Embark

“Half finished work generally proves to be labor lost.” -Abraham Lincoln

What holds you back? More importantly, what do you do about it? All of us have challenges, many and varied, that stand in the way of the life we imagine for ourselves. It’s how we overcome these and keep moving forward that counts. So what is it that stands in your way, perhaps preventing you from accomplishing all you know you could?

Susan Vecsey joined us to discuss her show, Day and Night, running through August 11 at Barry Campbell Gallery. Vecsey thinks a lot about light. She starts from observation with her work and explains how everything is different when working on a nocturn. The water at night, she says, will light up while the sky is dark. When working on this show, she began with the nocturn painting, adding the day work to make a pair and moved on from there. To hear more, listen to the complete interview.

David Bordett recently discussed his work in the show Liquidation: 1/2 of Yale Sculpture MFA ’23. The sculpture, made in collaboration with his friend Tommy Coleman, is titled Wild Card. They initially made the piece for an exhibition with a curator who is a longtime baseball fan and wanted to explore the intersection between artistic practice and baseball as part of the wider pop-cultural zeitgeist. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.

Clear the way, move forward. It won’t be easy, but it can be done.

Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android, please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews is here.

Books to Read

What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Praxis user Quin de la Mer is revisiting beloved books: Spell of the Sensuous by David Abrams and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimerer.

The Bryn Du Artist in Residence program is accepting applications for its next cycle. This 8-12 week program is intended to offer an inspirational setting for artists while introducing them to the Granville, Ohio, community. Each opportunity comes with a stipend. To learn more and to apply, visit the website. Deadline is August 31.

Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists, most recently Making it in the Art World.