S365: Australian Artist

12.03.2009

A Mini Masterpiece Every Day!

Darren Maurer is a young American artist and illustrator out of Sioux City Iowa whose prolific collection of art work can be seen on his website , and quite a few of his original works are currently being auctioned on E-Bay.

Darren's mid western roots are written all over his work in the realm of Mother Nature, but what I find most captivating about him is his take on still life. Everything from a pair green olives (dear to my heart), to the last few Fruit Loops left floating at the bottom of a cereal bowl, or a single peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The plain, mundane and ordinary, made extraordinary, even moving. It's poetic!

PB&J & Sandwich Baggie

Dill Pickle Spear ~ Oil on canvas ~ Available on EBay

Green Olives Red Pimentos ~ Original ~ Oil on canvas ~ Available on EBay

But here's the unimaginable thing about Darren. He has a blog by the name of Miniature Masterpieces where he produces an original oil painting EVERY DAY! He calls it "A Painting a Day Project". This boggles my mind, while I'm sure you'll agree that creating a sandwich masterpiece every day is inspiring, let's be honest, it's not even in the same ball park with this guy. Sigh! What a gift!

11.26.2009

Sandwich Art of Tasmania!

One of my favorite artists of this century was born in and still resides in the Australian Island nation of Tasmania. His name is Richard Klekociuk, a coloured pencil artist. Of course I love his captivation with bread and sandwiches, their place in the art world, and the quirky way he mixes metaphors. Klekociuk also has a fondness for trees. I loved reading his take on them: "Trees connect to the three levels of the cosmos – the Underworld through their penetrating roots; the Earth’s surface with their trunk and lower branches; Heaven (skywards) with their upper branches and top." See all of his work at artkleko.com, read about the fascinating life he lives with his wife, children and collection of pets. Here are just a few of my favorite paintings by Richard Klekociuk.

A Handy Snack

The Club Sandwich

The Toaster Sandwich

Whole Meal with Iron

"Mr. Deeds Goes To Town"

In this 1939 Frank Capra film, Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper) plays a simple-hearted tuba player who inherits 20 million dollars along with a boatload of problems, so decides to give the money away. Hundreds of people line up at his door as Deeds takes on one recipient at a time until exhausted and hungry. Next in line to recieve his share is Mr. Svenson. Deeds asks Svenson if he can wait a few minutes while he stops to have a quick sandwich. It so happens Svenson is holding a paper bag from which he produces a sandwich and hands to Deeds. What was the 2nd item Svenson took from his bag?