Artist & Photographer as Apryle Daphne
Medical Transcription
There are people who could easily get swept away by the cards that have been dealt to them and there are those who learn how to surf the waves and dive deep to plumb the depths of life. April is the latter. She said, "Every decade of my life there has been something significantly traumatic that has happened to me, and that's a fact, and while every decade of my life has been marked with a pretty significant middle finger, it is those experiences that have enabled me to feel the depth, breadth, and vastness of life. Experiencing those deeper aspects of life has helped me fill in all the dark holes. That's the more important part. The significant transformations that have happened within me would not exist without the hits."
When she arrived for the interview April sat in my driveway for a few minutes to finish listening to The Lightening Strike (What if this Storm Ends?), a whopping sixteen-minute song by Snow Patrol that finishes their fifth album, A Hundred Million Suns. The sonically influenced song blows April's mind every time she listens to it. It's a perfect example that illustrates how important it is for April to immerse herself in experiences, whether physical or emotional. She will feel all the feels from whatever she pursues whether those pursuits are artistic, emotional, or physical (or any combination of the three experienced together simultaneously.)
April's capacity to feel deeply informs her artwork. The feelings wash over her, they swirl within her, and then the artistic expression flows out of her hands, into the brush, and onto the canvas. The act of creation is a healing process. In addition to painting, April is a professional photographer. After college April treated herself to a summer program in Samos, Greece that explored photography and it has been part of her life ever since. She particularly loves portraiture. Her experience in Greece left a lasting impression. She dreams of retiring there.
April's life is about creating adventures and holding those memories dear rather than curating collections of things that take up space and gather dust. On weekends and vacations, April's passion is to explore the outdoors with her husband and sixteen year old son. April wrote on her Facebook page in August, "I swear on my soul there's quite literally NOTHING that can compare to being the last two paddlers off the river in darkness." And that was even after running some rapids, but fortunately they were navigating a river that they knew well. For a life changing kayaking experience, April suggests that everyone should travel down the Snake River in Wyoming once in their lives.
P.S. Karen Northcutt is April's mother. They were the only mother and daughter to participate in the project. They shared their photoshoot day together and it was a wonderful experience spending the day with them capturing their memories in the studio.
Read more about April, and see additional portraits from her photoshoot, upon the release of the Wise Women: The 50 over 50 Magazine later this year.
You are invited to attend the Wise Women Portrait Gala on Thursday, October 13th at the Savoy Opera House in Tucson, Arizona from 5-9 p.m. Parking is plentiful and free and there will indoor and outdoor seating. Each participant will be featured in a creative portrait on display in the art exhibit. Buffet dinner, no-host bar, music, dancing, magic and a raffle will be part of the evening's festivities celebrating these fabulous women. Purchase tickets here on Eventbrite.
Studio Strobe and Natural Light | Hand painted backdrop by Michelle Beaumont Owens
Makeup by Renee Rodriguez of Radiate with ReneeJ
Location: Tucson, Arizona.