artists whose works i like

Gustav Vigeland | Born the son of a Norwegian farmer and carpenter, Vigeland possessed an extrodinary talent for carving the human form. In his early 20s he took his sketches to another Norse sculptor Brynjulf Bergslien, who, recognizing Vigeland's talents, assisted him to getting training and exposure to develop his skills.

Then, in the early 1890s, he went to Copenhagen where he began creating the work that showed his style of image-making was coming to blossom. He went to Paris to see the works of Auguste Rodin and was profoundly influenced by this.

Through the 1890s and early 1900s he earned a modest living, and growing reputation as a sculptor in his home country of Norway. But his most enduring work is located in one location, the Vigeland Museum and Park in Oslo, Norway. Covering acreas of land, this amazing park and sculpture garden came about as a result of an arrangement between Vigeland and Oslo municipal authorities.

I've never been there, but were I ever traveling to Norway, I would be certain not to miss it. I've put some other sites below, put up by other people who have been there. They have images that the official website hasn't elected to show you.

ckau's Vigeland shrine complete with an extensive set of other linked sites about Vigeland and his work
A Visit to Frogner Park site put up by the Coronado Thunderbirds, a group of retirees who caution that Vigeland sculpted lots of naked bodies!
Shin Katsumata's Norway Journal Only a teaser about Vigeland's work. But there's a good photo of a sculpture of man entwined with a giant lizard.

Neil Welliver's 'Blueberry Burn, Morey's Hill'

Neil Welliver | The first time I ever saw a Neil Welliver print I was stunned! A six foot square presentation of raw wilderness resting on the wall of a hotel where I worked as a night shift security guard. Having moved to the city from the high peaks region of the Adirondacks, it was a breath of fresh air right there on the wall. The hotel actually owned six of these prints of Welliver's, and they kept me refreshed and gladdened whenever I saw them || A couple of years later, while still working at the hotel, I had the chance to more intently study Welliver's works in a book that was on display in some traveling book show. (I should have bought it). For a week I read each night about him and his approach to producing images. The lesson continued from there || Welliver has been enthusiatically praised as the "landscape artist's landscape artist." He recognized as a 20th century "realist" painter yet actually credits his style ~in part~ to the abstract artists of that same century || In truth, his images work because of what he does not display in the image || He allows the viewer's eye to decide for itself, what is displayed and what is missing. No small feat, indeed! Welliver often works in a square, rather than rectangular image. He'll start with 24x24 inch studies in preparation for working up to 6 foot square prints, like those I first saw years back || Now, as I've put together his page, each of the four Welliver images I have displayed here, will take you to different parts of Welliver's page or to an article about Welliver's imagery. ||

But the essays they take you to don't give you a fair sense of who Welliver is as a person. And for that, I want to tell a story about him (anecdotal). Seems he was questioned about his career as an artist and a painter. GIven that he's in the wilderness a great deal of time, he was questioned about such a profession being, well, a bit fey. To which he commented, that as a man who goes out in the wilderness with paints and water and brushes, works for hours at a time doing on-site studies, often in the cold of winter, frequently using water based paints, well, seems that standing outdoors exposed to the elements for hours at a time, freezing, carrying his own supplies, there didn't seem to be anything more macho than that!

Mal Luber and his work | In addition to the above site's (to me) useful material, the main page is highlighted with the works of this gent | Those of you famliar with my own interests shall have little difficulty discerning what I find appealing about this body of work.
Luber's collection of work is much acclaimed. Critics have said he has the "eye of a camera" when working with his subject matter. Past work has focused on portraits of street people and weightlifters; more recntly he has been Mal Luber's 'Pitchin' Hay'

working on a series of art depicting cowboys and the American West. | Go have a look for yourself

Other Arts websites of interest:

Cowboy Art Show | Luber has some connection with this site, but only as one of the legion who work depictiing images of what we still think of as the wild west. The artists here tackle a mythic subject and come out successfully. A few are rather eccentric. Finally, there are a who breed of women artists taking on this genre with some surprising results.

The Viewing Room | An alternative viewing space started and managed by Margaret Bodell and Caroline Kerrigan, [in New York City] with a focus on contemporary photographers. Margaret has an extensive background in finding under-represented and unrecognized artists, and a streak of creative genius in co-curating all sorts of intriguing shows and special events, in all sorts of places. The "stable" of artists they represent is impressive.

soldiers of the revolution

The Gallery Channel | Loads of content here. This site encourages artists and gallery owners to list exhibits, gives succinct, readable blurbs on the materials listed. You can also register at the site and "customize" your visiting experience according to your personal sense of aesthetics. Check it out. The social realist style soldiers painting on the right > is featured on this site.

AVAM | American Visionary Art Museum | If you're ever in Baltimore, MD, do yourself a favor and go see this place. I've written about AVAM before. But, really, go there.

Imagine Art | This link takes you directly to the gallery section of the site, so you can see the breadth of work displayed here. Again, another place for the self-taught, it is actually a site run by a group in Austin, Texas. Their unifying factor for all these artists is that they are individuals with disabilities. The work here shows that whatever challenges these artists have to deal with personally, they create spark is alive and vibrant!