Art News from Heidi Dauphin

 

Hello Friends! Hope you are all doing well and staying positive in these trying times. I have a few pieces in some shows in the Phoenix area that I wanted to tell you about, and I made a video that you can view also. The piece above, Great Grandma's Crazy Quilt Transformed, is currently in an exhibition: Artists’ Breakfast Club, 20 Years at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library from Oct. 5 - Dec. 31, 2020. Currently the hours are Mon & Wed 10am - 6pm and Fri & Sat 1pm - 5pm.   In my last post I showed some in progress views of this piece. This image shows 9 squares of a paper quilt I am making from lists that I have collected for 20 years. The pattern is based on my Great Grandma’s crazy quilt, about 120 years old, that my Grandma gave me, and is hanging in my house. A section of it is shown below. I have sewn the small pieces together on a sewing machine that my Mom gave me and is over 50 years old. Some of the lists include my daughter’s handwriting as well as my Mom’s. Five generations of moms and daughters are represented in this quilt. Although this piece is in a show, this is a work in progress. The original quilt is 25 squares, but this 3 square x 3 square section is what would fit for the size requirement of the exhibition. Currently, I have 9 more squares completed in my studio. Only 7 more to go! Notice the detail of the embroidery stitching that I did to connect the squares together. This proved to be a learning experience and took quite a long time. It's not easy to embroider, and embroidering on paper has added to the level of difficulty. But I really like the results! I have the utmost admiration and respect for all of the embroidery that my Great Grandma did on the original quilt. The more I work on this project, the more I appreciate her quilt. The Artists' Breakfast Club is a group that was formed by Beth Ames Swartz 20 years ago. I have only been involved for about 5 years. Before Covid, we had monthly meetings that Beth organized with curators, gallery owners, museums, and other inspiring people and places. It has been a great group for me to get to know other artists and always learn something new. About 40 artists from the group are featured in this exhibition and it can be viewed online here: Artists’ Breakfast Club, 20 Years In coordination with this exhibition, I recently made a 30 minute video for Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovations about my process of making my paper list quilt, and incorporated an at home art project that is fun for all. Click below to watch and read about it. Clutter Quilts Article Clutter Quilts Video This is the piece that I made last year,10 x 10 x 10 = 1000. It was just accepted to an exhibition:   Reclaimed at the Shemer Art Center on Camelback in Phoenix from Nov. 4 - Jan. 7 Hours are Tues - Sat 10am - 3pm If you are local and have a chance to stop by and see either of these shows let me know and maybe I can meet you there. Shemer Art Center And finally, I am still drawing everyday for my Visual Days - Decade 3 project. We are approaching the 300th day of this very long year. Here are some highlights from the past 2 months: August 2020 September 2020:   To follow this project everyday go to the link below and follow my @visualday.decade3 Instagram account. I post a new drawing everyday. Less than 100 days to go! Visual Days - Decade 3

In a year when so many plans have been cancelled and schedules are not the same, I have something to do everyday. I draw......

To see more about my work follow me on Instagram and check out my website and blog!   Heidi's NEW Website @HeidiDauphin Heidi's Blog Copyright © *2020 Heidi Dauphin, Artist All rights reserved. My email, blog, and website are: hdauphin21@yahoo.com www.heididauphin.blogspot.com www.heididauphin.com

Art News from Heidi Dauphin

 

Hello Friends! I hope you are doing well. 2020 sure has been a challenging year. I've been trying to stay busy in my studio. I feel lucky to be an artist right now because I always have more ideas than I can possibly accomplish and this slower time has allowed me to ponder many of them. I'm still on the never ending journey of trying to secure the next public art job. I've sent out a lot of applications, but the calls have been greatly reduced during Covid. Fingers crossed that something falls my way soon. Way back in April, I had a coronavirus goal to make a new website during this time. I thought I could be done by June, but that didn't happen. Patience is a virtue during this time! June's racial unrest thwarted my plans and my mind. I couldn't concentrate very well that month, but by July I dove in and the results are now here: Heidi's NEW Website Please check it out and let me know what you think. I love feedback and am open to suggestions. I think a website is a working document and because I did this myself I feel very empowered to update and improve it. In May I started another large project in my studio. I'm creating Paper List Quilt. The pattern is based on my Great Grandmother’s crazy quilt, about 120 years old, made around 1900. My Grandma gave me this quilt when I was in college attempting to make a quilt of my own in a Fibers class. That quilt still isn't completed yet, but is currently with my Aunt who is an incredible quilt maker. I have had my Great Grandmother's crazy quilt hanging in every house I have lived in, and it has inspired me numerous time and in many ways. My Paper List Quilt pieces are hand written lists that I've been collecting for 20 years. They are sewn together on a sewing machine that my Mom gave me in college and is over 50 years old. Some of the paper lists includes my daughter’s handwriting from when she was very little and more recently high school notes. 5 generations of moms and daughters, grandmas and aunts are represented in this project. The original quilt is 25 squares and that’s my goal to complete in paper! I would like to hand embroider each square together. I have made 12 squares to date, the 13th is in progress right now.  You can see more details from this project on my Instagram page here: @HeidiDauphin I also continue to draw everyday for my Visual Days - Decade 3 project. Today is the 230th day of the year. Here are some highlights from the past 3 months: May 2020 June 2020:   July 2020:   To follow this project everyday go to the link below and follow my @visualday.decade3 Instagram account. I post a new drawing everyday. Only 127 more drawings to go! Visual Days - Decade 3

In a year when so many plans have been cancelled and schedules are not the same, I have something to do everyday. I draw......

To see more about my work follow me on Instagram.  @HeidiDauphin

Hello Friends! I hope this finds you and your family healthy, happy, and well. What a strange time this is. I'm a little behind in my Art News updates this year. As with the rest of the world, everything in my world went a little off kilter in March and I've had a hard time finding my balance again. I started a new project this year on January 1. For those of you that have known me long enough, know that I have a little obsession about the decade years. I was born in one! 1970. Maybe that's part of how it started? But in the year 2000, a new tradition started. That is the year I turned 30 and I made a 4" x 6" postcard everyday of the year documenting my existence/life. I wanted to record being alive at the changing of the millennium. I was in grad school at the time and for the first half of the year I referred to it as, "The Secret Art Project" and didn't let any of my professors see it until September. Later it was shown at a gallery in Ann Arbor, MI in January 2001 titled, "366 Days". 10 years later in 2010, I thought it was time for another yearlong project. There was not as much significance to this year, but I would turn 40, a decade had passed, and it seemed time to do something everyday for a year again. This time I had a 6 year old daughter and not as much space and time. For 2010, I collected a small object (about 1x1") a day and pinned it to a wall calendar. This project has never been shown publicly, but in 2011, I created a blog, "Visual Days" and showed both projects through photographs. You can visit the blog here: Visual Days 2000 and 2010 Blog So this year, in 2020, I turned 50 and I decided to draw! I am drawing on a small Artist Trading Card that is 2.5" x 3.5" everyday. I am not a drawer, this does not come easy to me, but I wanted a challenge! When 2020 started, like the rest of us, I had no idea what was going to happen. I did not realize that I would be recording my daily existence with art through a worldwide pandemic!?! But this is a defining moment for the world and I am glad that my teeny tiny individuality is chronicled by a daily drawing in this gigantic chaotic world. It's very meditative and theraputic. I have included some images of my drawings from 2020 below or you can view the entire project on Instagram at:   Visual Days - Decade 3 January 2020 and highlights: February 2020 and some highlights:   March 2020 and some highlights:   April 2020 and some highlights:

In a year when all immediate plans have been cancelled and schedules are not the same, I have something to do everyday. I draw...... I can't let this art news segment end without a tribute to a very special person. Before the coronavirus took over, I lost a lifelong friend and mentor in February. Mr. Gene Pluhar was my high school art teacher and pretty much the reason I am who I am and do what I do. I've known him since I was 15 and have been in touch with him my entire life. He helped me get into art school as a teenager, 11 years later he was on my graduate committee, he knew my family and I knew his. Every time I make art, I think of him in some way. I was so honored to be asked to talk at his Celebration of Life ceremony as a representative of his former students. He taught for over 30 years and was an inspiration to thousands. The ceremony was supposed to be in March but it has been postponed. Part of what I was going to say is that he had a large frequency that touched so many and will continue to live in all of us that knew him. And that we can continue his frequency in all the art that we make and the stories we tell about him. Thank you for letting me spread his frequency a little farther. Today is Teacher Appreciation Day and I can't think of a better teacher to honor. I am dedicating my Visual Days - Decade 3 project to Mr. Pluhar.

To see more about my work follow me on Instagram