Fun a Day
The process of making a work of art can often be a daunting task, a task that can be challenging to just take the first step on. In a mental block that artists often face when looking to produce more work, it’s reasonably easy to freeze up in the process. In order to commit to not losing their creative spark during the winter, four friends agreed to make a piece in a series of art every day in January of 2003. The idea caught on with more people, and soon a collective of creatives were creating something every day that ranged from music, photography of someone flossing every day, and even algebra on old tooth molds. The show featuring the completed series was held at one of the friend’s houses, and the bliss of the idea only caught more attention from there.
Fun-A-Day has spread itself across the U.S., England, and Scotland as a new tradition that invites everyone of all ages and skill levels to make something of their own, every day of January. Sharon Wasko, Daniel Lofgren, James Saul, and Jacinta Bunnell brought Fun-A-Day to the Hudson Valley. Now the DRAW Gallery is in on the fun, and had an exhibition last year including the works of teaching artists and members of the Youth Workforce. Some projects included: illustrations of dreams, a picture of a Scrabble game every day, up-close portraits of friends and family, and tiny pottery. Fun-A-Day will again have an exhibition at the DRAW this year, and once again anyone can throw their hat in the ring with whatever way they wish to express themselves. With Fun-A-Day, winter has become a season flourishing with creative spirit rather than an artistic drought. Why not make things yourself this Winter?
FEATURED ARTIST: Lora Shelley
Lora Shelley is an artist, printmaker, sculptor, and illustrator who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with work that’s been shown and collected across Africa, Italy, France, and Australia. Lora’s deep love of animals comes shining out of nearly everything she makes. Cats, bears, dogs, owls, foxes, squirrels, turtles, and more all get their time in her spotlight. Adorable little smug cat sculptures and planters designed to be bear heads flashing toothy grins are just some of the ways she creates smiles from clay. When working with paint or ink, Lora captures the purest essence of the animals we love. With a loving handmade quality, she takes great care to represent the sheen of a fur coat and the lively pose of a creature on-guard.
What may seem like a stark contrast between the different mediums she works with is actually the channeling of different emotional qualities. With Lora’s 3D work, her mood is more playful, and she tends to find the spirit of the animal itself guiding the final product. The spirit of people’s pets tends to be very lighthearted and filled with life! With Lora’s more realistic work, she works to capture the personality of dogs and cats with head tilts and the fine details of their fur. Lora uses animals to bridge her emotional journey of art-making to the viewer, telling stories and translating her feelings. She embraces constant learning, both from her practice and from the animals that inform her. It’s like nature given presentation by the human hand, and nature being moved down new avenues of mark-making like a breeze rustling through the fur of a woodland creature.
