FAT Tuesday Artist Spotlight #22

I created Featured Art Tuesday (FAT Tuesday) Artist Spotlight, to showcase inspiring Artists and to provide a forum for all Artists to share their work with one another--this includes every type of medium, photography and crafts, including writing and poetry.  
I hope you will join in the fun!

Steve Abbott is new to me.  I've always loved still life paintings--This artist's work is wonderful--a true inspiration.  Located in Calera, Alabama, in the United states, Steve is a third generation artist!  I especially loved the Apples of Gold in a Bowl of silver above.  'Tis exactly as I pictured it.

This gracious artist writes, "I am drawn to figurative work and still lifes.  I love creating beauty in my art and hope to do so the remainder of my years!  I hope you enjoy my work. Please tell me what you think. All painters are a work in progress! What do you like? How can I improve?"

To see more marvelous still life paintings, visit Steve Abbot Fine Art. 

 Ann Ranlett's portraits of animals are wonderful.  Her use of color is unexpected and inspiring.  Her whimsical portrayals capture the essence of each animal's unique personality.  She uses a variety of mediums to create her charming pieces.  She describes an intense interest in nature, which, along with her biological/scientific background, give her pieces a special realistic feel.

Ann writes, "...I'm fascinated by the textures and colors found in nature..  I'm really in my element when working with ink on scratch board; it’s quite forgiving and I like the challenge of creating intricate detail and texture with black, white and shades of grey. I also enjoy working in graphite pencil for the same reasons.  When I need a break from monochrome work, I switch to watercolor, although I'm likely to add a little pen & ink or color pencil to my paintings. In 2005, I started working with watercolor on Yupo, a synthetic paper. I'd been wanting to try something different and my "Paintings with Petzazz" pieces are the result. They're wildly colored and have quite a bit less detail, but they're still recognizable as a particular breed or pet."

To see more of Ann's inspiring work visit her gallery at Ann Ranlett.

Ann  Gates Fiser is a gifted artist with many outlets--including illustrating children's books and  set design!  Over the past nine seasons, this inspiring artist has designed and painted theatrical sets for Redmond Second Story Repertory Theater, Redmond, WA.   Godspell, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Living in Paris, The Importance of Being Ernest, Blithe Spirit, The Nightingale, The Frog Prince, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, are just a few of the plays for which she has painted sets.   

Among her many accomplishments, Ann's murals have been featured in the Seattle Street of Dreams, Seattle Symphony Houses, The Jr. League of Tacoma's Decorators' Show House & Garden Tour, Tableau Magazine, Pacific Northwest Magazine and in various newspaper articles. In the first half of 2007, this talented lady painted four murals for The Children's Museum, Seattle.

She writes, "In all the things that I do, the basic component is a curiosity for learning and a quest for creative expression. My joy is creating murals and seeing the excitement and happiness on a client’s face when they see the transformation of their personal space. I love to encourage creativity in others, helping them to find that "inner artist" that lives inside all of us. It’s my intention with my work to create a nurturing environment for my clients. I also love illustrating children’s books, composing music and writing songs."  

To see more of this eclectic artist's work, visit Fisor Art Studio. 

Has anyone out there heard of Scrapling before?  The above piece, by Gez, is a Scrapling!  A scrapling is something created with leftover art and craft scraps!  I had never heard of Scrapling before visiting Gez's wonderful Blog.  I felt so inspired after visiting there.

This enthusiastic, joyously talented artist--obviously a teacher at heart--has much to share.  To visit her cheery, inspiring blog, visit Gezzyb's Jots.

I fell in love with Jeanie Callaghan's matchboxes.  Each exquisitely decorated matchbox drawer has lovely surprises hidden inside.  I felt so inspired by the beauty of these tiny pieces of art. 

Jeanie describes her lovely creation.  "The box is covered with brayered paper - which I love to use every chance I get!  The heart is raised up a bit from the matchbox.  I love these artificial flowers that I purchased at Cappels in Cincinnati during one of my visits home.  They remind me of the crepe paper flowers that my grandmother used to make..."

To see more of Jeanie Callaghan's gorgeous work, visit  All My Artist Trading Cards. 

* Upload what you want to share onto your blog.

*  Don't forget to leave a link to your art on Linky tools.

*  Be sure to visit other artists who have left their link.

* Leave a comment when you visit each artist's page.

(We artists need to encourage each other!)

* Be sure to leave a link to FAT Tuesday on your blog page.