The Artist - Roger Cummiskey.

—paintings, drawings, sculptures & photographs
—SELECTED FROM OVER 340 ARTWORKS, 56 ARTISTS WORLD-WIDE

Vote for December 02. Thank You.

YES! Papli got second place!

Papli by Milly - R Cummiskey

YESSIR, c’est mon Dada!

New York, December 2011  — BAREBRUSH presents Best-of-the-Rest calendar for December 2011. Barebrush offers the best art gallery and art contest, online since 2006. A total of 345 artworks were entered by 56 artists world-wide. Guest curator, Ilene Skeen, Barebrush.com, chose 31 artworks for the 31 days in December. Viewers can see the Best-of-the-Rest calendar on the website and vote in the monthly poll for their favorite. Winners of the poll are determined by the public vote.The 31 artists represented in December, 2011 in day order are: 1 Cynthia Angeles, 2 Roger Cummiskey, 3 Jean Marcellino, 4 Malcolm McCoull, 5 Justin Austin, 6 Ione Citrin, 7 Laura Warburton, 8 A. Galban, 9 Jacqui Morgan, 10 Guadalupe Herrera, 11 Jon Rettich, 12 Geoffrey Stein, 13 Donald Kolberg, 14 Malorie Shannon, 15 Robert Nizamov, 16 Chuck Miller, 17 Haydee Torres, 18 Dan McCormack, 19 Alan Appel, 20 Gary Manzo, 21 Jacqueline Saunders, 22 Joseph Mays, 23 Robert Nizamov, 24 Steven Gorney, 25 Gil Conradis, 26 Jean Marcellino, 27 Angelique Moselle Price, 28 David Schulz, 29 Donelli J. DiMaria, 30 Pacifico Palumbo, 31 Eddie Torres.

About the December 2011 Calendar

We’ll Get There—The December 2011 Best-of-the-Rest Barebrush calendar was selected by Ilene Skeen, founder and CEO of Barebrush.com. Here we see Barebrush sensibilities applied to portraits, clothed figures, animals, landscapes, still-life and abstracts. The January 2012 Best-of-the-Rest calendar will be selected by Joyce Pommer, founder and director of Franklin 54 Gallery in the Chelsea art district of New York City. When Ms. Skeen was asked what she meant by “Barebrush sensibilities,” she had this to say:

When I started Barebrush in 2006, I worried a lot about spammers and pornographers, who have a terrible reputation for being nasty people whom you don’t want to know. I tried to structure Barebrush to reward professionalism, hard work, integrity, honesty, fairness and simple niceness. All along, the Barebrush nude calendars have kept getting better and better, but the proof of the success of my efforts may well be most evident in this new calendar series, the Best-of-the-Rest.

When I looked at the art offered by Barebrush Artists in these new genres, I realized that I had succeeded in attracting the very nicest group of artists you would ever want to know. Here are people who love people and love life. They love being artists themselves, and their representations of the world are a blessing.

There are many portraits in December, but the Best-of-the-Rest begins the month with an appropriate “big picture” of the human condition. The Winding Road is an oil painting by Cynthia Angeles of Washington, DC. Although the road appears straight in the image, the trees are overwhelming and the human tiny. The future, implied by possible twists and turns beyond the horizon, is unknown. Undaunted, people keep going. That’s what we do, and sometimes we have a great time doing it. There may be regrets, but also no turning back and few do-overs. Ms. Skeen added, “To me, this painting represents the indomitable human spirit, and in particular, the spirit of Barebrush Artists.”

Two famous personages grace the December calendar: Portrait of Sandra Day O’Connor, an oil of the now-retired Supreme Court Justice. It was painted from life by Barebrush Featured Artist, Jean Marcellino of New York. This sensitive portrait is hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC as part of its permanent collection. Marcellino also displays her sensitivity in an interesting three-head pencil study, Three Phases of Anna Marie (day 26).The second personage portrait, Salvador Dali II by Featured Artist Angelique Moselle Price of Nashville, TN, is a whimsical, mixed media take on the eccentric artist showing the tips of his mustache transformed into flowers.

Other portraits include a watercolor by Barebrush Featured Artist, Jacqui Morgan, Mimi Vang Olsen with her Daughters. Featured Artist, Roger Cummiskey offers a delightful “abstract” child’s colored drawing, Papli by Milly, inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Central to the calendar in spirit and in fact is Ying Yang by Malorie Shannon of St. Augustine, FL. Looking closely at all of the works is a joy. One might laugh out loud at the humorous symbolism of the pinhole camera print, Bridget_L_10-11-09–3AE by Barebrush Featured Artist, Dan McCormack of upstate New York and the satire of D.I.Y. #2, an oil still-life by Barebrush Featured Artist, Donelli DiMaria of New Mexico. Animals are well represented in Best-of-the-Rest: Duke and True, a drawing of greyhounds by Barebrush Featured Artist, Jon Rettich of New York City; roosters, Trio De Gallos, an acrylic by Guadalupe Herrera of Houston, TX; and an oil, Box Turtle by Gil Conradis of Melbourne, FL. Chuck Miller, of Corsicanna, TX, gives us more good-natured humor with an oil, Size 9, in his words, “Showing more than is actually there to see.”

Ms. Skeen concluded:

I am very proud and also in awe. It’s been a while on this path, but I feel that maybe the journey has just begun.

Three artists are making their calendar debut: Laura Warburton of Toronto, Canada with an abstract, Beside Myself; Gary Manzo of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, with a digital offering, Double Sailor; and Steven Gorney of New York City, a pastel, Henry in a Straw Hat.

About the Barebrush Art Calendar Contests

Each of the artists selected for the calendar receives two (2) complimentary listings. The public may vote for “The People’s Choice” the poll which includes all of the art in the calendar. The top three artists in “The People’s Choice” receive one (1) complementary listing. Winners announced January 1st.Winning art is historic and is viewable in the calendar archives (dating from 2006). Winning art becomes a permanent part of the history of Barebrush.com. In addition, each artwork’s detail page show the date and curator of each calendar win as part of its Barebrush Provenance. The Barebrush program of retiring artworks which have been selected for three calendars is designed to encourage all artists to show their best new work and keep their online galleries fresh and interesting.

The goal of Barebrush is to increase the public awareness, acceptance and appreciation of the art of the nude. Online since 2006.

Papli by Milly by Roger Cummiskey