I don’t know the title, the dimensions or the story behind this piece.

I do know that it was created by Team Macho ~ a collaborative illustration and fine art effort composed of Lauchie Reid, Chris Buchan, Nicholas Aoki, Jacob Whibley, and Stephen Appleby-Barr.

I also know that I love it and that I’m very jealous… although not of the woman front/centre.

Soft Serve, 2004; oil paint on canvas; 84″ x 72″

I love this huge, colourful, weird, yummy looking piece by Tracy Miller. The subject matter for most of her work seems to be food, serving platters, or pretty much anything on a table top. Now I’m jealous, AND I want an ice cream cone… and maybe a beer.

Photograph of an old, beat up couch? Nope. It’s acrylic & oil on panel. I am not usually a fan of photo real painting, but the work of Toronto’s Holly Farrell is amazing. Her talent is obvious, but the hook for me is the subject matter. She paints everyday domestic objects, giving them a personality, more like a portrait of a character than just a simple still life.

I’m not sure how old Marla Olmstead was when she painted this, but given that she’s only 8 right now I think it’s a safe bet to say she was, well,  somewhere under 8! Depending on what you believe, Marla is either a controversy or a prodigy. I’m going with prodigy… it’s more inspirational that way. You can decide for yourself by watching the documentary about her, “My kid could paint that.”

{November 2009 : After seeing the film again, I’ve written a follow-up post about Marla.}

I had a small obsession with Jennifer Harrison‘s laneway paintings back in my Toronto days. I finally have one hanging in my home, but it took moving to the other side of the country before I got it. So simple, so beautiful and it will forever remind me of my years in Toronto.

The cover of a PRINT Magazine from 2003 is still tacked up on the bulletin board in my studio. Margaret Kilgallen, a SanFrancisco painter and installation artist, graced the cover. It was one of the first times I felt truly inspired, and then completely envious of someone’s enormous artistic talent. She was an amazingly gifted artist who, very sadly, stopped painting far too early. She was 33 when she died due to complications from breast cancer. Imagine what she might have created if she had lived a few more decades.

Again, such a hard time to pick just one of Gary Taxali‘s pieces to post. He’s been making me jealous since I first saw his work in Toronto back in 2001 or so. His style is so unique that you can recognize his work almost immediately… which makes you look super cool & artsy at cocktail parties. “That must be a Taxali you have hanging there…  ah yes, I’d recognize his work anywhere.”