Heidi Dauphin

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.

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