At least once per day, my husband and I have an interaction that results in my saying, “Never die. I can’t date again.” It is usually some bizarre, embarrassing action or phrase or conversation that reveals a level of intimacy that feels abnormal. We are a metaphorical three-legged monster –connected at the hip. And while I am grateful, I can also recognize it for the freakish co-dependence that it is.
“Don’t force me to change, but let me change, you know?“ –Ken as interviewed by Emilyann Gachko
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Today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Emilyann Gachko has taken on a sort of documentary process of the personalities of internet dating. She puts a human, humane face on the people who find themselves looking for a life partner. The project is just beginning, but I was intrigued enough to read every entry so far. I still have no interest in dating again, but “Love, Me” has made me realize that people looking for love are just like me. Shared experience and needs and desires build tolerance. Tolerance is good.
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Fall in Love withAAAD Artist of the Day, photographerEmilyann Gachko!
(left to right)IntercessionandCinder & Smoke(oil and acrylic on wood) byTracie Cheng
“I want a calm understanding to be felt, despite what may never be known. I want us to find more possibility in the intangible, and allow for it to come into its own.” —Tracie Cheng
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We grow up hearing “anything’s possible”. But is it really? Possibilities vary from person to person. Privilege aside, doesn’t the individual’s talents and tendencies shape what is truly possible? I believe we find our possibilities where we look for them. I struggle with faith but find the need for absolutes stifles creativity. The work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Tracie Cheng suggests possibility in the intangible which requires faith in some form. Maybe it is dichotomy, not contradiction.
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Ponder the possibilities with AAAD Artist of the Day, Tracie Cheng!
I have been struggling with identity lately, struggling to find my voice again –both metaphorically & literally. Art is supposed to evoke emotion, possibly incite action. Added to the experience of the audience, art can evolve, change stories and inspire change for the better, or worse. The work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Brooks Salzwedel feels intimate, makes me feel vulnerable, maybe a little paranoid. This organic drawing nestled in a foreign shrine are seemingly devoid of connection, sans proximity. But, then again, ‘you never’ know what another person battles.
“Production of Belonging #1 & #2”(collaged acrylic on paper) byDana Hargrove
“As we traverse the land, we may find our search for utopia
leads us on a journey that offers, on the surface, little more
than a façade of our ideals.” —Dana Hargrove
After another week on the road, it is easy for me to begin to see patterns in the towns through which I drive — aspects of the constructs that seem to reflect back the personality of the town, be they real or fabricated. Imagine my delight to find the work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Dana Hargrove. I invite you to take the time to investigate more of Dana’s work and her exploration of this concept.
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Learn more about AAAD Artist of the Day, the Aspect Formations series byDana Hargrove!
I struggle with self-doubt like every artist, like every person. I struggle with balance and/or learning to live with imbalance. I want peace and tranquility, but lack the self-control to say “no” often enough to allow time for the peace. I find myself annoyed by the gospel of “busy” but fulfilling the stereotype repeatedly. Art is the exception. Art prompts but stills me, makes things clearer.
The mixed-media collage work today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Laura Lein-Svencner gave me a little perspective today, helped me weigh options. Pause for just a moment…
“Making art makes me conscious of my hands again, and all
of my work requires time-intensive, redundant
movements that remind me that not everything is as
instantaneous as a click of a mouse.” –Elise Wehle
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I get her, this artist.The meticulous work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Elise Wehle combines meticulous hand-cut detail with patient composition, creating lush portraits and landscapes that make me long for travel and vacation. Art’s truest purpose is to evoke emotion & prompt action. Where does this work transport you?
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Dream with the hand-cut collage work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Elise Wehle!
“I explore the relationship of the subjects as an almost religious icon, as a portrait. Everything I paint has an energy that I strive to bring to the surface.”–Jennie Traill Schaeffer
It seems that today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Jennie Traill Schaeffer finds an inner purpose or being, a light if you will, in all objects. It doesn’t upset me at all that she chose cupcakes this time. Enjoy this sweet treat…
The loss & violence in Orlando this week is unbearable. I was once watching an interview with today’s artist in which he was trying to speak to his inspiration, his inner voice. He said,”I represent this world, this culture.” I heard this and wondered about the world of which he spoke, this world of children in arresting situations, and hoped his work wasn’t REALLY representative of the world. I don’t want the world to be that painful, that complicated. But it is. I love this work. I will always love this work. Today, I wish it didn’t feels quite so real. Today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Gehard Demetz has put a face on our world today. (continues below)
“Stones in my Pocket”& detail (wood sculpture) byGehard Demetz
“I represent this world, this culture.” —Gehard Demetz
When I came home from the hospital with my bouncing baby boy so many years ago, I found a bottle of cold duck in my fridge –a gift from my mother. Not champagne. Cold Duck. This particular variety was a blend of port & champagne. I never asked her why, and I’ve never had it since. But, after a pregnancy free from alcohol for both myself and my husband, it only took a glass a piece to make us a little giddy and able to let go of the fears and stress of being a new parent, if only for an hour or so. It is a fond, silly memory that I treasure. When I came across this work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Vivienne Strauss, it put a smile on my face. The perfect complement. (continues below)
A self-taught painter with a background in Philosophy, Vivienne Strauss works predominately in oil and watercolor. Her paintings often migrating around the humor of being human – shared dejection, things left unsaid, false arrogance, disbelief, inspired irony. She is an observer and chronicler, in the actual world in which she exists and in the world of characters she creates, exposing, with precise wit, the subterranean elements lying in wait beneath the deceptively quotidian.
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Enjoy the witty observation in the work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day,Vivienne Strauss!
Gaining perspective requires your finding your place in the present day by looking BOTH backward toward the path traveled (or not) & forward to embrace possibilities. When I came across this pair of portraits by today’s AotD, I found this idea beautifully illuminated. Ironically, Robison is primarily a plein air painter, which cannot be more rooted in the present. The work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Kathleen M. Robison, offers a beautiful glimpse of Summer contemplation. (continues below).
“White Scarf”&“Blue Sun Dress”(plein air oil painting) byKathleen M. Robison
“Painted this oil painting of a girl who was looking away into the blue sky. The bright light on the scarf drew me in, so did the movement of her hair. Her attitude that day reminded me of the ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’.” — Kathleen M. Robison
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Contemplate new directions with the plein air work of AAAD’s Artist of the Day,Kathleen M. Robison!
