New York Harbor? (Oil on Canvas)

(Value Village Art Gallery Favorite)

What a great day this has been! This painting kicks a truly remarkable amount of ass. Great sky, great foreboding-ish cityscape, great murky water. Even the tug boat or whatever it is is nice. And dig that wake! I’m working on tracking down the artist and if I find her I’ll add some info here as a postscript. But 41 years is a long time. Who knows?

(I went back and bought this one.)

Maida: the (V)VAG salutes you!!!

What. THE. Hell. (Oil on Canvas)

(Value Village Art Gallery Favorite)

As I approached this painting from the opposite side of VV and got closer and closer I muttered to myself “Ohhhh we have a WINNER!!!” Stuff like this always puts a pep in my step. I have no freaking idea what it is all about but I LOVE IT!!! We have some genuine talent here. I like the colors, shading and movement here more than the actual subject matter but that’s just me.  I can’t read the signature: is it Amy something? Mary? If anyone has any other idea, let me know. 

Map to Crazyville (Acrylic on Canvas)

(Value Village Art Gallery Favorite)

Don’t let my snarky title fool you: I actually like this a whole lot! It’s weird, but it is technically proficient: there is real skill here, along with a sense of fun and seemingly some actual purpose to all this. It’s a pity there’s no signature.

Colorful Porcupine (Acrylic on Canvas)

I’m really kind of over this type of thing. I’ve been seeing a lot of them. We hung a rainbow-colored Sea Otter early last year and I had my doubts even back then. Now I’m seeing Yaks with Midsommer-looking flower wreaths on their heads, Moose with top hats, etc. How Manic Pixie Dream Artist quirky of these folks.

Honestly it eventually just starts to feel like “Normal” isn’t interesting enough for some people. Things have to be Ironic, or Faux Kitschy, or whatever. Just paint a damned porcupine and leave it at that.

 

Strange Flower (Acrylic on Canvas)

This is so technically proficient that I thought it might be store-bought or mass-produced. Then I realized that this flower is far too weird-looking to have ever been sold at Target or Fred Meyer. One of our better paintings for sure. Well done, Cynthia :)

Sphinx (Acrylic on Canvas)

Actually I think this one looks a bit like Donald Trump as well (see previous exhibit). But it also looks a wee bit like a Modern Art version of the Sphinx. So who knows? I like it too, but not as much as the previous one. Too bad there’s no signature. This is good stuff (well, good compared to the stuff we usually see around here). No! Disregard that! This is a good painting on its own merit, Relativity be damned! We’re lucky to have this!
 

Donald Trump (Acrylic on Canvas)

I told my wife that I thought this was obviously supposed to be DONALD TRUMP and she said she just doesn’t see it. Am I crazy? I think it’s him! I actually like this a LOT! Too bad it’s so expensive. But HEY: where’s the signature, dude/dudette? Work of this quality needs a signature. Wise up! :/

Postscript: I went back and checked the reverse side of this painting. It’s dated 2008 so it’s probably not The Donald. Unless the artist was a fan of The Apprentice. 

I still like it. 

Alaskan artist: Sandy Horne.
 

Magnolias? (Acrylic on Canvas)

I’ve said before that I’m not a fan of canvases with areas left starkly white and unpainted. But that's not really the case here, is it? This is nice. It’s another one that I initially thought might (?) be mass-produced and/or sold out of a chain department store. But on close examination I decided it’s almost certainly amateur (or at least non-famous / non-professional) art. I wasn't a super big fan of the color pallet used when I first wrote this review but it has definitely grown on me since then. Sue Cole: nice work! Here’s hoping you’re still alive and painting :)

Postscript. Sadly no:

 https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newsminer/name/sue-cole-obituary?id=22055994

Nighttime Mountain Range (Acrylic on Canvas)

I’m conflicted. If this is one of those situations where some errant hipster took an existing painting and added an incongruous, humorous and/or ironic detail to it, I’m pissed! Because this is (was?) demonstrably a “not bad” painting: closely examine those mountains - those are some NICE brushstrokes. There’s some talent here! Whereas the Death Star, to me, looks amateurish, dumb and clunky. But who knows? Maybe the entire thing IS by Phil Collins (or whatthehellever that signature is in the upper left.) Just, to me, the landscape and the Death Star appear to vary wildly in quality. Le Sigh.
 

Sitting Portrait (Watercolor on Parchment)

I’m pretty sure this is legit amateur art. I like it. It feels as if the artist is trying for an Old School feel. French or something. It’s not great (the face is simple and almost cartoonish, the shoes are awkward and clunky) but overall it is evocative of something good that could, with a little more practice, be really great. Keep at it, artiste :)

Tree line and Water (Acrylic on Canvas)

Not a fan of the water. But the tree line is appealing. It’s amateurish and abrupt and a little bit coarse, but there is…something here. Potential maybe? 

Keep it up!

Happy Dog (Acrylic on Pressboard Plaque)

I like it. In fact I like it much more than some of the art here by folks trying too hard and being too artsy. It’s a goofy-looking dog. It is what it is. Winning!

Botched C.S. Lewis Quotation (Acrylic on Canvas)

Okay, a few points. I said in the distant past here at the (V)VAG that I would never again hang a text-based painting (my exact words I think were that I am opposed to “the trite, typical ‘Live Laugh Love’ philosophical abortions”) but in this case I have temporarily reversed that decision because this is literally the best painting of the day. Sad but true. And not because it’s particularly good, but rather because the others all suck either talent-wise, execution-wise or reason-for-existence-wise. 

I like C.S. Lewis by the way. But I’m pretty sure the quote should read “Christianity” instead of “Christ.”

Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal (Acrylic on Canvas)

THE ugliest Christmas tree we’ve ever exhibited here. Horrible low-effort branches, absurdly huge tree trunk. Sorry artist: try harder next time.

Another hatred of mine, aside from the overuse of blue and purple in a painting, would be unpainted canvas. This painting wouldn’t have been much improved with a fully painted (or even paint filled) background, but it would have helped just a bit.

Pro Tip: Don't leave white canvas showing on a painting. Ever.

Cartoony Kid and Moon (Acrylic on Canvas)

My hatred for the overuse of purple and blue on the part of amateur artists is occasionally close to being displaced by my hatred for the overuse of black (and sometimes gray.) I just don’t get it. This isn’t a bad painting but it is an ugly and pointless one. Why does it exist? What does it say? It represents what I hate about the 21st Century.

By the way: the entries for today have been sitting in my phone for almost a week. Thats how long it’s taken me to overcome my ennui and to work up the energy and/or desire to post these. It’s been a bad week for art.

 

Polka Dot Pumpkin (Acrylic on Canvas)

As I’ve said before, there’s a reason these things wind up at Value Village. Case in point: my question here is “why?” 

Just…why?
 

Birch Trees and Snow (Watercolor on Parchment)

Thoroughly average. Staring at this makes me tired. It’s decent and looks like what it’s supposed to be. But eh.

Tour Eiffel (Acrylic on Canvas)

Well I went back to buy the outhouse painting (see previous additions to the VVAG this same day) and of the six paintings I photographed earlier today it was the only one that had sold. A real bummer. I should just go with my gut from now on. I hate that I missed out on it. 

My only solace is that, while I was there looking for the outhouse painting I found this. Really nice. Not a super fan of the black, grey and red/pink but the painting overall is outstanding. Maybe the weird color scheme is intentional in order to convey a sense of isolation, loneliness or emotional dearth. Who knows? It’s good though.

Aurora/Sunset (Acrylic on Canvas)

So much black. Just…soooo much black. I see it time and time again in paintings like this. It’s dark, I get it. I get it! But it’s like…I dunno…I eagerly await the day I find an all-black canvas with the title “Midnight at the Bottom of an Abandoned Mine” on the back.

Regular visitors: guess what my favorite part of this is? The very center. The red/yellow/green bit.

Goethe’s last words were “More Light!” That’s exactly what I need: MORE LIGHT!!!

Also: the crescent moon looks like the letter C. Would it have killed the artist to spend another sixty seconds trying to make the moon look right? Dang.

Fish Pond (Acrylic on Canvas)

Nice try. And I mean that sincerely. This was a rather ambitious undertaking on the (clearly amateur) artist’s part, and I won’t give him or her too much of a hard time for this. Who knew that catfish (?), when viewed from above, might look like slugs? I bet he or she was halfway in and was like “aw mannn!”

Don’t get discouraged. Keep at it, Unknown Artiste :)

Desert (Acrylic on Canvas)

This needs some Bedouins on camelback. Or maybe an oasis. There’s just not enough here to critique. Plus I can see through the sand dune on the left.

Needs more something. Anything.

Waterfall? (Acrylic on Canvas)

This one is so vague and muddled it’s a little hard to tell what’s going on, or what even is what. There’s a pond, and either a small dam or a small waterfall. There’s a fenced-off area but what’s the green between the fence and the pond? Can it be walked upon / crawled through? I’m having a hard time figuring out the topography of it. As well as the topography of whatever is behind the waterfall/dam/whotsit. It’s so Impressionist I can’t tell what it is. Still, there’s something about it. It’s rather likable.
 

Outhouse (Acrylic? on Canvas Board)

(Value Village Art Gallery Favorite)

I regret not buying this one. I should probably go back and get it. I like it. Also, judging by the canvas board, this is old. Like 1970s old. Maybe? At any rate, I like it: nice flowers, nice tree branches, nice background horizon area. A masterpiece!

Epilogue: I found a Marjorie Hutto who passed away in 1995 and was buried in Bartow Florida. I also found a guy in Lakeland Florida selling a painted saw blade by Marjorie (the signatures 100% matched.) Bartow is 12 miles from Lakeland.

I wonder how the hell this painting wound up in Fairbanks Alaska?!?
 

Abstract (Acrylic on Canvas Board)

Normally I think amateur Abstract stuff is kind of a cop-out but this one is really nice: not haphazard, seemingly well thought out, nice choice of colors and shapes, not too bunchy. I like it a lot. Nice job!

Pointillism (Pen? on Parchment)

Remember the maaaybe bunch of tossed-out old Art Class assignments that turned up all at once at VV a few weeks back? The ones I said that I wouldn’t exhibit any more of if more showed up, since I figured they were all by the same person and I disliked the idea of showing too much of any one person’s work? Well this is one more, and hopefully the last. Going by possibly-faulty memory, I’d say that this is the best of the bunch. It is also signed, which I appreciate when the work in question is halfway decent. Which this kinda is. Ariel, I hope you got an A on this. If not, here’s one for you: “A!!!”  :)
 

Monkey and Snake (Crayon on Parchment)

Another one that was matted, framed and behind glass so pardon the glare. I wish I could have done better with the photo since this is actually pretty darned good. Kailey: I hope you continue in your artistic career.

Snowy Owl (Acrylic on Canvas)

I turned this thing in all four directions before gaining confidence that this was an owl. The beak looked weak to me at first but upon consulting Google I learned that this is actually a good representation, size-wise, of a Snowy Owl beak.

This thing could be better but it could also be a helluva lot worse. I’ll be kind (or kind-ish) in my review because when a I was a little kid I liked drawing two things: owls (mainly because of X the Owl on Mister Rodger’s Neighborhood) and Piglet from Winnie the Pooh. We owl-drawers/painters should stick together. A+++++

Frozen Lake Aurora (Acrylic on Canvas)

In case I’ve not pointed it out before, when exhibiting untitled paintings I just make a title up. Which is usually a serious or in some cases not-very-serious description of the painting subject. I bring this up because I’m assuming this is a frozen lake, with snow on its bank, a line of trees with Northern Lights behind them, and a partial reflection l on the frozen lake. But I’m not 100% sure I’m right. For one thing, the lake has no snow on its surface. Also, the lights are reflected on the frozen lake, but not the trees. So eh who knows? This really isn’t that great but as usual if it’s colorful I tend to grade less harshly.