be in an elegant drift. Gorgeous! Different. Thought provoking. I look forward to watching for more of Isaiah’s work. He is one to keep an eye on! If you’re in the Charleston, SC area, you can see Isaiah’s work in person at Galerie on Broad! He’s got one piece there now and more on the way!

Did I mention that Isaiah is a nice guy on top of it? Modest, interesting, talented, and he truly loves art and it shows!

Read a blip about Isaiah from his website:

Isaiah Ratterman is an artist who is committed to working from life. He holds a MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and is currently living and working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Artist Statement:  

I hold a reverence for the Romantic painters of the past, however their ethos has been replaced in our age of excess, leaving a need for our relationship to the landscape to be redefined. Through the landscape, I find a narrative that questions the primacy of Necessity based upon my own travels. Experiences under these circumstances become important and fulfilling, offering a brief glimpse into a deeper meaning of Being. Thoughts are not processed within the moment, but collected and decrypted afterwards. My paintings act as a way of deciphering the felt experiences I hold so close. 

All images via IsaiahRatterman.com – Used with permission from the artist… Note: the photograph above was taken by Isaiah. Amazing work!

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e  Y e a r  A g o:            How to make a banana smoothie!

T w o  Y e a r s  A g o:         Artist: Jerome Greene

T h r e e  Y e a r s  A g o:    Edward Hopper – Maine!

Caesar Citraro is an artist (actually when you read below you’ll see that he’s a painter, printer and bookmaker)! His paintings are absolutely gorgeous! The soft blues and yellow’s make this painting above such an eye catching piece. The subtle nuances in the water add such interest. I really want to be wherever this is, sitting on the edge of the water, watching the day go by…

How is this for a dramatic painting? I grew up loving weather… loving storms. This painting is a fabulous depiction! You know how some storms can get so dark and wicked, yet bits of light shine through. Stunning!

Caesar lives in Michigan now, a state I grew up in. He is represented by Elizabeth Pollie Fine Art, a wonderful gallery in Harbor Springs, MI. Elizabeth is a wonderful artist herself, and her gallery is a collection of some of the very best artists. Check out the gallery if you’re in the area, or check it out online! I have heard nothing but great things about Caesar, and I see why!

Read a blip about the artist from his website:

CAESAR CITRARO III

I am a painter, printer and bookmaker who has dedicated my career to making and preserving works of art. Shortly after receiving my BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1986, I went to Chicago to further my career as an artist. I became an employee of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1987 and worked as a conservation technician in the Department of Prints and Drawings. During my tenure at the museum I had ample opportunity to explore the various collections that have informed my art making from my earliest days in Chicago. I studied traditional bookbinding methods; the materials and techniques used in medieval manuscript cuttings and volumes, and was inspired by the many exemplars that surrounded me on a daily basis. Some of my earliest work includes a number of reliquary boxes and books that are embellished in a manner that evokes the bejeweled covers of medieval books, their worn leather and time stained pages. My painting techniques were fashioned after the earliest masters of panel painting with their smooth translucent surfaces, rich colors, and incised details.

My career at the Art Institute also afforded the opportunity to travel the globe to places as far reaching as Japan and New Zealand where I was inspired by the flora indigenous to these places. The paintings that followed contained biomorphic and organic forms derived from nature, but not of this world. My painted world was one of pure imagination where tentacles, thorns, and vines intertwined. My materials included wax, colored pencils, and oils that were applied to smooth, gessoed-wood panels. My techniques included rubbing and burnishing these surfaces, incising them, and adding more colored media into the incised lines to create multi-layered images.

More recently, my relocation from Chicago to Petoskey Michigan in 2008 inspired another stylistic turn in my work. Now, I take a broader view of my surroundings and have shifted from painting the minutia of nature to painting broad expanses of land and the flora contained therein. I concern myself with the play of light through trees, across rolling hills, or on groups of leaves, branches, and even single pinecones. Small elements of the abstracted, biomorphic forms found in earlier work are subtly incorporated into these works from time to time, yet the imagery remains solidly rooted in the real world.

“The lush farmlands and mysterious forests near my home captivate me. The beauty and visual diversity in this area are amazing to me and I feel the need to somehow convey that in my art.”

I was represented by Gary Marks Gallery in Chicago. My books were shown at SOFA Chicago in 1992. I have paintings, books, and reliquaries held in a number of private collections. Most recently, my paintings have been included in four group exhibitions in 2010, Four Group exhibitions and one solo exhibition in 2011, at Three Pines Studio, Michigan.

In 2012 I was a featured artist in the Exhibition “as small as a world and as large as alone” at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey Michigan. 

Currently, I am represented by
Huey’s Fine Art, Santa Fe NM & Elizabeth Pollie Fine Art, Harbor Springs MI 

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio and presently reside in Petoskey, Michigan.

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e  Y e a r  A g o:           Colorful Monhegan Shed

T w o  Y e a r s  A g o:        Charleston Farmer’s Market

T h r e e  Y e a r s  A g o:   Garlic, Onions, Leeks, Shallots & Chives and CANCER