After earning both a BFA & a MS degree at UT Knoxville, CARROLL began her art career as an illustrator. Art direction led her into years of talent & production work. In her second career, Robbins has taught drawing, painting and photography for all levels in public schools.
Carroll's mixed media works demonstrates both her perspective of humanity and the stories associated with objects, people, or landscapes. Currently, she enjoys incorporating her original photography into her mixed media work.
REHRING expresses moments & emotions in human existence that are real. In an ever-increasing digital presence, she strives to share authentic moments that will last beyond the click of a delete button. Her focus is the human figure in both representational & narrative settings--including still life & plein air. A Knoxville resident, she exhibits in nat'l juried shows, often in the southeast. Born in Chattanooga, she was raised in Florida & earned both a BS from The Univ. of Miami (awarded William Oberman Award, best drawing) & a MFA from The Univ. of TN (1990 Artist of the Year).
With the arrival of February, I find myself restless and ready to move on. My family is on the cusp of big changes, and I am finding it hard to do more than hold my breath and wait. The problem with that is that the changes aren’t going to happen in any real way for two years. I can’t hold my breath for two years–literally or figuratively. I like aged cheese, but two year in my fridge would not be a good thing, really.
This month’s artist shows both gratitude for “right now” as well as hope for the future. Her work explores the both comfort and the claustrophobia associated with staying where you are–without denying the need to go.
ArtAndArtDeadlines.com is proud to claim Emilyann Gachko as this month’s Featured Artist. This work calls attention to self-expression through your personal landscape. It can’t be all cheddar for everyone all the time, folks. To be fair, there’s also mozzarella and brie and Stilton and...
Emily Gachko was raised in Cranford, New Jersey–where all the shooting for her current project has taken place. Gachko majored in Fine Arts with a concentration in Photography at Ramapo College of NJ –winnging Best in Show with her Senior Thesis Exhibition. She aspires to get her MFA in Photography and teach photography at the collegiate level. Gachko currently lives in Spring Lake, New Jersey, where she has a variety of jobs teaching kids and and working with horses.
Talk to me about your process when searching for subjects. Are the models friends, peers or acquaintances? “So, I got the idea for the project living at home with parents, which quite frankly, I was not thrilled about. I wanted to make lemonade out of the lemons that was living situation, so to speak. That’s how I landed on the idea. I started out with friends, and then friends of friends, and then eventually I would go to bars with said friends, and they would point people out to me that they vaguely knew and thought might live at home with their parents. And I would approach them, and explain the project, and ask if I come home to their house and photograph them. Despite being a total stranger to most of these people, only one person ever said no!”
Talk to me about the portraiture aspect of your work. “I wanted the people in the image to be very matter of fact, in that they didn’t give you any kind of overt emotion to go off or decide the tone of the photograph by say, their expressions. But in a way, the sitters are still the most important part of the photograph, in that they designed the space that envelops them. I wanted people to look at each photo and really get a feel for that person, of their individuality. The whole photograph makes up the portrait, not just the sitter, but the sitter is who assigns the most important part of the photograph’s identity.”
Finding the balance between people & their self-imposed habitats or between gratitude & anxiety creates a beautiful tension in your work. Was that your intention? Thank you! Yes, I definitely sough to portray the tension between the individuals and the rooms themselves, mostly in that a lot of the environments have things that are clearly left over from childhood, and all of the sitters are young adults.”
What style or school of art do you think work fits into? “I would say environmental portraiture. Even after this project, this is a style of art that I’m very much interested. The way that people both interact with and are informed by their environments. I really fascinates me.”
Talk to me about the two artists (one living, one dead) that have most influenced your work and why. “Photographer William Eggleston is one of my favorites, and a huge inspiration, in the way that he so elegantly captures every day life. Dead? Joseph Cornell. He was one of the first artists I really loved, and he way he works with color, objects, and space within his shadow boxes is really beautiful.”
What is your favorite food addiction? It IS a food-themed blog after all. “Can I say pizza, even though that is super basic? I don’t care, my answer is definitely pizza, haha!” Pizza is always the right answer. Always.
What if your favorite snack food obsession? “Cheese and crackers, so not too far off from pizza, haha. Or Phish Food Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, depending on my mood.”
What’s coming up next for you? “I’m hoping to start work on another project that’s also sort of about suburban living, but I don’t really have the details hashed out yet so I don’t want to say too much about it until the idea comes into fruition! Other than that, I’d like to experiment with some collage and mixed media work. I took a class on it in college and it was my favorite one.”
Thank you, Emilyann, for reminding us to appreciate where we are RIGHT NOW.
MITCHELL created Crystal Illumination Art to bring the transformative quality of illumination, light & color to the human experience and celebrate its ability to inspire, heal and nourish our physical, mental, emotional & spiritual well being. The refractory & reflective light emanate through prisms of crystals stimulating the senses & evoking a visual dimension that captivates viewers. Art is a universal language. Mitchell aspires to continue lighting the way for people to experience this transformative sensory art experience.
With the arrival of January, I finally been able to concentrate on comfort –and yearly nesting maintenance of both my literal home and second home, this blog. My own art is still in flux and the reduction of my belongings in in full swing. As I prepare to purposefully downsize once again, I am happy to be liberating my belongings into the hands of others who are more interested than I in owning stuff. As you might imagine, I seem to be divesting myself of kitchen wares the slowest. I let go of the ice cream maker this week. But, between you and me, I did add a digital thermometer for cheese making. I mean really, doesn’t everyone need 6 sizes of melon ballers? Of course.
This month’s artist both celebrates and laments our kitchen icons. Her work explores our connection to the tools of domesticity and the roles they play in defining our roles in life–real and imagine, chosen and not. Separating me from my mixer just got harder.
AAAD is proud to feature the work of Jennie Traill Schaeffer. This work calls attention to how what we own speaks to who we are. It isn’t all pots and percolators...
Contemporary artist Jennie Traill Schaeffer holds a BFA in Painting and Art Education from Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. She studied with painters Jerome Witkin, Gary Trento, and John Thompson while studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Jennie received the “Hiram Gee Award,” given each year to a graduating senior painting major.
Jennie grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, and comes from a lineage of happy artists (visual, musical, and performing). She and her husband, Lee Goldberg, are happy to now call New Jersey home along with their adorable sons, Joel & Auggie–and exuberant dog, Ringo.
Tell me about your art education–both the self-taught and the formal instruction. “I hold a BFA in painting and art education from Syracuse University. The technical foundations of painting I developed while in art school, but in order to continue painting in oils safely in my home while pregnant, I researched and taught myself to paint without solvents. Over the past decade, I’ve experimented with direct painting using both brushes and knives, adjusting my style.”
How has your technique developed over the years? Does your substrate determine the texture of the final work? Do the works on paper have the same topography as the work on panel? “A mixture of indirect and direct painting stuck with me from art school, but due to my need to remove solvents from my studio, my paint application thickened. Now because of both time constraints in the studio due to caring for children, as well as painting mostly without a vehicle, my painting process if very direct. However, I’ve always been attracted to the play of thick paint moving around a surface. That visceral feeling of applying paint is one of my first memories of learning to paint. It’s usually in the end layers when the paint is still wet and I’m able to lay in other colors, brushing in texture, when I’m happiest at the easel. When I shift to works on paper it’s usually to switch to a drawing or printmaking medium, so that will dictate the texture of my work.”
It would seem you have a significant relationship with the kitchen. With such a prolific portfolio of cutlery, aprons, appliances & more, it has to more than just a matter of kitchen convenience. Yes? ‘An argument between my, then, fiancée, now husband and I. We both love to cook, and when we were first living together and engaged, we both shared the responsibility. He was in graduate school and I was working at an art store and setting up a studio at home. I was trying to figure out what to paint. After having a huge disagreement over how and when to wash our pots and pans, I painted my dishwasher, which was in view of my dining room studio. We registered for wedding gifts, many of which were domestic kitchen appliances. I began painting them as portraits, not sure of the meaning at the time, but attracted to their design, reflective qualities, and color. Along the way, I realized the import of what I was painting –Icons of the Kitchen. They are heavily marketed tools that many in my generation don’t use, but desire to have as a status symbol. Once I was aware of this, I began donning the appliances with halos and seating them on thrones evoking references to religious paintings from the Early Renaissance.”
Speaking of appliance portraiture, how is it that even the spoons feel as though they are sitting for portraits? “I love to paint portraits, but have a fear of having people sit for me and prefer to paint from life when possible. I think the appliances fill that need for me and feel like portraits due to their scale and positioning. They are not arranged in a typical still life grouping, but are situated on non-descript surfaces with cords and handles that have seem to suggest hands on hips. Of course the appliances seated on chairs is obvious. In many cases, though not all, they are larger than life.”
Producing vintage-inspired work that isn’t sentimental takes a careful hand. Both your color palate and your composition speak to a vintage perspective. Was that your intention? “I am drawn to, have been fascinated, and sometimes disgusted by the era my parents group up in. For the most part, I would not have wanted to be a woman during the earlier 20th century, but I appreciate the work women did in the home. The color palette comes from the objects themselves, many of which are vintage-inspired in their design. The composition is vintage in that I am referencing older works of art. But removing the sentimentality wasn’t intentional, and the pieces do evoke an emotional response from viewers. I think the removal of the objects from their environment, along with the historical references maybe tames the sentimentality.”
What style or school of art do you think work fits into? I’ve always found it difficult to pigeon-hole my work into a particular style. “The subject matter is Pop Art, but the intent is more a blend of Realism, Conceptualism, and a bit of Expressionism. I want the objects to be readily understood, and I enjoy depicting things realistically.”
But, I am striving to convey meaning or a better understanding of who I am, who wives are, who mothers are through my work.
What is your favorite food addiction? “Pasta is my ultimate love. I grew up with a half-Italian father who has perfected an amazing spaghetti sauce chocked full of garlic, onions, a terrific balance of herbs and sausage and meatballs.”
What if your favorite snack food obsession? “I am definitely torn between chocolate and cheese. It’s trite, but when I’m itching for a snack and the “clean” or “healthy” option just won’t satisfy me, I look for a bag of chocolate chips in the baking cabinet or aged, extra sharp cheddar.” Chocolate vs. cheese is a question for the ages. And I would argue if both are high quality, they are both clean and healthy. Eat them both.
What’s coming up next for you? “I have a lot of ideas that I’ve jotted down, but none fully formed yet. Thoughts of kitchen icons or relics, creating more large maestás, incorporating more collaged egg shells into paintings, making a large piece painted on a bed headboard similar to an altarpiece.”
“I’m considering attempting a small lunchtime work each day featuring lunch ingredients.”
“Since I had my second child, 19 months ago, motherhood and art has been on my mind a lot. This may somehow creep into my subject matter. At the end of 2014 I created a linocut called St. Mixer of the Bags, which I printed on reusable bags. I would like to print a limited edition on paper, and then pursue more linocuts of my work.”
Thank you,Jennie,for reminding us that we CHOOSE
both our treasures and our trammels.
It is January again, and we can’t believe it is 2015 already. I am joyfully looking forward to a new year. 2014 was a year of growth for my family, my art, and for AAAD. There were wonderful food highlights including a renewed interest in baking and continuing to fight the appearance of processed, fake foods. I appreciate that some of you are tackling the same issues–like fig newtons. The fig newtons, at left, are a self-proclaimed fail by painter Emily Mitchell. And AAAD covered some fantastic opportunities in 2014 and even more fantastic artists.
Today, we name the 2014 Artist of the Year!
When AAAD began in 2009, (YES, we are starting year SIX!) I was determined to cover art deadlines, and more importantly, artists producing really good ART. And, after I chose a few artists, I quickly realized that the Featured Artist program needed structure, or it would never really get done on any sort of regular basis. That is how the Featured Artist Contest was born.
TheFeatured Artist Pagewas getting crowded and each post was lessening the impact of being Featured. I had to start archiving artists yearly. And, the Artist of the Year was born. I now give all of our Featured Artists each year notice that at the end of the year, the Artist of the Year will be determined by the number of comments on their individual Featured Artist blog posts.
Congratulations to Emily Mitchell, AAAD’s 2014 Artist of the Year
I followed up with Emily to find out what’s new: “I’m hoping to start a new series with insects. I’d like to do about 20-25 of them in a similar approach to my work but probably with some more mixed media-colored pencils, papers, perhaps. Oh! And I’d like to do a few give a ways this year! I’m also doing a few workshops for some teachers and art associations. “
And new foods? Are there any new tasty morsels inspiring you? “So, since going GF, I really really miss Fig Newtons. I love/loved them, and they were my daily coffee accompaniment each morning. They also made great training food when I did triathlons. But the ones I have found that are on the shelf are not stupendous. So I have begun making my own. It’s laborious, and they are ugly! Like, really ugly. But so far they taste good. And much fresher than the original.” Editor’s note: The food pic above ARE Emily’s figgy fail. I think they look yummy. All hail the ugly food!
I have enjoyed getting to know you, Emily. I am inspired by your sense of yourself. I love you adapt in life and how that carries over to your work. I appreciate that your fans and peers loved you enough to make you the Artist of the Year even though your feature was the last one of the year. Thank you, Emily, for ending 2014 with a bang! If you missed her original Feature, check it out and get to knowEmily Mitchellyourself.
Do you want to be the 2015 Artist of the Year? It all starts with theFeatured Artist Contest.
ADAMS was born in the rural outskirts of Pittsburgh, PA, where she lived before settling in Charlotte, NC. Adams obtained a BA in Art & Education from Wingate University & a MFA in Painting at the University of SC. Her research on objects and the interior is drawn from the emotional memory of solitude and longing that the memory of place or thing holds for her. She is inspired by the desire to express, through ideas of shared experience, the emotional memory that these locations or 'special objects' hold.
The December mayhem has set in, and we’re only 3 days into the month. And my own art has taken a back seat to other commitments and tasks once again. It seems I can’t every find the time to plot and illustrate and plan and follow through on those plans. I vow this year will be different. I’m putting up a real tree (rare in my household), and this month’s artist has inspired me to string popcorn in addition to my well-planned and plotted decorative theme. And this year, art will happen IN ADDITION TO and inspite of all the holiday mayhem. AND without all the traditional plotting and planning. I am excited to see where it goes…
This month’s artist has spent years learning the art of letting go and production through play. Her work reflects a deep connection to the beauty of nature without hidden agendas–just connection and PLAY.
ArtAndArtDeadlines.com is proud to claim Emily Mitchell as this month’s Featured Artist. This work spotlights home and family and parenting and human connection–life, really. And, I really needed it. Please let it sink it and consider it a holiday gift.
For the past 20 years, Emily Mitchell has been working as an art educator, and holds a M.A. Ed. in Art Education. The joy of teaching artists has allowed her to thrive on inspiration from others including teaching High School Art, including AP Studio Art, at Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburgh, Vermont. Mitchell had the opportunity to work with John Crowe from Massachusetts College of Art, and with Peter London, Professor Emeritus of Art Education, UMass Dartmouth. “I am eternally grateful to them both for allowing me to simply play in my work.”
When not making art or managing family, Mitchell can often be found swimming with the BASS Masters Swim team, riding her bike with the kids, battling weeds in the garden, GF baking, obsessing about acappella music, reading, or exploring a small corner of Vermont.
How has the teaching art to others informed your own approach? Has years of teaching informed your sense of play? “Without question, I love making art with people, and I find that interacting with them, through is invaluable to my own art. My mind works in a very spiral manner – my train of thought will go from a process, to thinking and making connections through art history – helping others grow. Right now I teach adults and do the occasional workshop. But before this, I spent 16 years teaching K-5 in Massachusetts, and then 9-12 here in Vermont. Back in 2000, after reading “The Dot” by Peter Reynolds to my 4th graders, I saved their responses to the story, and often, when I am stuck, or frustrated, I will look at it. Its truly magic, free, full of joy, and THAT feeds me! Plus, kids are hilarious – and I learn so much from what they bring (mainly joy and abandon)to art making!”
Talk to me about your paint process. For example, which comes first, the title and concept or the work? “The process I currently use is an amalgamation of three amazing art course I have taken in my life – plus about 40 years of making art. The first was called “Vigorous Play for Artists/Teachers” and it was taught at UMASS by John Crowe. I took the course in the summer of 1998, and it changed my life–Crowe did not talk for the entire week! He pushed us through readings, critiques, and playful challenges, which for me, resulted in a wonderful body of artists books, and a show of my work and the work of my elementary students. The second was called “Drawing Closer to Nature” with Peter London – that one was hosted by Kirpalu.”
“The third class I took just last year in January of 2013. Flora Bowley’s e-course, Bloom True, reinvigorated all that I “knew” in terms of process, approach, but had neglected, forgotten and moved away from after 8 years of teaching more “formal” technical drawing. Most importantly, Flora’s class helped me let go of needing to know what my work was going to look like.
“Now, I literally feel my way through my work…”
“…working in layers, responding to colors, patterns, textures, feelings, a word in a song… the title could come from any of those things, or simply a feeling weeks later (or if I’m hanging a show and I’m like, “Crap! I need a title fast!”). I find that the final pieces really reflect a mood or idea in my own life, and the visual result is part of the process of understanding.”
You seem to have VISUAL connection to nature? Is there a deeper underlying meaning or connection for you? I spent 5 summers working at summer camp in Connecticut. I found that this place helped me find myself more than college or traveling ever did. It was a place of deep personal growth and connections–and it happens to be on its own private lake, surrounded by trees. The light & sounds there are unlike any other. I still hear them in dreams. Now, I am lucky enough to live in Vermont (where it gets damn cold!), but there is beauty everywhere here–in the food, in the woods.
While I love the culture of cities,
I need space, air and green to fully breathe and live!
Detail of Horizon 2 by Featured Artist Painter Emily Mitchell!
What are you trying to say with your work? How does it connect to your need to explore human connection? “Because I do not plan anything at all, I really feel like each piece is a response or story about the paint, my heart, and everyone’s desire to feel connected to others. While the characters in the work may be realistic (birds, trees) or abstract (bubbles or circles) the connection and harmony within the space is there and somewhat intentional. Ironically, I need to plan less in my daily life–but that’s hard to do with two busy kids!”
What style or school of art do you think work fits into? “My work is probably Realistic Expressionist, maybe? Color is certainly predominant in the art, but so is space and depth.”
What is your favorite food addiction? “Ok, this is going to sound really boring, but I actually LOVE salad with roasted veggies, my own greens, chicken and either goat or feta cheese. I essentially chop up whatever I have in my veggie drawer season with “slacker herbs” (aka Mrs. Dash) and a bit of oil. My husband also makes a mean maple balsamic dressing – I DO live in Vermont so any excuse to use Maple…We also have a pretty large localvore movement here in Vermont with about 10 CSAs(community-supported or shared agriculture) I can think of right around me! I have a garden, where I grow purple carrots, beans, lettuce, etc. and when possible, I do try to purchase as much meat and produce locally.” You are a woman after my heart. Veggies rock my world sometimes, and we certainly have goat cheese in common. But honestly, I’m going to pick chocolate every time.
What if your favorite snack food obsession? “Popcorn. I could easily eat about 12 cups of it. We make it old school with Oil in our “Whirly Pop”, and I use an herb salt on it, and when I’m feeling really VT hippy, I also toss a bit of nutritional yeast on it.” Okay, I edit responses to questions–usually only for length. So, most readers have NO IDEA how often I hear about nutritional yeast. Clearly, I am going to have to give in and try it.
On a more personal note , most of my readers know I don’t’ eat gluten due to the ugly presence of Celiac disease in my household–2 of the 3 of us. So, if you don’t mind my asking, how long have you been GF?*Editor’s Note: Published with full permission of the artist. “I have Thyroid Disease, and it was suggested I try being GF to help my thyroid function. It was also suggested to ditch dairy to be truly on the anti-inflammatory free diet…but man I LIVE IN VERMONT–there is NO WAY I am bailing on cheese! We have so much amazing cheese! So I limit cheese and diary but skip the wheat. Ironically, my asthma went away after eliminating wheat.” My son’s lactose intolerance completely disappeared, and he is happy to trade gluten for cheese any day.
What’s coming up next for you? “I have this idea for 20-30 small wood panel paintings to be displayed together – I may do this as part of an upcoming art-a-day event. I have also been pushing myself to do two portrait drawings per month to keep the ‘classical’ drawing skills fresh!”
Thank you, Emily,for reminding us that
play is productive.
I hoard recipes in a little Campbell’s Soup box on my kitchen counter top. I also post them to a private group on FB & pin them to a board in Pinterest too. Honestly, I rarely follow a recipe, but I learn so much from how other people cook. Art should be the same way. I hope you are out there looking at art online & OFF line. Share & try not to be afraid of copy cats. Remember, what makes your work YOURS can’t ever be duplicated.
If it weren’t for sharing, this blog wouldn’t exist. Just in case you forgot how it all got started in the first place, here is a link. I share my experiences, recommendations & cautionary tales about food and art with all of you. But, I also share it in a series of career development workshops at the Arts & Culture Alliance in Knoxville, TN. I have one coming up in February on How to Price your Artwork, and I would love to have your input. The “right” answer is… whatever works for you. But, the real question is… does is REALLY WORK for you? Are you selling art? So, this call asks that you share your recipe for success…with me.
Check out this Call for Artists from AAAD for Pricing your Art, a call for feedback. Yours truly needs your help making sure that I am passing along a recipe for success to novice and emerging artists. Don’t worry, there’s a reward…
CALL for ARTISTS: Pricing your ART!
ELIGIBILITY: Open to all artists
MEDIA: Open to all media
DEADLINE:December 15, 2014
NOTIFICATION of AWARDS: By December 23, 2014
ENTRY FEE:None, of course
AWARDS: I will choose 1 out of every 5 feedback forms (at random) to award a FREEArtist to Love listing & post ($15 value).
*Editor’s Note: The only REQUIRED information below is your Name, Location & Pricing strategy. I will NEVER give away or sell your information to anyone EVER. I will not reveal your pricing strategy to any with your name attached. The information will be aggregated to form a range of working options and prevailing theories for new artists that need the assistance. I will be the ONLY ONE that reads the information you fill out below. Please note, when you submit the form, it will be emailed to me at submitart@artandartdeadlines.com. If you are uncomfortable using the form below, feel free to email the information to me directly.
I want to encourage you to share your best practices below. Do you price on whim? Do you track your studio time? Do you have a formula (cost of materials+ 2x hourly labor–for example). Do you have an average cost per square inch that you apply generally. Do you charge the same amount when you are not paying commission? Please tell us more… (continues below the form)
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After the February workshop, I will publish all the information so that everyone can benefit whether you are in Knoxville or the other side of the planet!
Give us all the details for a chance to be anArtist to Love!
‘Tis the season of the pumpkin. And because I live in the Great Smoky Mountains, it is also the season of the over-saturated photograph. So many people come to the region to see the over-the-top leaf colors, that local photographers want to give them a piece of that color to take home with them. For me, I’m okay the the decay of it all. Dropping leaves will give way to a brown and gray-dappled stick forest that will soon be frosted with snow and infused with crisp air. You can have the pumpkins & neon trees, thanks.
I am not alone though. The work of this month’s artist proves that someone sees growth in the very structure of it all, not just in the window-dressing of color. The work is black and white, but the presence of color is unmistakeably present.
ArtAndArtDeadlines.com is proud to claim Anna Agoston as this month’s Featured Artist. This work spotlights nature’s abundance and ceaseless growth. These images are representative on the surface, but leave the viewer with an abstract notion of structure. Just stunning…
Anna Agoston is resident of Brooklyn, New York, but she was born and raised in Paris, France. Always passionate about art, she qualified as an architect DPLG (government-certification) at the Ecole d’Architecture Paris Malaquais, and went on to earn the M.Arch.II degree in architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design
While at Harvard, Agoston studied fine art photography under Professor Jim Dow of the Department of Visual and Environmental studies, and photographed her first series, “Dorm.”
In October 2013, Anna made her lifelong passion, fine art photography, her main professional occupation.
Are you self-taught or formally instructed as a photographer? I am a self-taught artist. I went to architecture school. I did take a couple of classes in photography, but I learned most of what I do at home and on my own.”
Will you talk about your process? Do you go out and look for material to photograph, or are you strictly an opportunist? “I am always on the lookout for my subjects. I walk around looking at plants and studying them. When I find a subject, I take pictures, and often go back the next day to take more. I often discover what it is that I love about my subject while taking the picture. Untitled #46 (pictured left) is an example of a subject of which I took hundreds of photographs before getting the right shot.”
Why does your work focus on nature? Why not faces, animals or even architectural elements. That’s a great question! In March 2013, I was laid off from a stressful and time-consuming job. Buds, stems and leafs were sprouting. And it was as though I had never seen spring before! I needed to somehow contain this new excitement in my art.
“As I took photographs I started to understand just what it was that I loved in my newly-identified subject. I loved the shapes, the textures, and the fact that natural elements evoked human behaviors.”
Most artists have something to say—something they are trying to get across to viewers. You have stated that you “want them to see and feel things independently”. Can you tell me why?
“I believe I have a lot to say.”
“But I choose to say it with the image and without the use of a title. I believe that words channel people’s perception, and I want people to see and feel things without being influenced.”
What style or school of art do you think work fits into? I think of my work as abstract, because there is a departure from reality. I take photographs of living elements found in nature, but I distill certain aspects of the element. The distilled or abstracted is what I show to the viewer.”
Is there any artist, living or dead, that has most influenced your work?Constantin Brâncuși’s work was about the idea, and the essence of things. He distilled the essence from the environment.”
What if your favorite food? After all, it IS a food-themed blog?I love a thin slice of toasted rye, with a little butter, a sliver of smoked salmon and lemon. Add champagne and it’s simply perfect!” Oh, this sounds delightful!
How about snack foods? “I don’t snack.” Um, okay. I never know what to say other than, “Really? Why? That makes me so sad.”
What’s coming up next for you? I have my twelfth juried group show this year coming up at the Vivid Solutions Gallery from November 7 to December 19, 2014. I am excited as the exhibition will take place during FotoWeek DC. The exhibition will feature two of my photographs as well as my self-published book ‘Untitled Vol.1’.”
RECIPE
