Painting on copper has a fairly long history in art, achieving a particular popularity among northern European artists in the 16th Century, and still has its contemporary proponents. Likewise the painting of miniatures also has a long history in art and is practiced by a number of contemporary artists. In the early 20th century, the Dadaists began experimenting with what would come to be known as “found art”, making already existing objects into art pieces.

In her series, Tondi observations, one of the three series currently displayed on her website, contemporary artist Jacqueline Lou Skaggs brings these three seemingly disparate genres together in twelve works — painting miniature oil paintings on the copper surface of discarded U.S. pennies.

Interestingly, as she points out in her description of the series, her actions elevate the value of the coins while simultaneously defacing them.

As you view the works, the individual large images can be clicked on for larger versions.

[Via Kottke]

Jelaine Faunce is a contemporary painter based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

She paints her still life subjects in oil. Her compositions have a very strong sense of design, with as much attention given to the spaces around objects as the objects themselves.

Her website portfolio is divided into three sections, Vintage Neon, Small Works and Color Therapy. Though the former receives emphasis, perhaps considered by the artist to be her signature work, and I very much like her small works, which focus on intimate close up views of food items and tea cups, it is in the “Color Therapy” section that I find the work that fascinates me most.

Though I don’t know the intention of the title, the paintings that fall under it, largely of floral and glassware close ups, are vibrant with color, wonderfully textured and masterfully composed.

You can find additional, and sometimes larger, images of her work on the websites of the galleries I list below in which she is represented.