Art and Art Deadlines.com

A food-themed FREE resource site for ARTISTS.

×
Art and Art Deadlines.com

Tag: Featured Artist

ARTIST of the DAY: Cyrus Kabiru

"American Darts" by Cyrus Kabiru
“American Darts” by Cyrus Kabiru

“My work has everything to do with my dad. First the glasses. Now the bicycle. He raised me well and showed me the future. He wasn’t the kind of parent to give you things. Beyond food, clothes and shelter, the next step was you.” — Cyrus Kabiru

___

As the new year creeps closer, I find myself searching for a new frame of mind, a new perspective, a new framework, a new set of eyes, if you will, with which to navigate the world.  Today’s AAAD Artist of the Day, Cyrus Kabiru, offers us a reminder that we choose how we frame our future –crafting something new from pieces of our past, new, used or discarded.

___

Find a new perspective in the work of AAAD Artist of the Day Cyrus Kabiru!

___

Save

ARTIST of the DAY: Don Bergland

utopian DISTOPIA

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 Day Don Bergland!
“Fallow Atonement” by AAAD Artist of the Day Don 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 #ArtistoftheDay of Don Bergland!

ARTIST to LOVE: Alice Odilon

We have a new Artist to Love!

Join us in saying “Welcome” to photographer Alice Odilon, our newest Artist to Love

• • • • • • • • •

Alice Odilon
Photography
Madone au Voile Blanc by Photographer Alice Odilon
Madone au Voile Blanc
Photography
ODILON was born in Paris and felt heavily influenced by classical music, ballet dancing and the Masters of painting. At the age of 16, Odilon suffered from anorexia. At 17 she began using a camera to make self portraits. It was simply a way to give her a glimpse inside herself to make sense of the pain with which she struggled to understand.

"Taking action is far better than thinking, for me. Photography saved my life."

FAVORITE FOOD:

Almonds & Carrot Cake

• • • • • • • • •

Are you an Artist to Love? Be sure to let us know!

• • • • • • • • •

ARTIST to LOVE: Darcy Meeker

We have a new Artist to Love!

Join us in saying “Welcome” to sculptor Darcy Meeker, our newest Artist to Love

• • • • • • • • •

Darcy Meeker
Sculpture
Mineral Spirits, Italian Alabaster sculpture by Darcy Meeker
Mineral Spirits
Italian Alabaster sculpture
MEEKER tools copper, creates sculpture in stone, clay, silk, aluminum, and, well, pretty much anything she can get her hands on, and paints, collages and prints on a variety of materials with the same wide-ranging enthusiasm.

Meeker's work is all about flowing line, texture, opaque vs. translucent & figure-ground play. Whatever her medium at the moment, it asks to be touched. It's all about curves & texture, light & shadow. "I’m only interested in work that conveys that kind of sensuous pull."

FAVORITE FOOD: Sushi

• • • • • • • • •

Are you an Artist to Love? Be sure to let us know!

• • • • • • • • •

ARTIST to LOVE: Martha Carroll

We have a new Artist to Love!

Join us in saying “Welcome” to Martha Carroll, our newest Artist to Love

• • • • • • • • •

Martha Carroll
Mixed Media
Beijing Wall, Mixed Media by Martha Carroll
Beijing Wall
Mixed Media
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.

FAVORITE FOOD: Potato Chips

Are you an Artist to Love? Be sure to let us know!

• • • • • • • • •

FEATURED ARTIST: Emilyann Gachko

Learn more from Photographer and Featured Artist Emilyann Gachko!CHEESE,
not stinky

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.

Learn more from Photographer and Featured Artist Emilyann Gachko!

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...

FEATURED
ARTIST:

Emilyann Gachko

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.

Learn more from Photographer and Featured Artist Emilyann Gachko!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!”

Learn more from Photographer and Featured Artist Emilyann Gachko!

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.”

Learn more from Photographer and Featured Artist Emilyann Gachko!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.”

Learn more from Photographer and Featured Artist Emilyann Gachko!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.

Learn more from Photographer and Featured Artist Emilyann Gachko! 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.

Learn more about Featured Artist & Photographer Emilyann Gachko 600x

If you’re interested in becoming a Featured Artist,
Click to Learn How!

2013 ARTIST of the YEAR: Sima Schloss

Learn more about 2013 Artist of the Yar Sima Schloss!

HAPPY NEW food YEAR!

It’s January, and we’re thrilled to be in 2014!  I am joyfully looking forward to a new year.  2013 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 AAAD covered some fantastic opportunities in 2013 and even more fantastic artists.  Which leads us to our proud announcement…

Ignorance vs Ignorant, Mixed media, by Artist of the Year Sima Schloss!Today we name the 
2013 Artist of the Year!

 

When AAAD began in 2009,  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. (The Featured Artist program was retired in 2015 and replaced with the Artist of the Day program.)

The Featured Artist Page was getting crowded and each post was lessening the impact. I began 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 Sima Schloss,
AAAD’s 2013 Artist of the Year

Never an Equinox, mixed media, by Artist of the Year Sima Schloss!

I followed up with Sima to find out what’s new: “Yay!! Thanks so much- Im so honored to be the winner!!! Whats going on now with my work now? Lets seeI am one of the winners of ArtAscent Magazine’s Dark Issue (December, 2013)  ArtAscent.com, and my work  ‘New Sheriff’ is featured on the cover!!!  I have a group show in the works coming this Spring  (details in the near future), and a collaboration in the works as well. I’m also in process of revamping my website!”

And new foods?  Are there any new tasty morsels inspiring you?  “I had the most incredible Brussels sprouts at my friends place the other night! I think I’ve only tried them a couple of times in my life, but these were outstanding. They were cooked in garlic & oil and had some incredible seasoning--I was in heaven!  I’ve also really been into red and yellow peppers as well, they are so great with labneh (an incredible lebanese dip) hummus or guacamole.” Editor’s note:  I’ve rediscovered the mini sweet peppers in my produce aisle.  They have a milder flavor and crisper texture and ROCK stirfry dishes.

I have enjoyed getting to know you, Sima.  I am inspired by your work.  It is an expression of freedom, limitless potential and self awareness.  I LOVE the work, and I’ve enjoyed forging a slow and easy friendship.  YOU were my reward for choosing to feature your WORK. Thank you, Sima, for being a highlight of the AAAD year!  Get to know Sima Schloss yourself.

*Editor’s Note: Sima remains one of my favorite people, and her work has grown and developed, surpassing anything I could have imagined.  She was featured again in 2017 as an Artist of the Day!

 

Learn more about Sima Schloss, 2013 Artist of the Year!

 

ARTIST to LOVE: David Phillips Hodge

Peek-a-Boo, I See You

Say “Hello” to our newest Artist to Love

David Phillips Hodge
Painting
Yellow Mountain, Acrylic Painting by David Phillips Hodge
Yellow Mountain
Painting
HODGE began his art career at age 18 at Missouri State Univ. Afterward, he headed to NY to pursue filmmaking at NYU. For 30 years, David ran his own production co., producing & directing everything from campaign spots to music videos. David won numerous awards--2 Emmys, 3 Cine Golden Eagles & a Monitor Award. While in NYC, he also directed Off Broadway theatre. David has returned to painting & is exploring emotion evoked through line, shape & color. His work lies at the intersection of color field painting & representational art & how they co-exist within the same canvas.

FAVORITE FOOD: Sushi

Are you an Artist to Love? Be sure to let us know!

Who will be ARTIST of the YEAR?

Enter the $5 Art Contest today!SPRINKLE ME

One of the  joys of writing posts for this blog is the privilege of reviewing entries into the $5 Art Contest.  Choosing a Featured Artist is difficult, but I appreciate the opportunity to do so.  Featured Artists are a little like the sprinkles on top of my art community cupcake.

Once a Featured Artist’s post goes live, their job is simply to promote the post to both the benefit of AAAD and their own exposure.  Comments generated by their posts are counted at the end of the year, and the post wit the largest number of comments is named Artist of the Year.

In 2010, it was Catherine Roach.  She will always have a special place in AAAD’s history.  She keeps in touch, and we are so very proud to be a part of her history.  In 2011 it was the intricate work of weaver Pamela Zimmerman.  Her original interview remains among my favorites.  In 2012, it was mixed media collage artist Stephanie Mead’s portraiture work that took my breath away.

Who will be ArtAndArtDeadlines.com’s
2013 Artist of the Year?

That is all up to you.

Look through the 2013 Featured Artist profiles.  Leave a comment for your favorite…or more than one.  Comments stop being counted after midnight EST on December 31st.

Results will be announced the first week of January!

 

If you would like to be considered for Featured Artist, enter our $5 Art Contest (that can also be entered for free).  Or, if competition isn’t your cup of tea, submit your information to our Artist to Love program and start building a stronger web presence today!

FEATURED ARTIST: Michael O’Gorman

Learn more about Featured Artist Michael O' Gorman!‘SHROOM to go

It has been a truly surreal year for me, my personal art, and for many of my readers.  So, with fingers crossed I began reviewing the entries hoping to find a little surrealism.  Honestly, I rarely have surrealists enter, but I was hopeful.  I knew what I wanted, and what-do-you-know, I found it.   It was like finding that random mushroom on your pepperoni pizza just when you were hoping for veggies.  On behalf of AAAD, I am proud to announce this month’s Featured Artist is Michael O’Gorman.  I find this work to be endlessly complicated, but fluid.

The Application of Great Britain to the Earth by Featured Artist Michael O'Gorman!FEATURED ARTIST:
Michael O’Gorman

Michael O’Gorman is an artist from the United Kingdom who specializes in surreal oil paintings of organic and anthropomorphic subject matter, expressed through a unique ’merging’ style. He is obsessed with detail and perfection, and spends many months on a single painting, ensuring that the color gradients are smooth, that all narratives within a composition blend harmoniously, and – most importantly – that each painting is exciting and rewarding to view!

O’Gorman graduated from the University of Warwick in 2006 and works as a freelance artist and writer.  He loves to create complex, detailed artworks whose narratives can be explored and observed forever, with the viewer always discovering something new and exciting.

Memoirs of a Fertile Imagination by Featured Artist Michael O'Gorman!Are you self taught or formally instructed?  “I’m self-taught. I always doodled as a child, but it wasn’t until 2002 – when I was 17 years old – that I tried to create my first serious drawing. Four months of obsessive penciling by lamplight later, and ‘Black Water’ was finished!

“Three years after ‘Black Water,’ I taught myself to paint. I outlined some figures onto canvas with pencil and coloured them with acrylic paints. This was the beginning of my first painting, ‘Perpetual Fluidity,’ which remains my only improvised painting.

“I’m extremely glad that I avoided art lessons, since I cannot understand how surreal artists – artists whose works are assessed on uniqueness of expression – could benefit from an external mentor. I do have a university degree, but it’s in an unrelated field.”

The Medicine Tree by Featured Artist Michael O'Gorman!Is your media paint, ink, digital?  Of the twenty-eight artworks I have created to date, two are in pencil, one is in acrylic, and the rest are in oil. It didn’t take me long to graduate from acrylic to oil after completing ‘Perpetual Fluidity.’   Though I appreciated their boldness, I found acrylics a little too shallow for my tastes.  Moreover, their quick drying times maddened me; I’m a perfectionist, and I need to spend hours moving paint around the canvas until the colour gradients are seamless!

I read your method of deriving inspiration from words randomly chosen from the dictionary, but I am also interested in knowing those pieces that have personal meaning to you.  Talk to me about your favorite (non-random) piece.  My favourite piece to date is probably ‘Memoirs of a Fertile Imagination’ since I feel it encapsulates the most unique aspects of my style: An unlimited sense of flow (resulting in a non-existent focal point), anthropomorphism (giving human features to non-human subjects), and a playful tone. Its warmth always brings a smile to my face.” 

The Landscape Painter by Featured Artist Michael O'Gorman!You state that, “Working from life is plagiarism”.  That’s a pretty controversial way of explaining you’re not a fan of representational work.  What does that say about your view of photography?   “I appreciate photography to an extent, and the medium has incomparable value as a historical document. Unfortunately, while not everyone can compose music, write stories, or paint landscapes, everyone can take photographs. Consequently, photography has become the refuge of the amateur, and the online art world is now saturated with unremarkable photos that often eclipse the actual artwork.” Editor’s Note: Ouch.  Just in case you think this contest is rigged or biased, please note this is the second Featured Artist in a row that has, innocently enough, slammed some aspect of how I work.  Geez.  Guess it is good that I’m not thin-skinned.

A Corporate Ladder Deflating an Encapsulated Situation of Its Irony by Featured Artist Michael O'Gorman!What style or school of art do you think your work fits into and why?  “I’m comfortable with the surreal label, since Surrealism is an effective umbrella term for unusual artwork. I also feel that certain artworks of mine have Abstract and Visionary elements to them, though I don’t align myself with those movements.”

What artists (living and/or dead, famous or not) inspire you most?   I’m not a great art lover, and I can’t claim direct inspiration from other artists. That said, I do appreciate the works of Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, Salvador Dali, Jacek Yerka, and Zdizslaw Beksinski. I like artists whose works are unique and instantly recognisable – artists that don’t need to signature their paintings because no-one can imitate them in the first place.

Interview continues below Perpetual Fluidity.

Perpetual Fluidity by Featured Artist Michael O'Gorman!

You know we have to talk about food. What is your favorite? Though I’m from the UK, my mother is Italian and I was raised in a household where Mediterranean food reigned supreme: Pasta, salads, buffalo mozzarella, bruschetta, pizzas, etc.  Italian food still remains my favourite.

“I’m also a big fan of British desserts, especially fruit scones with clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam (served with English breakfast tea, of course). I honestly think I could eat that every day. In fact, when I’m elderly enough to get away with it, I probably will.”

A Multi-Instrumentalist’s Self-Performance by Featured Artist Michael O'Gorman!What about snack foods? “Probably arancini. They are balls of rice and cheese that have been fried and coated in breadcrumbs.” I have to admit, I have never heard of arancini, much less tasted it.  Fascinating.  That doesn’t happen often.

So, what’s coming up next for you? “In-between creating new artwork, I hope to put my existing artwork on sale for the first time.  I’ll also create a page on my website where people can buy prints of the original work.  After all, is a home truly a home without a framed print of a campfire transforming into a horned beast that writes algebra on an oversized blackboard pulsating with live flesh?  Definitely not!”

Michael, thank you for such a well-defined point of view and for being precisely that for which I was searching this month.

Learn more about Michael O’Gorman online!

Learn more about Featured Artist Michael O Gorman!

Save