Wilson Hsu

Reminiscent of marble school notebooks and computers at the time of Atari, LA based painter Wilson Hsu evokes a great sense of fun in his work. Most of the works on his website show his characters moving left to right in some kind of great migration. The landscape on which they travel varies from colorful flat patchwork to dangerous looking mountains and is just as interesting as the people that inhabit it.

Hsu received his BA in Arts at Otis College in 2003. Since then, he has been painting and showing along the West Coast. See more of his work at WilsonHsu.com.

Kathleen Lolly

In Kathleen Lolley's drawings and paintings, almost all eyes are always on the viewer. Because of this, her paintings have a stillness that feels a little like you've just stumbled upon a group of deer in the woods that are about to run. Instead of deer, though, her world is full of cyclops owls and trees that fight back.

Lolley was originally trained as an animator at Calarts and worked on Spongebob after graduation. Despite this, her work is refreshingly dissimilar to commercial animation, although she can clearly tell a story with one image. She currently lives and makes art in Kentucky where she was raised.

More of her work can be seen at Lolleyland.com.

Matt Leines

I went to school with Matt Leines at RISD, who's intricate drawings and paintings are shown around the world. Growing up in New Jersey, he was a huge fan of pro wrestling and cartoons. He's wonderfully dedicated and a very nice person to boot.

His work captures moments from a world inhabited by tigers and one eyed monsters. There are heroes and villians, all with beautifully detailed hair.

Although he has no formal website, if you google his name you'll find lots of images and articles/interviews.

Camille Rose Garcia

I've always really liked LA based artist Camille Rose Garcia. Although her work is dark, the paintings usually contain bright fresh colors. Her range of evil characters include knife wielding cupcakes and monster ducks.

A few years ago, I was fortunate to receive one of her books as a Christmas gift. Born and raised in LA, she says she was heavily influenced by the fringes of utopia, namely Disneyland and movie studios.

On her website, CamilleRoseGarcia.com, you can see some of her 3-D work, which is just as haunting.

Mel Kadel

Mel Kadel is featured in the latest issue of Juxtapoz with good reason. Her haunting images depict struggling characters set against an environment of empty space, which further isolates them. I especially like her use of repetition and limited use of color in various parts of the images.

More of her work can be seen at MelKadel.com.

Amy Ruppel

Amy Ruppel is a North Pacific based painter who works on wood with wax, ink/paint and ink-jet print outs. After applying paint to the surface of the wood, she melts layers of wax, adding in ink/painted birds and streaked computer print outs that she cuts into shapes.

She has VERY affordable sales on her website (prices range from $40-$140) and the next one is March 21st. Her website is AmyRuppel.com.

AJ Fosik

AJ Fosik has been one of my favorite artists for a few years. For his three-dimensional heads which hang on the wall like hunted game, he uses a scroll saw to create the many thousands of little pieces and then dyes them with shoe polish. His modern colors are balanced by the rustic folk look the wood gives his pieces.

Originally from Detroit, he's been nomadic for a while now, after leaving New York where he lived for six years. To see more of his work, google his name - I couldn't find a website.