Inspired Monday: the Painting Maniac

As I have mentioned in previous Inspired Mondays, I find the most interesting things while browsing through Fine Art America.  That's the website that powers my print shop, and that of many other artists...if I bought all the art I like on there, I would never be able to see the color of my walls ever again.

Today, let's talk about one of the most interesting artists I found through this site, with some of the most original paintings...

Courtesy of the artist's blog

Leah Saulnier, also known as "The Painting Maniac"!

I can't remember what I had been originally searching for when I came across this artist, although I'm glad I found her work!  This is some really imaginative stuff...

All these images are from her blog, and are also available as prints on Fine Art America

I have no idea where she gets some of these ideas, but wherever they come from, I hope the wellspring never dries up!

You haven't seen surrealism like this before.  For me, it's surrealism that just makes you laugh, makes you feel happy, makes you feel like you're in on a great joke with the artists and other viewers of the painting.

See what I mean?

She has some series...es (serieses? Is that right?) of paintings that she does, like this one above, the Thinking Cap series, that depicts people wearing hats that symbolize their professions or inner life.  This one is The Mechanic, and there are other professions like The Gardener, The Baker, and a couple fabulous ones of famous people like Prince and Edgar Allen Poe.

But really, each painting is different, and each is fabulous.  Visit her print store, and you can spend hours looking through it.  There are bars full of strange creatures, improbably flying objects, improbable things in blenders, commentaries on society and life...and all with a wonderfully weird perspective. 

Plus, she makes different color edits of some pieces, so you can get lighter/darker/brighter/whatever-er versions of some prints...it's great for people who want something that matches other things they have (and it's something I don't have the patience to do with all of my prints, so I admire that she does!)

 

These pieces inspire me to be more original, to not always do what is expected in my art, and to keep creating my own world with my artwork, as she has done.

So, in the spirit of supporting artists, go buy some of her prints!  I might just do that myself...and she has t-shirts too...they are very cool.