My Art Collection

I can't afford Van Goghs or anything like that, but I like to get originals by local artists, which are cheaper, and bring home original art as souvenirs of places I visit. You've never heard of any of the artists, probably. Here are some examples from a few of my favorite artists:

Lebadang Jon Rife Gerta Farber David Voigt

Anthony Holdsworth Sue Averell Bela Harcos David Dion

Kathleen Petyarre Fernando Reyes Judith Corning Kay Weber

The pictures on this page really don't do justice at all to the actual artwork. (To make good photos of art that's framed behind glass, as is most of my collection, you have to un-frame it, so as not to see reflections, and you have to have your camera on a tripod. I don't have a tripod and I don't trust myself to get the artwork back together properly afterwards, so I just found the least glare-filled spot in my house and put the framed works there. So I got dim and crooked pictures, which I then tweaked digitally to the best of my poor ability.) Just use your imagination, and then follow the links below to see some professionally done web pages of these artists' works.

According to the EFF, the court ruling in the ditto.com case says that posting "thumbnails" of images is fair use under the copyright act, but linking to full-size images in a separate window isn't. So I have reason to hope this page is legal!

Lebadang is a Vietnamese artist who lived in France until his recent death. What you can't see very well in these photos (but try zooming in!) is that an important part of his work is using custom-sculpted paper, with designs raised, especially in the white areas you see here. Many of those images are of family groups. So, while these are multiple-original works, to call them "prints" suggests an image that doesn't do them justice. Lebadang also did paint-on-canvas works, sculptures, and rugs (as shown below) in the same 3-D style.

To see more: http://viettouch.com/lebadang/

Jon Rife is a San Francisco artist. He's very interested in textures, and I'm fascinated by the way he can represent textures in a flat monoprint, most of which is lost on you in these bad reproductions. (A monoprint is made by painting onto a smooth surface, glass or metal, and then transferring the paint onto paper in a press.) Rife's more recent works include both direct paint-to-canvas and the integration of digital imagery with his painting. The covers of my Computer Science Logo Style books are taken from three of his works.

To see more: http://www.jonrife.com/

Gerta Farber is a local artist, living in Oakland, who does mostly watercolors on a range of subjects: landscapes, portraits, and abstracts. Here we see a California mission church (the first original artwork I ever bought!), a house, and some semi-abstract trees.

Alas, her artwork seems to have disappeared from the Web since she retired, so I can't give a link.

David Voigt is an Australian artist whose work I find interesting partly because of the way he depicts motion (the birds' flight, the wind, the river). He mostly does landscapes from nature. These are watercolors; he also does even more dramatic acrylic paintings.

To see more: http://www.davidvoigt.com/

Anthony Holdsworth is a local artist, living in Oakland, who does very realistic acrylic paintings. My favorites are his urban landscapes featuring careful attention to the actual street surfaces, but he also loves to paint the Italian countryside.

To see more: http://www.anthonyholdsworth.com/

Sue Averell is a local Marin County artist who paints very dramatic acrylic semi-realistic works. I love the freedom in her style, and the bold, thick blocks of color.

To see more: http://www.sueaverell.com/

Bela Harcos is a San Francisco artist who paints very vibrant abstract acrylics. I love the colors and the textures! He's also a sculptor.

To see more: http://www.evolvingartgallery.com/artist_harcos_bela.htm

David Dion is a San Francisco sculptor who works in wood and plastics. He makes tabletop-sized fantasy buildings, boats, and things I'm not sure about!

To see more: http://www.mesart.com/artworks.jsp.que.artist.eq.987.shtml

Kathleen Petyarre is one of the most famous living Australian Aboriginal artists. I confess that most Aboriginal art leaves me cold, but the artists in the Utopia region are an exception, and the greatest of those (imho) is Kathleen Petyarre. Her work has a depth that I can stare at for hours. The pictures tell stories at several levels, but I know next to nothing about that, I'm afraid.

To see more: http://www.gallerieaustralis.com/aspx/kathleen_petyarre.aspx
http://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/artists/kathleen-petyarre.php
http://www.aboriginalartdirectory.com/artists/slideshow/kathleen-petyarre/

Fernando Reyes is an Oakland artist who does landscapes and thoughtful portraits in addition to his works in the style shown here, my favorites, featuring parts of people's bodies overlayed in interesting patterns.

To see more: http://www.freyesart.com

Judith Corning lives a block away from me! She does these gorgeous, detailed nature paintings in acrylic, among other styles.

To see more: http://judithcorning.com/

Kay Weber is in San Francisco. He does these very intricate paper cutouts; the ones in these pictures are made from gift wrap paper. He also volunteers some of his time teaching art to teenagers, several of whom tend to pop in during his Open Studios stints, which is fun.

To see more: http://www.kayweberartstudio.com/

Souvenirs of exotic places

The cities mentioned below are where I bought the artworks, which may not be exactly where the artist lives and works. (For example, Jan Neil's studio is in Melbourne, but I bought this piece at a gallery in Darwin.) In a couple of cases I was unable to find a web link.

From Bratislava, Slovakia (artist: Igor Piacka)