“A Tribute to Monet” (Oil on Canvas Board)

(Value Village Art Gallery Favorite)

I’m getting a little verklempt ovah heah. Not one but TWO paintings show up in the same day, of such quality as this. Dang. Is it perfect? Nope. But it’s nice. Really nice. Do I know what’s going on? Nope. Is this a river? Not sure: if so, there’s a tree growing out of it. Do I like it, river or no? Very much so. Is it a little too static and um inorganic for a nature scene? Probably. Do I care? NO! Should I have bought it? Probably.

“Song of the North” (Oil on Wood Plank)

Not a single joke will be made: this is a joyous day at The (Value) Village Art Gallery. We had two lovely paintings join our ranks, both by the same artist. I’m more fond of the landscape, trees and sky than I am of the wolf, but holy smokes what a wonderful addition to our gallery :)

Floral Profile (Watercolor on Canvas)

Again, compared to many of our recent acquisitions, the originality of this one is a most welcome change. No jokes will be made.
 

Flower Landscape (Watercolor on Canvas)

Compared to some of our recent acquisitions, I think this is just marvelous. No jokes, no snide remarks: just appreciation.
 

Steak (Acrylic on Canvas)

I thought I was being funny by naming this oddity “Steak” but now I’m wondering if that might actually be what it is. The lowered area of the canvas sure looks like it could be a cutting board, or a butcher’s block. Who freaking knows?

Lilies (Acrylic on Canvas)

Daffodils maybe? I’m not quite sure. 

Are the flowers rather poorly shaped? Absolutely. But let’s stay positive: I am deliriously happy that there are no blues or purples. We have green! Light green! And yellow! Bright yellow!

I can hardly believe it.

If only the grey was something other than grey.

Mushroom Gnome (Acrylic on Canvas)

This guy again. Gal? Who the hell knows? All we have are initials. I have no idea why so many of his/her paintings wind up at Value Village. There have been a LOT of them. I gotta admit, I find myself admiring his/her pluck. He/she just keeps chugging along, day in, day out. As usual, there’s a lot of blue: no surprise there. But no purple this time, which is a welcome change. The red is a nice touch. That about says it.

Birch Trees (Acrylic on Canvas)

I’m a bit conflicted here. So much of RB’s work is finding its way to Value Village of late that I’m considering putting him or her on quarantine. 

On the other hand, his or her prolific creations (and those of many artists like him or her) are the very reason that the VVAG exists in the first place. Long story short, I don’t know what to do. Anyone care to weigh in?

Per the merits or demerits of the painting? As usual, I like the trees. Trees are beyond me. I just can’t do them. These look rather like trees to me. Not great trees, but trees nonetheless. So I’m in favor of them.

The background? Pfft.

Abstract (Colored Markers on Paper)

I had to photograph this from an angle in order to avoid having the fluorescent lights on the ceiling reflected in the glass of this frame.

I must be losing my touch. Because I really kinda like this one too. It has the benefit of being quite different from the stuff that normally shows up here. 

It’s fun: someone put some thought into this and took their time with it. 

And clearly it meant something to someone because they went to the trouble of framing it. I’m glad we have it :)

Don’t worry: I’ll be back to my old self (hyper-critical, mean-spirited, cynical) in a few days.

Patriotic Flower Jar (Acrylic on Canvas)

I’m not gonna lie: I sorta like these daisies! The jar sucks, the ribbon sucks, the stems suck, but the daisies…don’t suck. Or if they do, they (in combination with the blue sky behind them) suck in a somewhat appealing way.

Happy Hour (Acrylic on Canvas)

This one grew on me the more I looked at it. I believe the reason I like it is because it is probably (?) very unoriginal: I’m guessing that this is a reference to some other more famous work? It just has that look. Even if that’s the case, at least this is a fairly well-done knockoff. If I saw this hanging in someone’s home, my first thought would not be “who is responsible for this?!?”

Despite the (oft-overused by amateur artists) purples blues and dark greens, I like it.

Cocktails (Acrylic on Canvas)

I’d always heard that house painters were notorious for being drunk on the job. Now it all makes sense.

Moonlit Sky (Acrylic on Canvas)

“For members of our audience who are susceptible to seizures, please feel free to look away from this one: the wildly-varied and overly-bright color pallet chosen by the artist could prove overwhelming to sensitive viewers.”

Sixties Pattern (Acrylic on Canvas)

“YEAH baby!!! Do I make you HORNY?”

No, you make me wanna hurl.

Just kidding. This has two of my favorite 60s color schemes in it (Avocado Green, Orange) and is a valiant if not-overly-successful effort at making a vintage-y looking design. Don’t get discouraged, artiste: the next one will be better :)

Orca Frolicking (Acrylic on Canvas)

My first thought here was “Cave Painting” so I’m going with that.

Mountain Lake (Acrylic on Canvas”

Another one that I don’t absolutely hate. With a little more effort, or ability, this could’ve been really nice. As it is, I’m not going to be too mean. The artist shows promise.

Flowers and Vase (Acrylic on Canvas)

I don’t absolutely hate this. But why is the vase floating in mid-air?

Birch Trees (Acrylic on Canvas)

Again with the birch trees! One would think we live in Alaska or something.

The background leaves (?) toward the top are appealing. But what’s going on with the upper areas of these trees. Are they Punji sticks? And what about this strangely-bent branch? What’s the story here?

Birch Trees (Acrylic on Canvas)

So much purple. What is it with amateur artists and purple?

My usual comment: these trees are far from ideal but they’re really not that bad for an amateur artist. And they’re certainly better than I can do. My trees (specifically my tree branches) look far more inorganic and artificial than I can adequately explain here. They have to be seen to be disbelieved. Not kidding.

Addendum: a brief digression on the subject of relativity. While you may be looking at these exhibits in the “most recent to older” order, please remember that they were placed here (and reviewed by me) in the opposite direction. So if you find yourself questioning my kindness towards these (admittedly rather awful) trees, consider the sad, stupid pile of rocks I had reviewed in all likelihood mere moments before and realize that, in comparison, these trees positively twinkle with overdone trite kitschy Alaskan treeness.

Rocks (Acrylic on Canvas)

I’m simply dumbfounded…

Birds and Tree (Acrylic on Canvas)

Ross McDonald would call this “Nightmare in Pink.”I’m pretty sure I can see the word “FUCK” in the branches towards the upper right. See if you can too!

Octopus and Flowers (Acrylic on Canvas)

An octopus is attacking the flower bed! Someone alert Captain Nemo!

(I actually kind of like the colors and composition of the flowers and the field. Amateur art-wise.)