Swedish artist Benjamin Björklund lives a simple life in a farm house on Sweden’s west coast and his oil and watercolor paintings reflect this life. His work usually portrays the people and animals that surround him, such as his dog, Solomon, and other pets like rabbits, pigs, and mice. He’s also inspired by physical or emotional situations that he has experienced throughout his life; before becoming an artist, Björklund had a varied career working as a prison night guard, a psychiatric nurse, and a veterinary technician student. To look at Björklund’s paintings feels like looking into a dream. They have a mysterious quality, which he achieves with soft and impulsive strokes of the paint that appears impressionistic. Although his subjects are emotionally exposed, the mask of light or paint that obscures their faces makes them anonymous and unreachable. Björklund explains that his pieces border with a surreal world, “happy mistakes, being borne from spontaneous actions.”
Spanish artist Ivana Flores crafts pop-surrealist oil paintings with both a childlike sense of whimsy and ominous undertones. At grand sizes, the works carry an absorbing quality that pulls you into her worlds. Her work has been described as “reality, dream, everyday life and imagination merge at a turning point of boundless consciousness of self-image and world.”
Dogs are called man's best friend for a reason. Anyone who owns a dog understands that life long bond. For Seoul, Korea based artist 
Amy Crehore brings her joyful paintings to La Luz de Jesus Gallery with the aptly named "Bathers, Buskers & Cats." The show, running through Dec. 1 at the Los Angeles space, offers a set of oil on linen works that move through time, cultures, and touches of surrealism, all while staying true to that title.