Brian Smith makes fantastic surreal oil paintings, delightfully dark. The first two are from a Painting-a-Day series (done on 5X7″ panels, selling for $100 each).

And here are a few other recent works:

I love all the melting, pulling and swirling sensations in these paintings, as if the subjects and their surroundings are a single (often tortured) entity.

See more on his website and blog.