Portrait of a Child (Pencil and Acrylic on Canvas)

I spotted this little gem when I was getting ready to leave. “Little” is inaccurate though since this thing was somewhere around 18”x24”.

Once again, I have to admit that I like this! It feels old, like pre-SocialMedia/SmartPhone old, or even older. An artifact from back when the world and the people in it were Authentically, Organically Real Human Beings instead of freaking Pod People in it only for the shares, likes, thumbs up and karma.

I see something like this and I wonder what the grown-up person who was once this baby is doing now…

Abstract (Acrylic on Canvas)

It looks like wrapping paper to me. Not very interesting but not actively bad in the way that some paintings here often are.

Sunflowers (Acrylic on Canvas)

Van Gogh has nothing to worry about. Because, well, he’s dead.

Seriously? I don’t dislike this. There’s a lot that’s wrong with it, but for all those things (bad fat stems for one) it’s actually kinda charming. I mean that. Not everyone is a Master. Not everyone has to be.

Sunset Silhouette (Acrylic on Canvas)

Not really a sunset. But the sky has that glow. And since I name these paintings when they are unnamed on the back by the artist himself/herself, well, it is what it is.

This isn’t great (per the weird offscale birds in places) but it’s not horrible either. Not as boring as some of the things we see around here, for sure. 

Artist: keep at it!

Mountain Stream (Acrylic on Canvas)

I like this! I liked it so much that I took it out of the glass-and-metal frame it was in so that I could get a photograph of it without a glare. Is it a masterpiece? No. But its got character and shows some unpretentious talent. Plus it’s vaguely Van Gogh-like. Well done Steph! :)

Mountains and Lake (Acrylic on Canvas)

Entries have been pretty scarce lately, unfortunately. Sorry about that. Not my fault though.

This one? It’s not great but it’s not awful. On my “One to Ten” scale, “One” being “gouge out my eyes” and “Ten” being “I want this painting to have my baby”, it’s a solid four. Which may seem low, but trust me: around here, in most cases anything above a THREE is very welcome indeed.

Blue Jellyfish (Acrylic on Canvas)

It’s not great, but it’s certainly not bad in the way that some of our paintings are bad. What I mean is that this one doesn’t exhibit that kind of…generic sameness of bad that we see so often. This really does have a degree of originality of technique. Not a whole lot, but definitely some. 

Artist dude/dudette: keep at it, my friend :)

ADDENDUM: one of the greatest bummers of my time here at this occasionally-nauseous museum is A) that I did not purchase the painting referred to as “Make a Decision” (see April 11, 2024) and B) that I’ve been unable to locate that painting’s creator and talk to him/her about his/her art. So here I am, at 5am on a Sunday morning, killing time by strolling through my little Naught Gallery, and while looking at this painting I realize that it reminds me of “Make a Decision” a LOT. So I compare the two and I think that maaaaybe they’re by the same artist. Maybe? Which, if true, means that there is hope that I will, one day, meet him/her and find out what the hell their deal is and maybe even be able to commission a painting involving the little alien girl, her glow-dog, and her balloon. Huzzah!

Grey Bamboo (Watercolor on Paper)

At least I think this is supposed to be bamboo? The grey leaves and grey bamboo stalks are puzzling. Some hues of yellow, brown and green would’ve done wonders here. As it is, it’s not bad at all. It just could’ve been a lot better.
 

Depressed Turtle (Acrylic on Canvas)

Not sure why this seadude is so glum. Maybe it’s because he was painted in such an unflattering manner. His belly looks like it’s made of rattan, his flippers have green hearts on them, and he’s either flying through the air or he’s in the most air-like water I’ve ever seen. Oh well. “Just keep swimming just keep swimming…”

Lemons (Acrylic on Canvas)

I’m tempted to say this is kind of boring but it’s really not at all: these are really adequate lemons. They’re instantly recognizable yet not photo-realistic. Perfect lemons would be boring. These lemons? They have character. They’re obviously painted yet they are perfect in their imperfection. If Van Gogh had painted lemons, I think they would look something like this. Yes, I’m being serious! I don’t even like lemons. But I like THESE lemons! 

And if you think I’m kidding about the Van Gogh bit, check out his 1885 “Basket of Apples”, which could also have been a Basket of Walnuts or Basket of Diminutive Pumpkins. His apples were great because of how uniquely not-so-great they were.

By the way: Artist - sign your work next time :)

Birch Pattern? (ink on presswood paneling)

Another strange one. At first I honestly thought it was a birch tree with a knot hole, but now I realize it’s probably a coffee mug on a table as seen from above. Either way, I like it. It’s original.

“Home on the Range” (Acrylic on Wood)

The title was on the back.

Not bad at all. It’s distinctive and original. I think I like it a lot. We need more art like this!

Native American (Sketch Pencil on Parchment)

Thank goodness for Harry G Kallich or whatthehellever this guy’s name is. Can you make out the signature? Kallash? Kallach? Henry A.? I googled every variation I could think of, without any luck. Whoever he is, he managed to salvage my day here today. So much bad art in one day (see previous exhibits) only to fortunately wind up on this rather talented note. Whew!

This piece was of such quality that at first I thought it was a mass-produced print. But after close examination I’m pretty sure it is original art, on paper, that was affixed to some kind of pressboard and then framed. The paper has come detached from the backing down towards the bottom. Maybe the paper portion was printed though? Not sure. Hard to tell without seeing the back of the paper, which in this case is impossible. 

If anyone is able to research this online and let me know that this is a mass-produced print or reproduction I’ll remove it from the (V)VAG, since our gallery solely highlights a) hands-on /handmade works of art by b) novice, amateur and mostly-unknown (or at the very least, only locally-known) artists whose works have c) somehow wound up at Value Village. 

Cuz them’s the rules!

Two For One (Acrylic on two-sided Wooden Block

Someone was feeling creative. Maybe doing this made the artist happy. Me? I look at this and am confronted with the utter futility of effort, the finality of human lives, the banality of existence and the ennui that eventually awaits most of us in our lives.

“There is no ‘there’ here, there or anywhere.”

Giraffes (Acrylic on Canvas)

 You can’t make this stuff up…

Mountain Range (Acrylic on Canvas)

Brown foreground. Blue mountains. Deja Vu.

I got ten paintings today but this is the worst day ever.

Birch Trees (Acrylic on Canvas)

So very boring. But I do like the way the birch trees pop against that bright blue sky. 

Colorless Aurora (Acrylic on Canvas)

How can a painting of the Northern Lights be so lacking in color? I just don’t understand. 

So many paintings with so little color, or so little variation in color. Blue. Purple. Grey. Black. 

Tree and Sun (Acrylic on Canvas)

Boring. Very very boring. But the sky and sun in both are kind of nice. They remind me of something I can’t quite put my finger on.

Blue Penguin (Acrylic on Canvas)

It’s awful, but it’s awful in a slightly-interesting way. I can’t explain it. Don’t get me wrong: I dislike this intensely. But not in the way I usually dislike bad art.

EMBARRASSINGLY ENOUGH: this utterly charming little objet de arte happens to be our 300th exhibit here at the World-Famous (Value) Village Art Gallery. Someone throw some confetti and blow a party whistle or something. “FWEEEEET!!!”

Mountain Range (Acrylic on Canvas)

Grey/Brown foreground (and tree!), blue mountains. The only thing halfway decent here are the lighter mountains in the far distance. 

I feel like there are a lot of color-blind aspiring artists in Fairbanks.