Musicians by Yoshitoshi Mori

 
Wood block printI love art, I love music, and I love art about making music. Also: have you seen Isle of Dogs? Surely, this print influenced the opening sequence.

Wood block print

I love art, I love music, and I love art about making music. Also: have you seen Isle of Dogs? Surely, this print influenced the opening sequence.

 

Meadow Walk by Johnny Saabye Jørgensen

 
Oil on canvasI was unboxing this painting, which I purchased from a gallery online. Totally unprompted, my wife Annie says: “Oh, it makes me want to go on a walk in a meadow.” True story.

Oil on canvas

I was unboxing this painting, which I purchased from a gallery online. Totally unprompted, my wife Annie says: “Oh, it makes me want to go on a walk in a meadow.” True story.

 

Seagulls by Masaharu Aoyama

 
Wood block printThe way Aoyama captured a fleeting moment—birds in flight, light on water—always gets me.

Wood block print

The way Aoyama captured a fleeting moment—birds in flight, light on water—always gets me.

 

Park City by Nina Kingston

 
WatercolorThe composition here is super interesting to my eyes. It captures well the feeling of a Utah town nestled in the foothills of the Wasatch Range. Also, this is clearly the old Park City, not the rich-and-rootless resort town you’ve seen on …

Watercolor

The composition here is super interesting to my eyes. It captures well the feeling of a Utah town nestled in the foothills of the Wasatch Range. Also, this is clearly the old Park City, not the rich-and-rootless resort town you’ve seen on TV.

 

Autumn in Lost Creek by Harold Demont Olsen

 
WatercolorI love the history, terrain, and climate of my home state: Utah. My ancestors came here from England. They were poor, and paintings like this make me think of them scratching out a living among our sparse hills and sage brush. (Incidentall…

Watercolor

I love the history, terrain, and climate of my home state: Utah. My ancestors came here from England. They were poor, and paintings like this make me think of them scratching out a living among our sparse hills and sage brush. (Incidentally, this one is badly yellowed; unfortunately, many years ago, somebody mounted it on a piece of masonite with some very acidic glue.)

 

(Title Unknown) by Eunice Petersen

 
Oil on boardThis is one of my favorite thrift store finds. I have looked at and passed on hundreds of questionable thrift-store paintings. For some reason, this one caught my eye. I don’t know anything about Eunice Petersen. I’d like think she’s the…

Oil on board

This is one of my favorite thrift store finds. I have looked at and passed on hundreds of questionable thrift-store paintings. For some reason, this one caught my eye. I don’t know anything about Eunice Petersen. I’d like think she’s the Monet of Manti or something like that. Perhaps she is your grandmother?

 

(Title Unknown) by "Jim"

 
 
WatercolorI love John Singer Sargent’s virtuosic watercolors of Venice. This painting (another thrift store find!) doesn’t belong in the same conversation frankly. And yet that association is why I like it.

Watercolor

I love John Singer Sargent’s virtuosic watercolors of Venice. This painting (another thrift store find!) doesn’t belong in the same conversation frankly. And yet that association is why I like it.

 
 

Monument Valley by Toshi Yoshida

 
Wood block printFor me, there is no scenery more beautiful than the red rocks of southern Utah. And I am a fan of Japanese woodblock prints, particularly the works of the Yoshida family. Toshi Yoshida first published this print around 1971. For me, …

Wood block print

For me, there is no scenery more beautiful than the red rocks of southern Utah. And I am a fan of Japanese woodblock prints, particularly the works of the Yoshida family. Toshi Yoshida first published this print around 1971. For me, it is a perfect marriage of place and technique. Incidentally, Toshi’s father, Hiroshi, published my favorite blockprint, Grand Canyon, 46 years earlier in 1925.

 

Prayer by AJ Knapp

 
ClayI love this bust. I generally associate prayer with bowed heads. Yet this figure’s uplifted head, slightly inclined to one side, suggests a stretching heavenward, a reaching out for the divine. As far as I can tell, Alma John Knapp was a Jr. Hig…

Clay

I love this bust. I generally associate prayer with bowed heads. Yet this figure’s uplifted head, slightly inclined to one side, suggests a stretching heavenward, a reaching out for the divine. As far as I can tell, Alma John Knapp was a Jr. High art teacher in Ogden, Utah. I purchased this from a chiropractor in Ogden who grew up down the street from him. This sat on my dresser for a few months until I took it to work. So naturally, my 8-year-old daughter announced to her Sunday school class that I keep a life-sized sculpture of Jesus in our bedroom. I have had chances to explain, but frankly part of having a sense of humor is not messing with perfection.

 

Our Hilltop Pine by Florence Derby

 
Etching on rice paperThis evokes many happy days hiking in the mountains. The cardboard backing identifies the artist as a member of an art co-op in the Sacramento area circa 1960. I like that detail: I’ve done the art co-op thing too!

Etching on rice paper

This evokes many happy days hiking in the mountains. The cardboard backing identifies the artist as a member of an art co-op in the Sacramento area circa 1960. I like that detail: I’ve done the art co-op thing too!