This morning we take a look at the work of Ireland-born artist Ian Cumberland. He studied fine art at University of Ulster and has since won several Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery and Royal Ulster Academy.  

'Ablution is a series of paintings that derive from performances that submerges the body into specific sites, addressing rituals of cleansing and maintenance, focusing on gender, labor, sexuality and race. What does it mean to be clean in today’s society? Using water as a metaphor for purity... these performances dive into history’s religious transformation from paganism; water as a symbol for fertility and strength...' Ana Teresa Fernandez

In honor of Denmark winning in the Euro Cup yesterday over the Netherlands, we are really into the work of Danish painter, Peter Ravn. Known primarily for his work in design and music, Ravn has been working on these vivid, bold series of paintings, which are at times disturbing but always engaging.

Project One Gallery presents Sex, Money & Power, a solo exhibition of photorealism paintings by Nick Flatt this Wednesday, June 6. Born in Dallas, Texas, Flatt recently completed a degree at San Francisco's Academy of Art University as a realist painter and sculptor notable for his large-format portraits.

On June 1st, Jenny Morgan will open a new set of photorealist paintings in Kith and Kin at Plus Gallery in Denver, Colorado. The show marks Morgan's 3rd solo show at Plus, with the gallery noting "Morgan's riveting portraits push far past traditional realism, carrying a visceral and emotional impact."

Today we give you a look at some exquisite paintings from the late American photorealist, John Kacere, who almost exclusively concentrated on the mid-section of the female body. Kacere painted his first photorealist painting in 1969 involving the mid-section of a female dressed in lingerie.

We are really trying our best to describe these paintings without being crass or offensive, because no matter what we write, somehow it will seem both crass and offensive. So we will go with the description from a website that describes the work of German artist Lilli Hill as featuring "lush females, zero gravity." That said, we are really enjoying the realistic portraits of lush females from Hill, a bit of a fresh take on the classic portrait. 

We are enjoying these photorealistic paintings by Laura Sanders this morning, as they remind us of looking through an old family picture album of an old summer vacation. The series, Pools, Lakes, and Rivers, was completed from 2009—10.

Maybe it is because we are in Sri Lanka and we have eaten curry with each meal, but Mary Ellen Johnson's photorealistic paintings of sundaes, waffles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cherry pies and sticky buns are really making our mouth's water.

This week's edition of Easy Like Sunday Morning in our Erotica Department took things a little darker than usual with artist Jen Mann's deadly beauties. Adorned in garlands of alluring yet toxic flowers, at first glance these graceful, lovely women seem to embrace the virtues of purity and feminine fragility. We decided to take a bigger look at Mann's work.