Call for Art - Hidden Haven Exhibition

Women Caucus for the Arts of Georgia—Call for Art for  Hidden Haven Exhibition at the  Blue Heron Nature Preserve Gallery 

Open call 

Theme of the show- Hidden Haven

This exhibit’s goal is to celebrate what the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, the hidden haven, does to protect the natural habitats in the high density neighborhood of Buckhead, Atlanta, GA. 

The curator is the founder and executive director of the BHNP, Nancy Jones, who is an artist and was an art teacher for Fulton County Schools.

Application Deadline April 26th, 2016

Important Dates

April 26th -Application Deadline

May 3rd - Notifications

May 14th Artist drop off artwork 11 am - 1 pm 

              —(if artist lives out of town other arrangements can be made)

May 16th - September 9th - Exhibition Dates

May 21st - 6-8 pm - Opening Reception 

September 10th 9 am - 11 am —Artist pick up artwork

Submission Guidelines

- All art work must be 12 inches x 12 inches

- Artwork must address an element of the Blue Heron Nature Preserve

This could be the animals that live there, the trees, Nancy Creek, the birds, etc….

- All media is accepted  as long as it is in a 12 x 12 format

- Send all images attached with email with the “Hidden Haven” in subject box to sallyepp7@gmail.com 

- Send up to 5 images numbered 1 - 5

- In email include the list below 

1. Title

2.  Medium

3. Price of Artwork

Sales

60% of sales will go to artist, 20% to WCAGA, and 20% BHNP

Questions:

If you have any questions please email Sally Eppstein at sallyepp7@gmail.com or call at 678-642-5300

The Art of Nature an Outdoor Art Installation 2016-Metamorphosis Of Nature

WCAGA’s

The Art of Nature an Outdoor Art Installation 2016

  Title: Metamorphosis Of Nature

What 

*The WCAGA’s  Art of Nature is a six week long outdoor art exhibition featuring site-specific art installations inspired by the metamorphosis of nature to be located on the grounds of the Blue Heron Nature Preserve. Artists and artist teams are invited to submit proposals at no cost for WCAGA members and a 30.00 application fee for non-members to be paid through PayPal. From these proposals The Art of Nature will select up to 7-8 projects and award them a 200.00 stipend to create their work. 

*No power is available.

Who

The Women's Caucus for Art of Georgia (WCAGA) is a chapter of the National Women's Caucus for Art (WCA), founded in 1972 to bring women's issues to the foreground of the College Art Association (CAA) and beyond. The focus was and continues to be supporting, recognizing and educating established and emerging women artists, art historians, critics, curators, museum personnel and other visual arts professionals.

In 2000 the Women's Caucus for Art of Georgia began when a group of eleven women artist met and decided to form a local chapter of the national organization. They began with a "just do it" attitude and a vision which they set out to realize. WCAGA is now comprised of over one hundred artists and art professionals from Georgia and other Southeastern states. The majority of our members, however, are artists based in metro Atlanta who work in many different media: sculpture, painting, photography, collage, printmaking and more.

Where 

*Blue Heron Nature Preserve, 4055 Roswell Road, Atlanta, GA 30342

*Blue Heron Nature Preserve was started in 2000 by Nancy Jones who was a public school art teacher for many years. Nancy was saddened by all the development ebbing away at the nature she and her son use to explore as he was growing up. Working with the City of Atlanta she started with 7 acres to create the BHNP and now has over 30 acres of green space in the heart of Buckhead. There are many future plans for the BHNP including a bike path that will connect with Path 400 which will connect to the Beltline.

* Due to the size and accessibility of the Preserve the art installation will be located on the on the grounds close to the parking lot. 

• BHNP is a public park and can be toured independently at any time during daylight hours

Guided Tour of BHNP

*Guided Tour Saturday January 23rd 4:30/ Rain Date Saturday January 30th noon

Please RSVP to sallyepp7@gmail.com

*Everyone to gather at the parking lot of the BHNP Building 

*Questions will be answered during the “Walk through the Preserve” and if you cannot make the walk please direct the question to sallyepp7@gmail.com

*The entrance driveway  is across from Pikes on Roswell Rd.

*This is a nature trail so please wear appropriate shoes.

Entry Procedure

Eligibility 

• All artist

*Entry is free of charge for WCAGA members  and 30.00 for non-WCAGA  to be paid by PayPal. Link for PayPal payments will be activated March 1st. 

WCAGA offers many show opportunities, drawing marathons, book club, and art shares through out the year so please consider joining for all the opportunities for these extra benefits for 55.00.

*All submissions are due from  Tuesday March 1st - Tuesday March 15th, 2016 11:59 pm

*Art projects can hang from the trees, be on the ground, painted on selected walls, or whatever you can dream up. Damage to the environment is not allowed.

• Because this is a public art and the art will not be 100% supervised it must be safely made for the general public.

*Up to Six (6) images for jurying: Up to 3 images of past work and up to 3 images of your proposed project. Images of your proposed project may be sketches, studies, renderings, photographs of assembled elements or complete projects if the project has been realized in an earlier incarnation.

* With submission, please include name, phone #, titles, and address. 

Email your submissions to sallyepp7@gmail.com

Selection Procedure

*Proposals will be judged based on originality, feasibility, execution, and innovation. 

Notification

*All submitting artists will be notified of their status on Sunday March 20th 2016 via email.

*The accepted artist will have the first check for stipend of 100.00 after a waiver has been signed and returned to sallyepp7@gmail.com.

*All artists are responsible for insuring their work.

• After a proposal is selected, alterations or substitutions cannot be made without authorization by WCAGA/BHNP. WCAGA/BHNP reserves the right to remove any works from the exhibition based on special installation circumstances or discrepancies between the juried images and actual work.

• All accepted work must remain on display through the end of the exhibition on June 4th, 2016.

Installation

• All artwork must be installed between the dates of Monday the April 18th - Friday April 22nd, 2016

*More time will be allowed for any murals being painted.

• While the WCAGA/BHNP has volunteer support for artists during the installation period, please remember that installation is primarily artist-driven. We will be able to help you troubleshoot should complications arise, but will not install or deinstall your piece for you.

*Opening Reception

Saturday April 23, 2015 @ 12:30 pm (Rain Date Saturday April 30th, 2015)

Deinstallation

• Sunday June 5th - Tuesday June 7th

Event Timeline

Toured Walk through BHNP Saturday January 23rd 4:30/ Rain Date Saturday January 30th noon

Applications are open Tuesday March 1st -Sunday March 20th, 2016 11:59 pm 

Artist Notification Thursday, March 20th, 2016

Installation Period   Monday, April 18th -  Friday the 22nd (Earth Day)

 Anyone painting a mural can start at a time agreed by both parties.

Opening Reception Saturday April 23, 2015 12:30 pm (Rain Date Saturday, April 30th, 2015)

Exhibition Run Sunday April 23 -  Saturday June 4th 

Deinstallation Sunday June 5th - Tuesday June 7th

Final check of the 100.00 stipend will be sent out after the art is removed by the artist — June 8th - 15th, 2016

Interview with Artist Sandrine Arons

Sandrine Arons, Life(time), 2011

1.Who are you and what do you do, and what is your background?

My name is Sandrine Arons and I’m a photographer based in Atlanta. I was born and raised in Georgia but I’m a dual citizen of France and the US. I am as comfortable in the country as I am in a big city. I’ve found that both have their appeal and I can’t seem to live without either. Thanks to my French mother, I grew up bilingual and spent all my summers in France with family. 

I spent the majority of my adult life in academics. I have graduate degrees in Humanistic Psychology and French Literature and taught both French and English at the university level.  In 2004 I moved to Paris to teach at the University of Paris while doing dissertation research and that is where I met my husband and had my son. After my father died in 2008, I wanted to move back to the States to be closer to my mother and my friends. So I convinced my French/Moroccan husband to move back with me in 2009 at which point I decided to make a serious career change and pursue my passion of photography. I was very disillusioned with what academia had become and recognized that my escape has always been photography. I recently completed my MFA at SCAD and I feel like it is just the beginning of this great journey. I don’t think I actually missed the boat, I think I was just waiting on the right one.

2. What's integral to your art and or art career?

Time. Time is very important and I have to be able to find enough time for my project ideas.

Light. Without it I can produce nothing.

Travel. Travel opens my eyes and allows me to turn the page to a new vision of the world.

Observation. I think this is one of the most important ones for me. This is why I became a photographer.

3. What themes do you pursue and what medium do you use?

Sandrine Arons, Myself as Madame Roland, 2015  

Whether in my art or in my academic writings, I have always focused on the theme of autobiography.  My psychology thesis was about the personal journal and self-growth and my dissertation in French literature was about self-reconstruction through personal writing.  When I began my studies in photography I had no intention of continuing with the autobiographical theme, but apparently it is what feeds my creativity.  For my thesis work I developed a project around my own life and multicultural background entitled “Frontiers”.  In many ways this series is an autobiography and I’m sure that the years I spent absorbed in that subject are at the origin of the work.

I use a camera (all sorts), lights (strobes or sun), people, places, things and I use the computer ALOT! I spend a pretty good amount of time on Photoshop.  That’s about the closest I get to painting or drawing because when I use the pen and tablet I am painting onto my image, through my image and around my image. For me that’s my favorite time…that’s the canvas where I create.

4. What makes you angry, what makes you happy?

I think that what makes me the most angry is injustice. I have a strong sense of fairness. Whether it be social, political or within my own home I need things to be just and fair and even. I become very passionate and angry when I see or feel that something is not balanced and I’ll be the first to point it out. I do not like it when I feel someone is being taken advantage of.

Sandrine Arons, Through the Wall, 2011

What makes me most happy is definitely being with people I love. I cherish the times I am surrounded by friends and family.  I will always try to find any reason to celebrate something as an excuse to have the people I love around me.  Celebration, for me, can mean anything from a big party to lunch with a good friend. 

5. Who and what inspire you in your work and or in your life in general?

I wouldn’t say that any one person inspires me.  I am inspired by a certain way of thinking or creating that is exemplified in certain artists, writers or philosophers. Although there are many, my biggest influences are especially women who have inspired me to create and feel comfortable in my own skin. Any time I read works by Anais Nin, Helene Cixous or Simone de Beauvoir all my senses seem to wake up. If I feel like I’m in a creative, psychological or intellectual rut, I know I can pick up any one of their texts and feel inspired again. They are like a breath of fresh air for me. In fact, I would say that literature in general is my biggest inspiration.  More so than visual art interestingly. I think that is why much of my work is multilayered and symbolic. I like each piece to tell a story or else be a starting point for someone else’s story. 

Sandrine Arons. The Painter's Hand, 2012

Outside of that, I am inspired by details. By that, I mean that when I get the chance to block out all the excess (noise, thoughts, stress, etc…) and be present with the details that surround me such as the rustling of the leaves in the wind, the way light hits a certain object, the creaking sound of trees in the woods, my dogs little footsteps on the hardwood floor, the way my son’s breath sounds when he sleeps or the way a line curves on someone’s face…the list is endless. These things inspire me by giving me a sense of calm and peace. Removing all the excess helps clear my head.

6. What superpower would you want?

This is actually a more difficult question to answer than I had anticipated! My first thought was a superpower that would allow me to eat everything I want and stay thin. But, seriously I think that the superpower I really wish I had would be to have limitless energy. There is so much I want to do but often energy fades and I find myself frustrated because I can’t manage to get it all done. 

7. What is your favorite artists and or other person?

Spending all my summers in Europe as a child meant that I was lucky enough to visit all the greatest museums and contemplate great works of art from a very young age. Living in Paris also gave me the opportunity to visit the Louvre as much as I wanted and one thing I realized is that no matter how often I would return to the Louvre, I always went back to the same hall to see the great Dutch and Flemish works. I guess it isn’t that surprising that these would be my favorites since photography, in some ways, borrows from them. The source and presence of light is so important in some of these paintings that it makes sense that a photographer would be moved by the artist’s ability to reproduce light with such brilliance.  Works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Borch and Rubens probably explain my love of portraiture and definitely influence my way of making portraits. In fact, my most recent series is directly linked to my fascination with those portraits in that I have appropriated portraits throughout history and turned them into self-portraits (back to my autobiographical influences). After spending hours upon hours staring at those paintings, I decided to become part of them. But even beyond the portraits, I love Bruegels landscapes and Mignon’s strange still life paintings. They are all very photographic to me. 

I also have an affinity for some surrealists such as Magritte, Dali and Man Ray. My “Frontiers” series has a surreal quality that was certainly influenced by their work. 

I also love the paintings of Frida Khalo and the conceptual projects by Sophie Calle. In terms of writers, I mentioned them in my influences, but I forgot to mention one of my favorite writers and artists, Antonin Artaud. There are so many others, but these are the ones at the top!

8. What advice would you give to other artists?

Because it is not until recently that I have finally called myself an artist, it is hard to give advice to others on the matter. I suppose I would tell emerging artists to meet other artists.  I have found that connecting with other creative people really motivates me. 

9. Contact details:

email: sandrinemonique@gmail.com

web: www.sandrinearons.com

Dodho Magazine: http://www.dodho.com/frontiers-by-sandrine-arons/

Interview with Helen DeRamus

The Wild Wild West by Helen De Ramus

1. Who are you and what do you do, and what is your background?

Atlanta is my hometown. I graduated from Emory at Oxford in the extended program and then from Emory University in history and art history. My art history concentration in Asian art set the tone for my career in art. I taught in Savannah after graduating then moved to Englewood, New Jersey, where I taught and began studio courses. Returning to Atlanta in 1979, my interest in photography (my dad’s influence) took me to the SE Center for the Photographic Arts studying with Buck Miller, Larry White and Neil Chaput de Saintonge. I created a commercial photography business which I ran for the next ten years. When I began critique sessions with Joseph Perrin, he encouraged me to combine paint and photographs, so here I am. I continue to combine photography and paint.

2. What's integral to your art and or art career?

Experimentation is integral to my art and I think of style as eclectic.

The Storm Warning by Helen DeRamus

3. What themes do you pursue and what medium do you use?

I am on a journey and the idea of “moving focus” in Chinese art informs my work with the landscape. For me to be successful means combining three important elements: hand, eye and heart. The odd shapes in nature always call to me, realizing that in nature, there is always the infinite. I use a variety of mediums including encaustic, oil and wax, lith crayon and India ink working on wooden panels, canvas, and paper.

4. What makes you angry, what makes you happy?

Intolerance makes me angry and working in the studio makes me happy...many things make me happy..too many to list.

A Thin Red Line by Helen DeRamus

5. Who and what inspire you in your work and or in your life in general?

The natural world inspires me. I experience intense pleasure through my eyes and sense of touch. There is something new to see everyday.

6. What superpower would you want?

X-ray vision, no doubt.

7. What is your favorite artists and or other person?

I admire and get inspiration from so many artists many of whom I know well. But I can point to Giacometti who inspires me to value process, Annie Dilliard for her capacity to see the whole landscape and appreciate the tiniest creatures. Robert MacFarlane describes the landscape in a way that helps me appreciate the history and “feel” of the landscape and Julie Mehretu whose large complex works inspire me to imagine the possibilities of a new way to see.

8. What advice would you give to other artists?

Value your work. Make connections with artists you trust to keep you honest. Work as much as you can because your inspiration comes from working. Be open to learning from other artists you admire.

9. Contact details 

And Then Into The Sky by Helen DeRamus

http://www.helenderamus.com 

http://deramusstudio.com

Interview with Artist Leisa Rich

Beauty From The Beast by Leisa Rich

2009

garden- 25 ft. by 20 ft.

Materials: Wool, fabrics, vinyl, thread; recycled elements: plastic straws, plant stakes, packing materials, strapping tape, bubble wrap, carpet samples, quilts, cut up art pcs. and more

Techniques: Machine and hand stitched; embroidery; trapunto; quilting; dyed; hand painted; rolled; constructed and more

AS FEATURED IN the book NOPLACENESS

1. Who are you and what do you do, and what is your background?

My name is Leisa Rich. I describe myself as an experimentalist, although I was formally trained in the fiber arts — I began as a weaver in 1975— and continue to incorporate fibers processes and materials in my work, particularly free motion machine stitching, something I began doing in 1971 when my Mom taught me to use a sewing machine to darn and I used it to draw a dog instead. One year ago I purchased a 3D printer and am doing art work incorporating biodegradable plastics, bamboo, coffee and other interesting filaments, and just this week I got my second 3D printer, so I can really up the output and experimentation using this fascinating technology. I was born and raised in Canada, but went to Interlochen Arts Academy (now Interlochen Center for the Arts) for 10th through 12th grade, originally as a pianist and dancer, but switched to art early on. I graduated from there in ’78 as an art major. I was accepted into RISD, Parsons, etc. but due to the higher cost of paying U.S. tuition using Canadian funds at a time of a 40% exchange rate, went back to Canada to continue my art education. However, after attending one semester at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, I opted to return to the states fall of ‘79, ending up at The University of Michigan School of Visual Art, now the Stamps School of Art & Design. I received my BFA from there in ’82 and returned to Canada, where I owned a small art gallery, married an American, became a designer for an international clothing company in Toronto, had one daughter, got a Bachelor of Education in Art in ’93, sold everything and traveled around the world with my husband and daughter for a year, ran a wearable art design company for many years, had another daughter, and taught Drama for four years at a high school in Vancouver, British Columbia, until my husband’s job took us to Kauai, Hawaii in ’98.

Surrounded by Leisa Rich

2015

Materials: Thread, plastic, fabric, recorder, vintage lace, vintage stand

Technique: Free motion machine embroidered- 3,500 ears! sewn, constructed.

 It was there that friend and painter Sally French encouraged me to return to my non-functional art roots. A move to Dallas led me to attend The University of North Texas, graduating with an MFA degree in fibers in ’07. I moved to Atlanta that year. Since I have been in Atlanta I was a Teaching Artist at The High Museum for 2 years, ran the after school art program at The Galloway School for 6 years, have taught classes at Chastain Arts Center and Binders, taught 7 years of Callanwolde summer art camp/adult classes, run private classes and workshops in my studio, was on the roster as a SCAD professor (right when the economy tanked- I was never able to actually teach and they bump you off the list after 3 years! Darn!) and I travel to teach at arts centers around the U.S. My focus for the last year has been on developing my art career after I became an empty-nester! I do conceptual art, and sculptural art-to-wear once in a while. I write occasionally for art magazines and have also written locally for Burnaway and ArtsATL. I recently curated my first art exhibition, Invisible:visAble, featuring 16 international and local artists whose art is informed by their invisible disabilities. That was a project near and dear to my heart, as I am completely deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other. I also recently published my first children’s book, a five year labor of love, that is made up of 26 dioramas and 26 3D type pages, in tongue twister format, for children (but all ages are seeming to love it!) to work on their speech, and it is about traveling and living different places and enjoying doing fun things and having experiences no matter where you are. I also sell my art on clothes at Print All Over Me, and recycled sweater stuffed animals at Atlanta MADE and Vintage ATL and my art at Signature Gallery. I work very hard and am extremely prolific, but am downsizing my diversity as I age and face some physical limitations, exacerbated by recently having a very bad slip and fall and car wreck. Therefore, I am streamlining my career, focusing going forward on my art.

2. What’s integral to your art and or art career?

Materials explorations intrigue me and are often the catalyst for realizing conceptual directions. Lifelong medical challenges I have faced and overcome have led to a fascination with the organic, and growing up in Canada — where I spent much of my childhood alone in, or on, lakes, walking through verdant woods, in thick snow, and summers spent going to camp, communing with the water, land and wind — have inspired me to create a manufactured nature that make up a Utopian world in which to lose oneself. I am still developing “an art career” and am still not quite sure what that is for me. Keeping an open mind, learning, constantly trying new things and growing, is so crucial to me. 

3. What themes do you pursue and what medium do you use?

Creating environments that invite viewers in, and art they can actually interact with, is of huge importance to me, as is creating art or curating exhibitions that encourage human connection.  I enjoy a yin yang approach: a push/pull, entice/repel, positive/negative dichotomy, emulating the complexity of life’s opposing polarities. Nothing is sacred medium-wise…I will use whatever techniques and materials  are suitable to get a concept across. That can mean vintage, recycled anything, plastics, wood, paint, fibers, and more and the techniques of 3D printing, sewing, printmaking, painting, construction, etc. It is all fodder to bring an idea to fruition. I think a use of mixed media was fostered when I went to U of M and disliked the fibers professor, which led me to explore classes in photography, woodworking, sculpture and other mediums instead. My BFA exhibition featured woven strips of colored Xerox explorations. 

4. What makes you angry, what makes you happy?

Knowledge Overcomes Ignorance As Sunlight DarknessArt work by Leisa Rich

2015
Materials: Fosshape, paper, fabric, thread, acrylic
Technique: Free motion machine embroidery, sewn and constructed

Unfortunately, I am hyper sensitive to most things, so I get very angry at bad human behavior. Especially the use and abuse of animals for human consumption, that one is my biggest pet peeve and a cantankerous one to have in this meat-centric world! Social media has brought too much war, intolerance and fear too closely into our lives and damaged our hearts but on the flip side, it has also brought so many good things into my own life: places to stay/new friends when I travel to teach, wonderful, talented individuals who care deeply to be inspired by, new ways of thinking, and alternative ideas that help me expand both as an artist and as an individual.…connection. Regarding art: I get super upset at exclusivity, which I see as the practice of favoring someone(s) for who they are or who they know as opposed to for their abilities and talent and integrity. I get angry when I am taken advantage of. I get angry when people don’t follow through on promises or commitments. I am happiest when I am alone and making art. I am at peace when I am with my kids and grandkids. I adore my husband. He is my best, best friend and has evolved over the years to be my biggest champion and moral and financial supporter. I am happy when I secretly do things for social good. 

5. Who and what inspire you in your work and or in your life in general?

To list who inspires me would fill a room! I have great admiration and art-lust for so many talented people!!!! Art-wise- I have never wavered from my endless admiration for Tara Donovan, adore Do Ho Suh, love Ernesto Neto, am amazed by friend and fellow Canadian Jennifer Angus’s art and the way it has blossomed over the last few years- so happy for her! I worship Iris Van Herpen, whose exhibit is presently up and is a DO-NOT-MISS at The High Museum, and am enamored of many more not- quite-as-famous artists. I love art that uses inconsequential things and turns them into consequential, art that involves viewers, art that envelops, art that creates new realities, art that makes me think deeply, and art that makes a difference. I don’t like pretty pictures that match sofas. I am inspired by the vegan movement, having been a vegetarian of every type for 28 years now, settling on vegan at home and vegetarian out, so I have been following John Robbins for 28 years. Food inspires me, I love trying new ways of cooking. Cooking is a great stress-buster at the end of a long day. I love Obama’s sense of fun and humor he has employed during his presidency and am truly scared for what the next election will bring, adore my home country Canada’s inclusive and positive approach to humanity, but most of all- I admire nature. It endlessly provides me with the joy that humans do not.

6. What superpower would you want?

Healthy longevity. I consider that a superpower. To be able to keep going with health and create art and food for umpteen more years would be so amazing. Since we are on the cusp of downloading our consciousness into post-human form, I am hoping to be able to accomplish that. My husband and I will be first in line to become robots. I don’t know why everyone is so skeptical and fearful of this phase of evolution we are IN. We need to pull our heads out of the sand and be pro-active.

7. What is your favorite artists and or other person?

sTriangulation (detail) by Leisa Rich


31" X 36" X 36" X 1

Materials: PLA, thread, resin, graphite

Technique: 3D printing, drawing, free motion machine embroidery

I think I answered that above….but hey! Throw the Dalai Lama in there. Love his sense of humor! 

8. What advice would you give to other artists?

I used to think I had advice to give but as I age, I realize how little I really know. 

9. Contact details if any?

My website:

www.monaleisa.com

Review on invisible:visAble

http://www.artsatl.com/2015/11/invisible-visable-abernathy/

Children’s book website

www.animalalphabettravelingtwisters.com

Art Clothes:

http://printallover.me/collections/leisa-rich

Interview with Anita Stewart

1. Who are you and what do you do, and what is your background?

I am an international artist and art teacher. I graduated from the University of Memphis in the ancient year of 1977 with a BFA. As I taught, I got  elementary, junior high and high school art  programs off the ground for both public and private schools. This encouraged me to start my own art school. I was the sole owner and director of Anita's  ArtsCool for 15 years,1998-2013. I hit the ground running when we move to Atlanta in 1983.  Since then I have been in numerous juried local, regional and international art competitions. I  became friends with an artist who lived near me in Suwanee. Jill Fearon was  an artist from South Africa. In 2006,she invited me to visit her in Capetown and travel through beautiful South Africa. I visited Capetown for a month in 2007 . In 2009 I ,went with her and a group of South African artists for almost two weeks  to paint in Tuscany. I returned to South Africa in 2010 to paint and travel .  During my last adventure, I got my courage up  to  travel by myself. I developed a passion during my visits to South Africa to view cave paintings. (They are much older than the ones we have in the US.) My explorations in Africa led me to other adventures in Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Australia. 

2. What's integral to your art and or art career?

Travel has become very important to my quest in understanding the people and art of other countries. I love the challenge and adventure to stretch myself and has driven me to a deeper understanding of who I am and where I came from. I have Native American heritage and I find myself attracted to the indigenous people of whatever country I travel to. 

3. What themes do you pursue and what medium do you use?

I have taught a wide range of media through the years. I progressed through acrylics ,pastels ,pen and ink, and oils . I have drawn and painted a wide range of subject matter in both realistic and fantasy styles. I am currently exploring maps as artwork using mixed media . I have cut, torn and pasted maps  with zero and minimum paint . I have rendered many portraits of live models   using water color crayons  over printed maps. I think using maps fits who I am and what I want to explore..many worlds !!

4. What makes you angry, what makes you happy?

I makes me angry to see an individual cause hardships for other people.

Especially when it causes them to become adversaries . We live in a small world and our online technology is making it even smaller. I love to laugh and discover something new.

5. Who and what inspire you in your work and or in your life in general?

Those who don't give up. People who bring more  joy and sunshine into your life.I think my Great Aunt was also an inspiration to me. She taught in London and loved to travel.

6. What superpower would you want?

I would want to visit with loved ones who are gone..Like my good friend Rosemary Williams who was also a WCA member. I would also love to be a time traveler to learn more form other people born in other places and at other times in life.

7. What is your favorite artists and or other person?

I am always amazed by the work of Salvador Dahli.. I also like Van Gough's work. I share the same birthday as Van Gough.

8. What advice would you give to other artists?

Never give up.  Be true to yourself and give yourself grace to make mistakes. Some of my greatest accomplishments have come from big mistakes that I learned from ..in my work  and in my life.

www.wetcanvas.com is a great place to discuss questions and connect with other artists. ( I met the originator  years ago.. )

Always look for ways to learn more.. Step back and reconsider what has happened in your life.

9. Contact details if any? 

www.anitastewartgallery.com is my website. Please friend me on Face Book.  My email is anitaarts@hotmail.com

I am currently teaching art at Art and Beyond on Holcomb Bridge Rd. I am teaching drawing to teens, painting to adults. I have several workshops scheduled for the near future in calligraphy, visual journaling and pastels. http://artandbeyondstudio.com/adult-classes/adult-workshops/

www.artandbeyondstudio.com Ask for Andy Schwartz.