Artist Interview: Astrid Dick

 Words of the Day: faith. patience. sensuousness. rigor. energy.

Paris based painter Astrid Dick joins the program for a conversation. We talk about painting as spending the best hours of every day, words and their relationship to taking painting in personally and in conversation with others, how faith in painting triggers more faith and more.

Also, previous guest Lauren G. Levine sent in a question and some thoughts for Astrid which I share in the interview, thanks Lauren!

Welcome, Astrid Dick to conversation...listen below...

 

 

Audio interview with the artist:

Ahtcast · Astrid Dick Interview

 

Mentioned in the conversation:

Vincent van Gogh

El Greco

J. M. W. Turner 

Jimi Hendrix

Howard Hodgkin

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

Art Spiel article written by Astrid here: Art Spiel 

The artist's website: Astrid Dick

 instagram: @chastrida

 

Thank you Astrid for the conversation and for sharing, and to Lauren for her interview question!

 

Thanks, listeners! 

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 (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen)

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Artist Interview: Sarah Boyts Yoder

Words of the day: color. improv. hungry. iteration. attention. guru. 

This episode's guest is Charlottesville, Virginia based painter Sarah Boyts Yoder. In the conversation Sarah draws parallels between music and painting, collecting visuals subconsciously through experiences outside of the studio, not to mention the practice of hoarding paint, and what the viewer can be for a finished piece of art… Sarah also shares a bit on being a mother and what the artist in her was doing while reading books to her children. And more… 

We have the 'five words' question making its appearance in the interview so don’t miss that. And keep your ears tuned in for a few questions submitted by previous ahtcast guest Fiona Stanbury, thanks for the great questions Fiona. 

So let’s listen in and welcome Sarah Boyts Yoder to ahtcast! 

 

 

Sarah Boyts Yoder in her studio

 

 

 

 

Night Shop

Acrylic and paint stick on paper

11.5" x 9.5"

Winter Azalea

Acrylic, spray paint, paint stick on panel

24" x 18" 

2021

 

 

 

 Persimmon Canyon

Acrylic, spray paint, paint stick on linen

64" x 50"

2019

Here Is How To Cut Them Down: Scythes

Acrylic on found map

56" x 40"

2020

Quarantine Works On Paper

Mixed media on paper

Dimensions variable

2020

Audio interview with the artist:

 

Ahtcast · Sarah Boyts Yoder Interview

 

 

 

The artist's website: Sarah Boyts Yoder

 

 Instagram: @sarahboytsyoder

 

 

Mentioned in the conversation:

Georgia O'keeffe

Robert Motherwell

Wangechi Mutu

Keltie Ferris

Twyla Tharp

Amy Sillman

Matisse

Elizabeth Murray

 

 

 

 

Quotes Sarah would like to share:

 

 

"Things that I react to strongly, I don't question, I just go for them. I don't ask, 'Why am I attracted to you?'" 

 

-Wangechi Mutu

 

 

 

'I guess in brief, I think abstraction is very much like humor in a way, because it's a form that resists or refuses -- refuses what? I guess the preconceived*. It's a kind of negation, but it's also a generous condition, "not this, maybe that, or maybe somewhere between".

-Amy Sillman

 

 

'I have to find signs that are related to the quality of my own invention. These will be new plastic signs which in their turn will be absorbed into the common language if what I say by their means has any importance for other people.' 

- Henri Matisse, from a conversation with Louis Aragon: On Signs, 1942

.........

 

 Thank you Sarah! And many thanks to previous ahtcast guest Fiona Stanbury for sending some questions in for Sarah!

 

 Thanks for listening! 

 

 

(Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen)

Artist Interview: Douglas Witmer

Words of the day: elemental. aspire. ambient. place. context.

Philadelphia based painter Douglas Witmer joins me for a conversation on this episode. The interview starts of with Douglas sharing some of his early experiences with art and what feeds his work most. Then the conversation focuses on his ambient album FORTY, FOR YOU, a forty track album where each track is paired up with a painting. We talk about the relationship between the music and the paintings and what Douglas' process was like changing up the format a bit within his studio practice. The paintings, as well as the music, are an invitation for contemplation... Listen below for more! 

FORTY, FOR YOU

Day 9

10 inches square 

acrylic on paper

FORTY, FOR YOU

Day 23

10 inches square 

acrylic on paper

 

 

FORTY, FOR YOU 

installation view of entire set of paintings

Douglas Witmer in his Philadelphia studio

More work by Douglas:

 

 

 Conqueror 

35 x 28 inches

Acrylic on canvas

2020

Audio interview with the artist:

Ahtcast · Douglas Witmer Interview

Mentioned in the interview:

 Agnes Martin

Franz Kline

Matisse

Rothko Chapel

Morton Feldman

Tantra paintings

Tibetan prayer flags

Jane Rohrer 

Warren Rohrer

 

 Link to the digital album FORTY, FOR YOU on bandcamp: FORTY, FOR YOU

 Douglas Witmer's website: Douglas Witmer

Instagram: @dgelless

Current virtual show at: Gallerie Biesenbach

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Submitted questions for this interview by previous ahtcast guest Cat Balco.

Thank you Cat!

Below is a work from the series School Papers by Douglas that Cat Balco asks about directly

 

 

School Papers

Dimensions variable. approx 9 x 6 inches

Mixed media on found paper

2010
 

 

 

 

Thank you for listening! 

 

 

(Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen)

 

 

Artist Interview: Ron Fortier

Words of the day: gesture. narrative. emotion. abstraction. lineage.

This episode's guest is Fairhaven, Massachusetts based painter Ron Fortier. In my chat with Ron you’ll find detailed accounts of his past, present, and even what the future will hold for his paintings,... along with a healthy list of artist from the lineage that is his rich continuing story. 

Also in the episode...lots of materials shop talk as well as the challenges inherent to abstraction, and narrative work, as he works in both concentrations. 

Ron is also the host of The Southcoast Artists Index's In Focus podcast, he shares a bit about his podcast's goal as well. Listen below for more!

 

 

New Bedford Arctic Whaling Disaster of 1871: The Window - 2 

24" x 24" 

Acrylic on stretched canvas

 

 

 

 

  

America's Guernica: Greenwood - 5 

24" x 24" 

Acrylic on stretched canvas

 

 

 

 

 

 

PEB #4 - 2019

 

20" x 16"

Acrylic on stretched canvas

 

 

 

 

 

 

45 MNO 13 – 2018

24" x 24" 

 
Acrylic on stretched canvas

 

 

 

 

 

The artist's website: Ron Fortier

 

instagram: @ron.fortier

 

 

 

Audio interview with the artist:

 

 

 

Ahtcast · Ron Fortier Interview

 

 

Ron Fortier in his studio

 

Mentioned in the interview: 

 

Jane Ferris Richardson

Dante Vena

Peter London

Francisco Rapoza

Herbert Cummings

Ed Togneri

Bill Elliott

Frank McCoy

Kilburn Mill in New Bedford, MA

Luis Villanueva

Don Wilkinson

Mark Rothko

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Picasso

Rene Magritte

Ernst Gombrich

Julian Schnabel

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Vincent van Gogh

Frank Grace

Stephen Remick

 

 Ron Fortier is also the host of The Southcoast Artists Index's In Focus podcast, check it out here: The Artists Index

Do check that out and give a listen and follow!

 

 

  Thank you for listening! 

 

 

(Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen)

 

 

 

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