Ain't Art Grand?

I really enjoy art. Not that I'm a connoisseur or any such exalted thing, but I know what I like. Ah, there's a line that can excuse any amount of bad taste. Of course, since it's my taste it's good taste. My favorite famous artists are da Vinci, Van Gogh, Caravaggio, Gaugan, Klee, Leo & Dianne Dillon (I know the Dillons are illustrators, but to me that doesn't preclude them from being artists -- I love their work.) There are lots of artists and illustrators out there that make me hum happily within myself. Bioephermera blogger, Cicada's, work delights me (and makes me jealous of her skill with watercolor.)

I also know what I don't like. My current number one stick-a-finger-down-your-throat-and-make-gagging-noises artist is Thomas Kinkade. It's not just his saccharine, repetitive, images that I don't like, it's the fact that he seems to think he's a great artist when his real skill is at self promotion. But I have friends (and a blood relative) who adore his stuff (I can't bring myself to call it art.) It makes them feel happy and enlightened, so there must be some good in it despite the fact I consider him to be the graphic equivalent of a snake oil salesman. I even give one friend a Kinkade calendar every Christmas because I know it raises his spirits.

My favorite Salt Lake City artist is a young woman named Randi Lile. http://www.randilile.com/

I have two of her fang face fishes and a couple of her cats.

The big cat is going to my sister-in-law at Christmas, but until then, it's mine. Randi is hoeing the hard row of making it as a professional artist (with a little teaching on the side.) I think she's going to make it. I'm not biased because she's a friend, I just recognize talent when I see it.