fave photo of Dec

While I have many photos I am loving from December and Christmas,

this is one that just makes me smile.

Taken on Christmas Eve day during an afternoon of fun snow tubing

at Eko Bakken in Scandia, Minnesota.

I turned around and there was my sweet Drew just sitting there on the tube taking a break.

I love the background, the tubes, and his natural presence in front of a camera.

And I love it so much I felt compelled to not edit it at all.....

sometimes I just love a great shot and want to leave it that way.

Promise

"Promise"
20"x24" acrylic mixed-media painting 
with original photography image transfer 

"Promise" has been created for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's

  Promise Council.

I am so honored to have been asked to create a piece inspired

 by their mission to "promise" to help to eradicate pediatric AIDS.

Not only is it an amazing promise it is absolutely possible.   

A little info about "Promise":

"Promise" is a piece full of symbolism, and while I often like to leave that to interpretation, in this case I think it is important to share the specifics...

This painting is 20"x24"mixed media acrylic painting on canvas, which is highly textured much like the landscape in which we walked during AIDS Walk Africa.  The photo of the children is an image transfer of a photo I took in Swaziland for AWA of school children I met.  The photo has been dismantled and reassembled to create images of children both showing promise and hope, as well as children caught within the AIDS pandemic.  

Additionally, I have used a photo image transfer of the cellular form of the HIV virus and dispersed it throughout the painting (strips of orange color) 

symbolizing the AIDS plight the children are faced with and eradicting it.  

The flowers at the base of the painting symbolizes the children's song that they bravely sang to us during AWA 2008 at a school 

"HIV is killing our community.  We are the flowers of our community." 

 The flowers being another symbolic image of hope and promise.

In 2008, I participated in AIDS Walk Africa with EGPAF in Swaziland 

It was a calling of my soul to connect to 

mothers and children impacted by the AIDS pandemic,

 something I knew I had to do.

It was an incredibly inspiring and eye-opening journey.  

A journey that leaves you forever changed.  

You can't go to Swaziland and witness the reality of the AIDS pandemic

 (33% of the population is infected) without knowing you must do more.

"Message from Swaziland" was my response to what I witnessed. 

So to be asked to create a piece specifically for EGPAF's Promise Campaign feels like a natural extension of the 
"Message from Swaziland" series.    

I am honored and grateful to offer this piece to those who PROMISE.

This quote from Elizabeth Glaser says why we must do more so perfectly....

journal

Today I am sharing a journal entry that I initally posted on my family blog...before this art blog started.

I love aspects of journaling...I think because it feels so intimate to me.   I would like to give it more attention in the future as a means of stirring my creativity!

Journaling for a community art project.,

which is this wonderful community art project by "Phoenix Peacock" that I came across.... 

This is why I love blogging and being able to connect with people you wouldn't otherwise!

click the link above to check it out!

This is my first piece dedicated to my art mentor, teacher and friend, Deborah Meyer.  

She is a priceless gift in my life and she is nothing short of sent from god.

She opened the world of art....taught me....saw in me what I was unable to access and help me become the artist I am today.  I love her for so many reasons.

i heart faces- furry faces

I heart faces:  Furry Face

Here is the furry face in our lives.

Introducing....Bob the Bulldog in "put your camera down and let me inside...even my drool is frozen!'

 

"Out There" with Etsy....

So, I have decided to share my work on Etsy....to put it "out there".
I figured it was time to go back to it since I have all these paintings just sitting in my studio.

There is something about putting your work on-line that feels a bit uncomfortable, and yet I know it is a wonderful way to get it "out there".  I always end up feeling so vulnerable in it.   However, this is true whenever I share work I love.

Then there is the struggle of pricing it, valuing my work, being fair in the market.   I am unsure of how I am doing in that respect.   It is my least favorite part about putting my art "out there".    I have decided to value my work and list the price I feel it is worth and am willing to let go of it for.

And then there is actually parting with my pieces.  I am so emotionally attached to them.    I am hestitant to tell you that it feels like a little bit of abetrayal to put them on Etsy.  I know that sounds crazy.....but that is how it feels.   crazy.

So, why am I doing this when I feel conflicted about it?    It comes down to supporting my habit.  My love of creating.  I can't always tap into our family income to support it.   It is also important to me to find the right people who will connect to the works.  Maybe an interview process to see if they will provide a suitable home for it!   ha!  That is a joke.....

Anyway, I am putting my work "out there".  Who knows what will happen, but I figure if it is just sitting in my studio, it will just sit in my studio and not connect to anyone.
Going out there.....here on Etsy

The calling....

I just started reading this book Creative Awakenings by Sheri Gaynor.  

The first chapter already has been wanting more....and has me thinking.
Here is a poem from this first chapter "The Calling".

What is calling me today?   What is MY calling?    Am I listening to that calling?  
I can answer.....my children, my need to find balance, seeking serenity, peace within.
My art is calling....ideas, composition, layers, shapes....just letting the paint flow.


I will leave you with this poem....

What in your life is calling you?
When all the noise is silenced,
the meetings adjounred,
the list laid aside,
and the wild iris blooms by itself in
the dark forest,
what still pulls on your soul?

In the silence between your heartbeats
hids a summons.
Do you hear it?
Name it, if you must,
or leave it forever nameless,
but why pretend it is not there?
-Ther Terma Collective, "The Box: Remembering the Gift"