A friend of mine put me onto this guy's work the other week. Unreal stuff.
http://www.rossmcdonnell.com

This man – Jamie Saunders – is exhibiting photos in a new venue I'm after painting. It goes by the name of 'The Worksmans Club', definitely a place worth checking out if you're a fan of Indie and Rock music.
I love his 'Conditioned Space' series. Photography that's right up my street. The 'Light at Night' work is very strong too. Hmmm, must drop the man a line to see if he'd be willing to part with a few prints!
http://www.jamiesaunders.com

I can't get over this man's talent. The scale, style, composition, use of colour.... I could go on. Everything he seems to do reaks of awesomeness. Be sure to have a goo at the vids on his page to see his skills, quite sickening to watch. :)
http://www.aryz.es/

A number of years ago I was lucky enough to attend a talk given by Bridget Riley. At the time, I had no prioir knowledge of the lady and her spectacular body of work. Before Riley, Escher is probably the only optical artist I had come across or had taken a keen interst in. I remember the first time I saw her work, as it came up on the screen at the talk, I was blown away by it and am still today. The fact that she was there to put it all in context and that she did so in such a humble and informative manner added to the experience all the more. Unfortunately and bizarrely, she doesn't have a site of her own. So...
for further info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Riley   
and for more on op art   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_art

Being an avid enthusiast of handpainted type, I thought I had struck gold when a friend of mine sent me on a link
the signage painter Kevin Freeney below. A dying craft for sure, the Flickr link at the end of this post gives a snap shot of a time in Dublin when there was an appreciation for the skill. 

Kevin Freeney 1919-1986 was a Signwriter from Dublin, Ireland.
"Dublin Street Life & Lore" by Kevin C. Kearns said of Kevin:

"Signwriting goes back at least three generations in his family. Back in the 1930's he rambled through Dublin's streets on a bike or with a pushcart carrying his paints and brushes. In that period the city's streetscapes were elegantly embroidered with handwritten shop and pub fascias. Having done "at least 700 pubs and shopfronts" inDublin, the most famed streets — O'Connell, Henry, Grafton, and Capel— all carried his personalised three-dimensional relief lettering and ornamentation. His fellow craftsmen hailed him as a "Master".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gentlemanofletters/