Otherwise known as Louise, Art&Ghosts creates stunning digital paintings/illustration. She uses photoshop /wacom combo to meticulously handcolor each image.These are inspired from a plethora of sources, including fairytales, mythology, dolls, spectres, dreams and nature….

Some Art&Ghosts facts:

My images usually begin with a photograph, a painting or a doll portrait. I buy many dolls then sell them on for this reason alone (so fickle!), although i do possess a somewhat overbearing collection of plastic animals, dolls house furniture and vintage frocks. My backgrounds are generally my own paintings or textures that i have created or photographed. Although most of my ‘completed’ work is digital, my sources are rather ecclectic at best. - louise

See an incredible array of these beautiful works by Louise after the jump more…

Personal piece - Mixed media - ‘The Halloween Banquet’ / “The Fortune Cookie Hunter”, Mixed media on wooden panel in vintage tin can

Here are a some example pieces by Dutch artist/illustrator Femke Hiemstra, who’s work is currently on display (Through May 3) at the Roq La Rue gallery, seattle (with Travis Louie). Am sure you will agree Hiemstras paintings have an incredibly unique and quirky Lowbrow style that evokes the work of Mark Ryden and Robert Williams. Here is an excerpt from her show:

(Amsterdam) meticulously tight, jewel like mixed media paintings are homes to a dark, lush fairytale land where inanimate objects come to life and frolic with animal neighbors. Gingerbread men hunt for elusive confections, persian cats attended by moths smoke opium pipes, and flowers extract their revenge on insect tormenters. Femke uses typography in her work, using words and phrases from various languages and letters in her paintings to further enhance the narrative while still retaining a playful sense of mystery, or as a visual device to frame in the scenery, as if you were looking at her world through a secret window. Drawing from a range of influences, from firework wrappers to Japanese woodblock prints, Femke’s use of both pop culture detritus and child-like fantasy create a vibrant playground for the imagination, with each piece looking like a cover for a fantastical adventure book, which is left up to the viewer to imagine the story inside. She will be exhibiting 12 original paintings and several drawings.

On her website Femtasia, Hiemstra sells prints, shirts and buttons, and while it all looks to be of excellent quality, I’m most impressed with the button designs. You can see more of Hiemstra’s charming paintings from the show after the jump. more…

Song of Birth: The 3 Magi , Oil on wood, 30″ x 28″

Born in New York, Isabel Samaras’ a painter/illustrator with a difference: she’s an ‘enigmatic storyteller who uses paint instead of words’. Her paintings submerge you into a multi-layered world: a world that echos forgotten parables from bygone eras using characters that have their own (modern) mythologies. You’ll find characters from 70s sitcoms, in particular from popular TV shows like “The Avengers,” “The Addams Family,” “Star Trek,” “Bewitched,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Munsters” and “The Six Million Dollar Man.” These characters (and more) are re-cast with pop culture icons and classic works of fine art for a contemporary spin. Beyond television and the master paintings, Isabel pulls influences from horror movies, Las Vegas lifestyles, and Mexican calendar art into her projects.

Going Native and Song of the Raven, Oil on canvas / wood. 2007

A San Francisco resident for the last 10 years, she continues to work as an illustrator, in addition to creating fine art. You can view more of her works after the jump. more…

No Neutral Thoughts, oil on canvas, 2008. 24 x 24 inches

Eric’s painting skills are truly unbelievable to say the least. His work transcends time, reality, science and logic. It is rich in content and is visually mind blowing. He finds inspiration in metaphysics, with trace hints of iconic pop culture of years past. - Manuel Bello

Brooklyn-based painter Eric White creates “traditional based” imagery from an unusual approach to figuration. White references found imagery (particularly from 40s era Hollywood) in works that are thought-provoking, beautifully rendered and also disturbing on many different levels. This approach enables the artist to tap into realities and dimensions that exist beyond the edge of our perception; in a world in which movie stars, political figures, and ordinary people are transformed: stretched and distorted and placed in bizarre landscapes. In all his creations White employs a meticulous mix of hyper-realism and surrealism to make his dark dreams.

Our Beloved Ganesa, oil on canvas

Eric White has shown extensively in galleries and museums such as The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Gracie Mansion in New York, Robert Berman and Track 16 in Los Angeles, and Moda Politica in Tokyo. His work is sought after by a wide range of collectors including Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino, David Arquette and Courteney Cox.

View more of Eric White’s exceedingly inviting imagery after the jump. more…

Corazan Coaster, 18″ x 24″. Acrylic on masonite 2006

STEP RIGHT UP, folks. Feast your eyes on this collection of bizarre oddities guaranteed to amaze! I am of course talking about the extraordinary up and comer in the Pop Surrealism/Lowbrow scene, (Florida-based) Michael ” Pooch” Pucciarelli. His intricately detailed paintings feature carnavalesque worlds, usually in which characters are sent on careening rollercoaster rides through worlds populated by movie monsters, skeletons, and underground pop culture icons. Pooch allows himself the freedom to explore various cultural symbols, but also keeps inspired by digging deeper into those respective subjects.

Big Bob’s Dream Vacation, giclee on canvas. 30″ x 24″ / 3113 pencil on vellum

Keep the Loonies on the Path, acrylic on masonite. 36″ x 18″

The Roq la Rue gallery called his art “a visual cocktail mix of Mexico’s Dia De los Muertos imagery, a bit of Bosch and Brueghul and MC Escher’s’ architectural elements with a shot of tattoo culture, shaken and stirred, and served up in a souvenir tiki skull”.

His newest works reflect his constant exposure to Florida theme parks, where surreal carnival ride “facades” reflect the false fronts of modern society. Meaning aside, Pooch’s paintings are created to hold the viewer’s attention, which is quite a challenge in today’s TV and computer age. Pooch’s technique is intensive, he paints the devil in the details. His earliest influences were artists like MC Escher, Dali, and HR Giger. Holding the old masters in high regard, Pooch has a strong respect for painters of the Flemish age such as Bosch and Van Eyk–plus modern artists like Todd Schorr, Joe Coleman, Mark Ryden, and Robert Williams, all of whom honor the tradition of highly detailed symbolic works.

See more of Pooch’s outre paintings after the jump. more…

Sleeping by day - Giclee print on paper

I was born in London, England on October 26 1958, the youngest of four and much to my parent’s surprise, I was born a dog. This unfortunate turn of events was soon accepted within my family and was never again mentioned in the presence of polite company. I was a rambunctious youth as was natural to my breed but showed a fine interest in the arts as I drew pictures incessantly on anything including the walls and floors of every room of our tiny house. After some trouble with intolerant neighbors, my family was convinced to move to Canada and it was not long before the burgeoning town of Toronto became our new home. - from Ray Caesar’s Biography

Am starting this year with one of my favorite artist, Ray Caesar. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the English born pop surrealist and his impressive, fantastical and whimsical digital images of children, I hope to offer you a short introduction into his mysterious surreal world.

The birth of his ideas stems from working for 17 years in the Art and Photography Department of The Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto. Ray documented things such as child abuse, surgical reconstruction, psychology and animal research. The artist explains, ” I often awake in the middle of the night and realize I have been wondering the hallways and corridors of the giant hospital. It is clear to me that this is the birthplace of all my imagery”. These experiences continually haunt and present themselves in his outre images, which draw inspiration from the works of Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, Paul Cadmus and more.

Ray Ceasar’s dreamy images are strange and yet familiar, classical but at the same time very contemporary, this creates a contradictory effect on the viewer. When viewing Ray Caesar’s astonishing works you might assume you are looking at paintings due to their unique emotional impact, seamless blending and “painterly qualities” inherent in each piece. However, each model is exclusively created using a 3D modeling software called Maya, and is set up with an invisible skeleton that allows him to pose each figure in its 3D environment. He then wraps them in painted and manipulated texture maps, then adds Digital lights and cameras with shadows and reflections to simulate a mysterious ambiance. The finished piece radiates an enigmatic serenity. His figures are otherworldly, a beautiful fusion of sci fi fantasy, lush landscapes, and Victorian sensibilities.

View more of Ray’s brilliant work after the jump.

+ Ray Caesar’s site

Blackbird & Blackbird Detail - Giclee print on paper

Blessed - Giclee print on paper

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