My brain spins. And my mouth usually keeps up. I turned to my husband recently & asked, “Are your ears tired? I can’t seem to shut up.” I struggle to quiet my mind, hence twenty years of insomnia. Some days I require a sole project or a single object upon which to focus to have a more solitary soundtrack in my head. I find the work of today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Mark Castator, requires me to concentrate on the forms within the form which is oddly calming. (continues below)
In addition to being the Editor of AAAD, I spend a considerable amount of time consulting with artists individually on branding their work, unifying their message & the philosophical packaging of their work for consumption. Technology is vehicle that allows delivery of work that is complete in contrast with that very technology. I appreciate the push to expand my knowledge, to remain relevant, to drag a few artists wit me. Today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Alicia Tormey finds her own motivation in testing boundaries. (continues below)
“Galaxy”(left)&“Swoon”(right)byAlicia Tormey, encaustic mixed media
“An insatiable curiosity drives me to constantly experiment while testing the boundaries of this medium. The mystery of not knowing what’s going to happen next has the power to hold my attention for long stretches of time. The unpredictable nature of encaustic and the open flame of a torch captivates me and pulls me along for a never ending ride.” —Alicia Tormey
February is a building month, a building, re-building, structuring, restructuring month for me.Some of the balls that I am supposed to keep in the air can sit idly on the ground for a few weeks in February while I throw the other balls a little higher hoping they gain air. That’s the dream —an illusion, really. Most days I feel like all the balls are on the ground, piling up around me. Today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Laurie Freitag has clearly been lurking in my psyche. (continues below)
“‘The Lost Years’, of which ‘Balls’ is a part, focuses on the years before five in which most people cannot remember. I look at photographs of myself before five and see how happy I was and wish I could remember those times. Does the mind remember sad times more than happy times? Was I posing for the camera with a smile? What was real?”
I try to live transparently. I have no illusions about online safety or personal privacy. As a result, it is fairly easy to find out anything you could ever want to know about me. I find it peaceful, really (the not hiding of it all). There ARE days however when my want to be transparent gives way to discomfort of perceived invisibility –both physical, artistic & emotional. Today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Cristina Troufa questions and explores the self as other through an extraordinary series of self-portraits. (continues below)
I have spent a lifetime not buying still life work, because it doesn’t usually call to me. I like my work non-representational, controversial, emotionally raw. But I keep finding work that defies my notion of what is and is not still life. Today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Karen O’Neil creates contemporary work with bright hues that only work because of her masterful use of neutrals –grays abound. (continues below)
This site does not debate political issues –except those that surround food. But let’s speak generally. The current political circus in the U.S. and abroad seems unreal to me. I read quotes & sound bites everyday that indicate paint pervasively dark image of humanity. Today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Don Bergland stages glimpses of the surreal world –both utopian & dystopian– only previously imagined. If feel like the perfect fit today. (continues below)
“Fallow Atonement”by AAAD Artist of the DayDon Bergland
“I like to challenge accepted cultural dogma and ideology. Each of my works features a theatrical set defined by a stage with actors, props, and a backdrop. The actors in the set consist of everyday objects brought into combinations and interactions that attempt to elicit inquiry. The content of the artwork focuses on themes such as time, aging, nostalgia, the footless pursuit of Utopia, and the conditions of ideology which disable our rational minds. Each image is constructed using conventions of visual realism, but with alterations that offer dreamlike possibilities. Themes and objects appear and re-appear. Each work becomes a framed snapshot of a moment in theatrical space, noticed briefly, and then forgotten once more, a fraction of time when reality is breached and a frozen glimpse into the mental theatre of Eternity is experienced, an opening when the viewer can catch the faint hint of cotton candy breezing in from the sideshow midway, the pastel moment of a lost memory, a slight reminder that the past is never absent, and that the future is always in front of us.” —Don Bergland
Discover dreamlike possibilities AAAD #ArtistoftheDayof Don Bergland!
As the years go by, I have come to view the details with different eyes. With people, I have a far greater capacity for empathy even without intimate knowledge of every detail. But with art, I find myself captivated by the minutia. I enjoy dissecting the elements. The sculpture of today’s Artist of the Day, Ellen Jewett, keeps me busy for hours. A cursory glance may reveal spectacular figurative work, but the individual elements offer tiny narratives to be combined into a more complicated world view. Mesmerizing. (continues below)
“At first glance my work explores the more modern prosaic concept of nature: a source of serene nostalgia balanced with the more visceral experience of ‘wildness’ as remarkably alien and indifferent. Upon closer inspection of each ‘creature’ the viewer may discover a frieze on which themes as familiar as domestication and as abrasive as domination fall into sharp relief.” — Ellen Jewett
I live amongst the big trees, copious wildlife and dizzying views of the Great Smoky Mountains. Nature HERE seems rough and rugged and and indomitable. It is easy to forget the delicate wonder and our responsibility to protect it. Nothing could be clearer in the work ofAnne ten Donkelaar, today’sArtist of the Day. (continues below)
“Weeds become poetry, each unique twig gets attention, nature seems to float.”
“A damaged butterfly, a broken twig, a bumblebee, some strangely grown weeds: I find all these unique discoveries in my path and then take them home to my studio. Here, I take my time to explore the objects and try to work out how I can show each one to it’s best advantage. My finds inspire me. While looking at them I can invent my own stories about their existence and their lives. By protecting these precious pieces under glass, I give the objects a second lifeand hope to inspire people to make up their own stories about them.” — Anne ten Donkelaar
Upcycling is close to my heart. As with many, my obsession with the reuse of discarded objects resulted from the collecting of “art supplies”. Consider the previous quotes as air quotes from my bemused husband. Collecting fueled my love for upcycling AND assemblage. Today’s Artist of the Day, Freya Jobbinshas such a smart sense of irony & humor. This work is a delightful comment on consumerism and the untouchable nature of the creative object. (continues below)
““I am interested in generating a range of responses to existing cultural objects, which have been placed out of context. The irony of my plastic works is that I take a material that was created to be touched, and I make it untouchable as an artwork.” ” — Freya Jobbins
The season of mass consumption is upon us. I will not waste my time trying to dissuade you of the want to give gifts to loved ones. I just want to ask you to consider value. Does the item you are bestowing add to the recipient’s lives? Does it help them grow? Does it better equip them to dispel hate or anger? Does it convey how you value the one who will receive it? Mixed media artist Frédérique Morrel, today’s Artist of the Day.,has addressed the question of value beautifully, and I offer it to you as yet another perspective. (continues below)
“…these neglected tapestries, seen and re-seen along these journeys, suddenly appeared to me as the idealized transference of my own visionary. These tapestries appeared to be the most accurate material to illustrate my work about modern vanities, loss of the paradise and rebirth in a better world. These tapestries are the most obvious and literally impicturing vocabulary to depict loss of some values, consequently to the injection of hyper consuming in occidental societies. These tapestries are telling the stories of these key and essential casualties:
loss of sale value : these tapestries are expensive (material & time consuming), but worth peanuts.
loss of aesthetic value : these tapestries are considered ugly and out of date, but have their own hidden beauty, particularly for those who are them.
loss of emotional value : these tapestries are telling love and family happiness stories, but are abandoned and thrown into mud.
“I revitalize them, offering a redemption, beneath animal appearance and covered with this popular language.” –Frédérique Morrel
