diff --git a/src/backends/glvisualize.jl b/src/backends/glvisualize.jl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c42848ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backends/glvisualize.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+
+
+# [WEBSITE]
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+immutable GLScreenWrapper
+    window
+    render
+end
+
+function _create_plot(pkg::GLVisualizePackage; kw...)
+  d = Dict(kw)
+  # TODO: create the window/canvas/context that is the plot within the backend (call it `o`)
+  # TODO: initialize the plot... title, xlabel, bgcolor, etc
+  w,r=GLVisualize.glscreen()
+  @async r()
+  Plot(GLScreenWrapper(w,r), pkg, 0, d, Dict[])
+end
+
+
+function _add_series(::GLVisualizePackage, plt::Plot; kw...)
+  d = Dict(kw)
+  # TODO: add one series to the underlying package
+  push!(plt.seriesargs, d)
+  x,y,z=map(Float32,d[:x]), map(Float32,d[:y]), map(Float32,d[:surface].surf)
+  GLVisualize.view(GLVisualize.visualize(x*ones(y)', ones(x)*y', z, :surface))
+  plt
+end
+
+function _add_annotations{X,Y,V}(plt::Plot{GLVisualizePackage}, anns::AVec{@compat(Tuple{X,Y,V})})
+  for ann in anns
+    # TODO: add the annotation to the plot
+  end
+end
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function _before_update_plot(plt::Plot{GLVisualizePackage})
+end
+
+# TODO: override this to update plot items (title, xlabel, etc) after creation
+function _update_plot(plt::Plot{GLVisualizePackage}, d::Dict)
+end
+
+function _update_plot_pos_size(plt::PlottingObject{GLVisualizePackage}, d::Dict)
+end
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# accessors for x/y data
+
+function Base.getindex(plt::Plot{GLVisualizePackage}, i::Int)
+  series = plt.o.lines[i]
+  series.x, series.y
+end
+
+function Base.setindex!(plt::Plot{GLVisualizePackage}, xy::Tuple, i::Integer)
+  series = plt.o.lines[i]
+  series.x, series.y = xy
+  plt
+end
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function _create_subplot(subplt::Subplot{GLVisualizePackage})
+  # TODO: build the underlying Subplot object.  this is where you might layout the panes within a GUI window, for example
+end
+
+function _expand_limits(lims, plt::Plot{GLVisualizePackage}, isx::Bool)
+  # TODO: call expand limits for each plot data
+end
+
+function _remove_axis(plt::Plot{GLVisualizePackage}, isx::Bool)
+  # TODO: if plot is inner subplot, might need to remove ticks or axis labels
+end
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function Base.writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"image/png", plt::PlottingObject{GLVisualizePackage})
+  # TODO: write a png to io
+end
+
+function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, plt::Plot{GLVisualizePackage})
+  # TODO: display/show the plot
+end
+
+function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, plt::Subplot{GLVisualizePackage})
+  # TODO: display/show the subplot
+end
diff --git a/src/backends/supported.jl b/src/backends/supported.jl
index a6926f8e..eb3d3aa7 100644
--- a/src/backends/supported.jl
+++ b/src/backends/supported.jl
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ supportedArgs(::GadflyPackage) = [
     :nlevels,
   ]
 supportedAxes(::GadflyPackage) = [:auto, :left]
-supportedTypes(::GadflyPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :steppre, :steppost, :sticks, 
+supportedTypes(::GadflyPackage) = [:none, :line, :path, :steppre, :steppost, :sticks,
                                    :scatter, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar,
                                    :hline, :vline, :contour]
 supportedStyles(::GadflyPackage) = [:auto, :solid, :dash, :dot, :dashdot, :dashdotdot]
@@ -487,3 +487,68 @@ supportedScales(::PlotlyPackage) = [:identity, :log] #, :log, :log2, :log10, :as
 subplotSupported(::PlotlyPackage) = false
 
 
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+supportedArgs(::GLVisualizePackage) = [
+    # :annotation,
+    # :axis,
+    # :background_color,
+    # :color_palette,
+    # :fillrange,
+    # :fillcolor,
+    # :fillalpha,
+    # :foreground_color,
+    # :group,
+    # :label,
+    # :layout,
+    # :legend,
+    # :linecolor,
+    # :linestyle,
+    # :linetype,
+    # :linewidth,
+    # :linealpha,
+    # :markershape,
+    # :markercolor,
+    # :markersize,
+    # :markeralpha,
+    # :markerstrokewidth,
+    # :markerstrokecolor,
+    # :markerstrokestyle,
+    # :n,
+    # :nbins,
+    # :nc,
+    # :nr,
+    # :pos,
+    # :smooth,
+    # :show,
+    # :size,
+    # :title,
+    # :windowtitle,
+    # :x,
+    # :xlabel,
+    # :xlims,
+    # :xticks,
+    # :y,
+    # :ylabel,
+    # :ylims,
+    # :yrightlabel,
+    # :yticks,
+    # :xscale,
+    # :yscale,
+    # :xflip,
+    # :yflip,
+    # :z,
+    # :tickfont,
+    # :guidefont,
+    # :legendfont,
+    # :grid,
+    # :surface
+    # :nlevels,
+  ]
+supportedAxes(::GLVisualizePackage) = [:auto, :left]
+supportedTypes(::GLVisualizePackage) = [:contour] #, :path, :scatter ,:steppre, :steppost, :sticks, :heatmap, :hexbin, :hist, :bar, :hline, :vline, :contour]
+supportedStyles(::GLVisualizePackage) = [:auto, :solid] #, :dash, :dot, :dashdot, :dashdotdot]
+supportedMarkers(::GLVisualizePackage) = [:none, :auto, :ellipse] #, :rect, :diamond, :utriangle, :dtriangle, :cross, :xcross, :star5] #vcat(_allMarkers, Shape)
+supportedScales(::GLVisualizePackage) = [:identity] #, :log, :log2, :log10, :asinh, :sqrt]
+subplotSupported(::GLVisualizePackage) = false
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index e65556d1..1bd42872 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ function plot!(plt::Plot, args...; kw...)
 
   # get the list of dictionaries, one per series
   seriesArgList, xmeta, ymeta = createKWargsList(plt, groupargs..., args...; d...)
-  
+
   # if we were able to extract guide information from the series inputs, then update the plot
   # @show xmeta, ymeta
   updateDictWithMeta(d, plt.plotargs, xmeta, true)
@@ -372,6 +372,16 @@ function createKWargsList{T<:Real}(plt::PlottingObject, x::AVec, y::AVec, zmat::
   createKWargsList(plt, x, y; kw..., surface = surf, linetype = :contour)
 end
 
+# contours or surfaces... general x, y grid
+function createKWargsList{T<:Real}(plt::PlottingObject, x::AMat{T}, y::AMat{T}, zmat::AMat{T}; kw...)
+  @assert size(zmat) == size(x) == size(y)
+  surf = Surface(convert(Matrix{Float64}, zmat))
+  # surf = Array(Any,1,1)
+  # surf[1,1] = convert(Matrix{Float64}, zmat)
+  createKWargsList(plt, x, y; kw..., surface = surf, linetype = :contour)
+end
+
+
 function createKWargsList(plt::PlottingObject, surf::Surface; kw...)
   createKWargsList(plt, 1:size(surf.surf,1), 1:size(surf.surf,2), convert(Matrix{Float64}, surf.surf); kw...)
 end
@@ -411,7 +421,7 @@ function createKWargsList(plt::PlottingObject; kw...)
     return [], nothing, nothing
     # error("Called plot/subplot without args... must set y in the keyword args.  Example: plot(; y=rand(10))")
   end
-  
+
   if haskey(d, :x)
     return createKWargsList(plt, d[:x], d[:y]; kw...)
   else
@@ -454,4 +464,3 @@ end
 
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
diff --git a/src/plotter.jl b/src/plotter.jl
index 261cfe03..a47e8332 100644
--- a/src/plotter.jl
+++ b/src/plotter.jl
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ immutable UnicodePlotsPackage <: PlottingPackage end
 immutable WinstonPackage      <: PlottingPackage end
 immutable BokehPackage        <: PlottingPackage end
 immutable PlotlyPackage       <: PlottingPackage end
+immutable GLVisualizePackage  <: PlottingPackage end
 immutable NoPackage           <: PlottingPackage end
 
 typealias GadflyOrImmerse @compat(Union{GadflyPackage, ImmersePackage})
@@ -19,7 +20,8 @@ export
   qwt,
   unicodeplots,
   bokeh,
-  plotly
+  plotly,
+  glvisualize
   # winston
 
 gadfly()        = backend(:gadfly)
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ qwt()           = backend(:qwt)
 unicodeplots()  = backend(:unicodeplots)
 bokeh()         = backend(:bokeh)
 plotly()        = backend(:plotly)
+glvisualize()   = backend(:glvisualize)
 # winston()       = backend(:winston)
 
 backend_name(::GadflyPackage)       = :gadfly
@@ -38,6 +41,7 @@ backend_name(::UnicodePlotsPackage) = :unicodeplots
 backend_name(::QwtPackage)          = :qwt
 backend_name(::BokehPackage)        = :bokeh
 backend_name(::PlotlyPackage)       = :plotly
+backend_name(::GLVisualizePackage)  = :plotly
 backend_name(::NoPackage)           = :none
 
 include("backends/supported.jl")
@@ -49,6 +53,7 @@ include("backends/pyplot.jl")
 include("backends/immerse.jl")
 include("backends/winston.jl")
 include("backends/bokeh.jl")
+include("backends/glvisualize.jl")
 # include("backends/plotly.jl")
 
 
@@ -83,9 +88,10 @@ function backendInstance(sym::Symbol)
   sym == :winston && return WinstonPackage()
   sym == :bokeh && return BokehPackage()
   sym == :plotly && return PlotlyPackage()
+  sym == :glvisualize && return GLVisualizePackage()
   sym == :none && return NoPackage()
   error("Unsupported backend $sym")
-end 
+end
 
 
 type CurrentBackend
@@ -132,7 +138,7 @@ CurrentBackend(sym::Symbol) = CurrentBackend(sym, backendInstance(sym))
 # end
 
 function pickDefaultBackend()
-  for pkgstr in ("PyPlot", "Immerse", "Qwt", "Gadfly", "UnicodePlots", "Bokeh")
+  for pkgstr in ("PyPlot", "Immerse", "Qwt", "Gadfly", "UnicodePlots", "Bokeh", "GLVisualize")
     if Pkg.installed(pkgstr) != nothing
       return backend(symbol(lowercase(pkgstr)))
     end
@@ -196,7 +202,7 @@ function backend()
         # @eval const pycolorbar = PyPlot.pywrap(PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.colorbar"))
         if !isa(Base.Multimedia.displays[end], Base.REPL.REPLDisplay)
           PyPlot.ioff()  # stops wierd behavior of displaying incomplete graphs in IJulia
-          
+
           # # TODO: how the hell can I use PyQt4??
           # "pyqt4"=>:qt_pyqt4
           # PyPlot.backend[1] = "pyqt4"
@@ -243,6 +249,15 @@ function backend()
         rethrow(err)
       end
 
+  elseif currentBackendSymbol == :glvisualize
+      try
+        @eval import GLVisualize
+        @eval export GLVisualize
+      catch err
+        warn("Couldn't setup GLVisualize")
+        rethrow(err)
+      end
+
     elseif currentBackendSymbol == :winston
       warn("Winston support is deprecated and broken.  Try another backend: $BACKENDS")
       try
@@ -272,7 +287,7 @@ function backend(pkg::PlottingPackage)
 end
 
 function backend(modname)
-  
+
   # set the PlottingPackage
   if modname == :qwt
     CURRENT_BACKEND.pkg = QwtPackage()
@@ -290,6 +305,8 @@ function backend(modname)
     CURRENT_BACKEND.pkg = BokehPackage()
   elseif modname == :plotly
     CURRENT_BACKEND.pkg = PlotlyPackage()
+elseif modname == :glvisualize
+    CURRENT_BACKEND.pkg = GLVisualizePackage()    
   else
     error("Unknown backend $modname.  Choose from: $BACKENDS")
   end