Inspiration: Artist, Henri Hayden

I especially love these colorful, abstracted landscapes

Henri Hayden and Samuel Beckett

Polish-born painter, Henri Hayden (1883 - 1976) lived and painted in France. To see more of his work, visit the Mirian Schiell Gallery in Toronto, Canada.

Inspiration: Photographers, Torkil Gudnason & Barbara Cole

Amazing photography by Danish-born, Torkil Gudnason--To see more of his work, visit his web site at torkilgudnason.com or Meter Gallery in New York, which sells limited edition photographs from contemporary artists.

A former model, high school drop-out, and self-taught photographic artist, Barbara Cole found photography--and found herself. To see more of her exquisite work, visit her web site, barbara cole.com. Or to purchase limited edition, signed prints, visit the Meter Gallery, in NYC.

Inspiration: American, Andrew Bucci

Andrew Bucci was born (1922) and raised in Mississippi and trained at The Art Institute of Chicago. I especially love his Matisse-like figurative paintings from the 1950's inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. You can see more of his work at the Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans or Browns Fine Art in Jackson, Mississippi.

Inspiration: American Artist, Betty Lane

American painter, Betty Lane (1907 - 1996)--to learn more about this artist and view her work, visit bettylane.com, the Julie Heller Gallery in Provincetown, Maine, or Sullivan Goss in Santa Barbara,

Inspiration: American Artists, Mose Tolliver & Nellie Mae Rowe

Mose Tolliver

Self-taught artist, Mose Tolliver (1920 - 2006), was born into a sharecropping family in rural Alabama. After an accident that left him disabled, he began to paint, often using house paint as his medium. To see more of his work, visit Cargo Folk Art, Orange Hill Art, or the Barbara Archer Gallery in Georgia.

Nellie Mae Rowe (1900 - 1982), a self-taught artist, was one of ten children born to a former slave in rural Georgia. In 1999 the Museum of American Folk Art in New York mounted a one-woman show of her work. To see more of her paintings, visit the Barbara Archer Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia.