Ralph Goings is a realist painter who has exhibited in this country, Europe and Japan and is represented in museums and private collections here and abroad. He is recognized as one of the original members of the Hyper-Realist or Photo-Realist group of the late 1960’s.

    He has a stunning web site where he is displays a cross section of his work.

    I was particularly fond of this one, but found them all captivating. 

 What wouldn’t I do to have my candid shots turn out so beautiful.

 Looks like People has it right.  Life is certainly agreeing with Katie Holmes (and Suri is a doll!)

 I wanted to share this beautiful painting I found in flicker.

It’s by an artist who goes by the name Chezrump–a Graphic Designer/illustrator in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

He submitted this to UNICEF which is putting together a a catalogue of 60 international artists around the theme of childhood and UNICEF’s key values.

I fell in love with it!

As an art student in college I would get into long discussions on the philosophy of art with fellow students, grad students and professors.  So many different theories.  I found a definition of art I really love when I got into Scientology.  It is in an essay titles "Art" by L. Ron Hubbard, who is the founder of the Scientology religion.

Mr. Hubbard described it this way:  

      ART is a word which summarizes THE QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION.

      It therefore follows the laws of communication.

      Too much originality throws the audience into unfamiliarity and therefore disagreement, as communication contains duplication and "originality" is the foe of duplication.

      TECHNIQUE should not rise above the level of workability for the purpose of communication.

      PERFECTION cannot be attained at the expense of communication.

I love this definition because it not only provides a basic philosophy by which I can guide my study and work but it also gives me a set of values or priorities.

It also explains something very interesting that I’ve noticed about myself as an artist in the past.  I have to want to say something for my paintings to work.  For years, my best paintings  were the ones I made for my friends, my boyfriends, my sisters and my parents.  And when I had a special occasion I could always whip up a painting to fit.  But if I was just painting to have something to put in an exhibition or to sell it would often fall flat.  I realized that was because when I had an event in mind, the painting itself was a communication to a special person, and it was embued with that life.

After I got into Scientology and took a course in communication I was surprised to find that the quality of my art also improved.  When I read this essay I suddently realized why.

For anyone wishing to improve their art, I recommend you get a copy of the book Dianetics 55!  It’s all about communication.  Also, there is an excellent chapter in the Scientology Handbook that gives the basics of the subject and it’s definitely worth a read.

This stunning waterscape was created by American artist Danielle Eubank.  A quick tour through her web site shows a very talented artist, and all her work is beautiful.  But I lover her waterscapes the mnost.