Art is a very personal thing. One person likes landscapes, others like portraits, others have different styles- Impressionism, Realism, Pointillism and they are all meaningful in their own ways to different people - or even the same person depending upon where they are in the timeline of their life.

It's always interesting- no matter the artist- how and what they create. How they "pull it out " of themselves- what they see as being worthy to create. For some it's still life images, of other's, it's a sunset, still others, it could be total abstractions a la Jackson Pollack.



WaterColors by J. Matt Miller, San Juan Islands,Washington.

There lies the question- can we afford art? Can we NOT afford to have art within our lives as it helps bring out the emotional aspects and feelings of creation that we see in the objects of our creative vision. No longer do you need to trek to San Francisco, New York, New England, Paris, the south of France, Los Angeles or Carmel to find great artists. Simply do what you are doing right now, surf the web.

Recently reading an article from USA Weekend, Kathleen Conroy discusses various ways to find and buy original art work from real working artists, for art that could be the size of a postcard ot a 14 x 18 print. While shipping can be expensive, it also depends on what you find. Conroy lists 3 painters that she discovered online.



Tense Negotiations, J. Matt Miller, San Juan Islands, Washington

PaintingaDayProject.com - Impressionism of the American view. This artist is currently on hiatus, seeking rejuvenation for another found of paintings and her work is surprising affordable.
HudsonValleyPainter.com has a note up on his page about the article in USAToday and suggests you noodle around the site and check out his work on the Hudson Valley in NY.
Daily Life Painting earned a mention in the article for unique painting of ordinary objects. This one definitely caught my eye just to see the symmetry and symbolism of the common objects around us. The delicacy of some images are almost fragile and others show a lot of strength.
Elisetomlinson.com isn't featured in the USA Today piece but she is an artist from Alaska with dealing in bright bold colors of women in the outdoors- most likely depicting the boldness of life in Alaska.

Finding artists online, you have contact with artists in a more intimate (albeit distant) setting. Chad from ArtAttacksandStrokes.com deals in blown glass art. (he's been featured here in another blog). However if you are into paintings you can find so much on the web.

Check out this blog too: Art Blogs which is more blog-like in format but discusses many artists.

HudsonValleyPainter.com
PaintingaDayProject.com
Art Blogs
ArtAttacksandStrokes.com
Daily Life Painting