X is for Xacto

I've always been interested in Art. I took several Art History classes in college and when I was in Europe, I spent a lot of time going to places with amazing art and/or architecture (which, to me, is just another form of art). I've always wanted to purchase art pieces that appeal to me but I've never had the kind of cash to make it happen.

Lately, I've been seeing some amazing art that has got to involve Xacto knives (or maybe Ginsu but that wouldn't fit in with today's letter).

I saw these two paper pieces on Epic Win FTW (the antithesis of the Fail Blog)...

There was no accredited artist that I could see but I'd love to know who did them and where I can see more!

This next man is the MASTER of the Ginsu, Thomas Allen...

This piece is called "Polecats" and is my favorite of his work. He takes old pulp fiction paperbacks, cuts them up and places them into extremely clever little... dioramas? vignettes?, then photographs them. I am in awe of his cutting skills.

I also like strange photography. This next artist is Erik Johansson. He's 23...

A lot of his work is very M.C. Escher (whom I also love); it fools the eye and can be a bit disturbing at times but it's all rather amazing!

I don't know what medium this next artist uses but here's my favorite from Ray Caesar

It's called "Decent" (which I first read as Descent) and like most of his work, there's a rather disturbing quality to the subject.

My favorite sculptural artist is Lisa Snellings. She often works rather closely with Neil Gaiman (of Coraline fame) and she has a whole series of little guys called Poppets. She also has a whole series of Poppets based on Gaiman's The Graveyard Book - love those! They are creepy and cute at the same time.

There's also this little sleepy rat that I adore and will someday buy...

I'm hoping none of these artists come after me for posting pic's. Not really sure how the whole copyright thing works here but I've given full credit for each one and a link to the artist's site (in case anyone wants to buy me something). I'd hate to have to take the pic's down.

I've been interested in making art as well. I've dabbled in watercolors because I like the way they flow into each other better then any other paint I've tried. Particularly watercolor and ink type shenanigans. I'm also interested in photography and took some classes but the classes seemed geared more toward developing film (back in the '80's when people still used film) and I was more interested in knowing how to take the shots I wanted, then manipulate them into what my mind's eye saw. (A lot like what Eric Johansson does with his photos. But different, not so Escher-esque.)

Do you guys have favorite artists?

Filing it under "Someday....", Ruth!