Hedy Buzan is the 2012 Slow Art Day host at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, California. A veteran Slow Art Day host and advisory board member, Hedy is a painter, printmaker, and adjunct instructor at Saddleback Community College.

Hedy: Slow Art Day is all about the artwork and the viewer’s reaction to it. Being an artist myself, I like to bring an artist’s perspective to the process.

Slow Art Day: Have you selected your artwork for Slow Art Day yet?
Hedy: We will be visiting the Richard Diebenkorn show at Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, California. The plan is to look at five pieces—two large Ocean Park paintings, a miniature painting on a cigar box lid, an etching, and a collage—to discover how Diebenkorn explored similar formal interests in different media.

Slow Art Day: What is your favorite piece of art or one piece that has had a great affect on you?
Hedy: My favorite piece of art is Bathers by the River by Matisse. This is a painting he worked on over an eight-year span from 1909-1917.  I love how he integrated the languages of Cubism, Abstraction, and non-Western art traditions with his unique sensibility.

Slow Art Day: Tell us more about your Slow Art Day event.
Hedy:  Our Slow Art Day event will be late in the day and a bit truncated (3-5 PM) as I teach that day; however, I didn’t want to skip it. This will be my fourth Slow Art Day and my third time hosting. Each time participants leave raving about the great time they had, saying that they can’t wait until next year!

If you can, join Hedy at the Orange County Museum of Art this April 28, 2012.