The art of Rob Gonsalves

At an art gallery recently I discovered that I loved the work of artist Rob Gonsalves. His style of work is called magic realism, and is reminiscient of Dali or Escher. If you glance at the paintings quickly you might not notice the subtle messages. His paintings are imagination brought to life, where one object morphs into another. I especially love "Bedtime Aviation", where quilts on a bed become acres of lush green landscape a young girl soars above.

The art of Josh Agle, aka Shag

I found a book at the library featuring the work of an artist named Josh Agle. He goes by the nickname of Shag, which comes from the last 2 letters of his first name and the first 2 letters of his last name. I love his work since it conveys a hip, 1960s style with humorous touches and a flair for the unique.

Musical Musings

I have written here before about my favorite country artist, Travis Tritt. On August 21st he will release his new CD titled "The Storm". Appropriately, this is his first CD with Category 5 records, which is also the label of Sammy Kershaw and George Jones. The new Tritt album is co-produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson. Learn more about it at this website.

I had the priviledge of seeing the bluegrass group The Grascals at a local festival a few weeks ago. Anyone who enjoys this type of music will appreciate their top notch musicianship. I first saw them last year at the Grand Ole Opry. Their self-titled debut CD was released in 2005 and their follow up, "Long List of Heartaches" came out last year. Dolly Parton called their first CD "One of the greatest albums I've ever listened to". Here is a link to their website. One of their best videos, for "Me and John and Paul" can be seen here.