Andrew Spence

Andrew Spence's work is austere-- it is also slightly whimsical, if those two things can go together. His several decades of work utilizes simple forms and shapes and color. I don't know many artists who can explore the line in such depth and variation. His exploration of symbols and lines reminds me of another austere artists, Donald Judd, who worked for decades exploring and expanding the box form.

Rachel Denny

Rachel Denny is a Portland artist. She's inspired by the natural world and the sense of wonder it creates in viewers. Her work uses unusual materials to interpret the "exuberance of nature" and in doing so gives viewers an unexpected experience. Her pieces are interesting and beautiful and reverent to their subject. I especially love the squirrels.

Ingela P Arrhenius

Ingela made an exhibition book called 142 Actors that showcases her excellent drawing style and wonderful coloring. I love the way she captures gestures and personalities in the brief lines of thick and thin drawings. And I love the way she uses color.

Carol Summers

These paintings from Carol Summers (b. 1925) look like adventures to me. Summers creates these prints using an innovative woodblock technique-- he frequently uses solvents to "transform the pigments into dyes which then tend to penetrate the paper and result in a watercolor effect. This allows for rich colors and soft blurred edges." I love the skewed landscapes and huge forms here and the color pulls me in. 

Douglas Coupland

Douglas Coupland, the author of "Generation X," was an artist before his writing career took off. You can see examples of his work-- many are a tribute to Damien Hirst-- as well as his refurbished mid-century home in today's NYTimes. 

Kelly Neidig

These landscapes from Kelly Neidig remind me of summer road trips driving through the midwest and watching the landscape whoosh by. I=Since I live in Chicago, I don't see wide open spaces like these until we hit the road in summertime. I love the atmosphere, the moments they convey in quick broad strokes and bright colors. I love that they are semi-abstract impressions of what I associate with a very brief encounter at high speeds.

Ben Shahn

Ben Shahn is one of those artists whose work I could look at every day. His line drawings are really my favorite, simple outlines of a cacophony of music stands, or shopping carts. But his paintings, of strikers, or famous trials, or populist themes are also stirring. He believed an artist should forward the social message of justice for all and expose the brutality of a system often built on the backs of the laboring poor. This was the 30s after all.

Chris Silas Neal

I love the art and illustration of Chris Silas Neal, a regular contributor to the NYTimes. I found him a couple of years ago via thumbtack press, where you can still buy some of his prints. I love the printmaking look of his work, the limited color palette, the spotty ink coverage, and the vintage drawing style. Beautiful.

My kid did that

I look at art every day. I mean, Art. But is there anything as great as kids' art? I'm always so enlivened by the art shows at Elsa's school-- very imaginative, very immediate, very direct. And then, there's color. Great work.

Gene Davis

Gene Davis (1920-1985) was part of the Washington Color School, part of the larger color field movement in the 60s and 70s. He began painting colorful vertical stripes in the 50s and used the repeat of particular colors to create a sense of rhythm and movement. Many of his works are large scale (he created what was at the time the largest painting in the world) and I love how they seem to dance across the eye. See more here.

Katie Kirk

Katie Kirk is a Minneapolis graphic designer and illustrator. She and her husband Nathan Strandberg run an outstanding company called Eight Hour Day and you could get lost in the beautiful design on their site. But it was her children's book called "Eli, No" that caught my attention first, via flickr. These are a few illustrations from that book, but check out her incredible work and see for yourself.

Kay Rosen

I love Kay Rosen's clever art-- using typography and color to create subtle messages. Pictured above are "Removal From Office," "Hello Again," and "Your Eyes Say Yes."

Scott Johnson

Scott Johnson's paintings are interesting vignettes that sometimes suggest "messes that need to be cleaned up," or emergency situations that we voyeuristically stare at, trying to find the trouble. They seem to exist in a world of "situations," of hazmat suits and flashing lights. I like his paintings very much and I'm happy to see he's having a second show at Tinlark in Hollywood. See more of his work here.

Lisa Congdon

Lisa is having a big sale on her etsy site-- the top paintings are from her "Life in WonderMountain" series, which I like and the bottom pieces are a new series of Birch trees you can find here. Lisa has a new line of stationery coming out from Chronicle Books and is part owner of the favorite San Francisco store Rare Device.

Oliver Jeffers

These paintings are from Oliver Jeffers, the co-founder of an art collective called OAR. I like the compositions-- a figure counterbalanced by an object or a mathematical equation. He explains this as an exploration of the parallels between art and science, two means of interpreting the world that sometimes (often?) hold opposing views. See more here.