Reduce, Recycle, Reuse equals art

My favorite kind of art is made from recycled objects, injecting into them a new and sometimes curious life. Jim Shores is a self-taught artist from Georgia, who falls in to this group of talented folk. He creates metal sculpture, assemblages and environmental art from discarded objects and I dare you not to smile when you spot one. His art is delightful and his friends think a whole lot of good about him.

European Naive works come to the big city......

My pal, naive artist Guido Vedovato of Italy is showing his colorful and very charming works in New York City next month at the Gina Gallery of Naive Art. If you are in the city, don't miss this chance to see the highly talented international artists who will be joining him in this stunning show. A rare chance to see what is being created outside of the hallowed NY art scene. Definitely a highlight of the season!

Dots....eat them, play them, love them

Amy Myers wrote to tell me about a "board and care" residential facility that houses 250 people suffering from debilitating mental illness located in San Pedro, California. In this space there is a Living Museum Art Center, where a handful of dedicated artists spend the major portion of each day. Amy tells me these artists derive great satisfaction out of their work and in some cases discovering their creativity has literally saved their lives by giving them a sense of purpose. Jennifer Flores is one of these talented people and her "Dots Guitar" will certainly bring a smile to your face. If you have any interest in seeing more of her work, please contact
Amy Myers
Living Museum Art Center at Harbor View House
921 S. Beacon Street
San Pedro, CA 90731

Doodles to die for.......Ian Pyper

As it succinctly says on his website," Ian Pyper creates drawings; he induces visions. Pyper uses marker, watercolor and paper, like a caveman used burnt wood, spit and a hard rock wall, to show us clearly what he sees." This entirely self-taught and outsider artist from the UK wows his audience with a cacophony of color and line, dots and doodles, and wins an ever larger audience each time. Paper saturated with watercolor and ink mesmerize the eye and spirit alike. I like!

Squeakie turns to folk art........

"James Stone has been called "Squeakie" for as long as he can remember. He was born in Georgetown County, South Carolina, in 1951. When he was growing up, the family moved every few years or so because his father was a sharecropper and carpenter, and they moved where the work was. Squeakie started work at "handing" tobacco (passing the leaves on to a worker who strung it for drying) when he was just five or six years old. As he got older, he was involved in all aspects of the operation, from pulling plants, setting tobacco, hoeing, cropping. And he picked cotton. He worked in a few factories and grocery stores over the years, and then began working as a house painter about thirty years ago." Check out his website to hear the rest of this self-taught artist's story and see more of his work.