Tree of Hope - A Project for Breast Cancer Awareness

A while back, my wife, Stephanie, asked me if I would be willing to assist her and her friends in a project they were working on at SFA state university. They had entered a contest of which the main goal is to spread breast cancer awareness.

Both my mom, and my mother-in-law have beaten breast cancer, so it was a no brainer to lend a helping hand.

We wanted to create something that was both informative, and esthetically appealing to the eye. We felt that the more beautiful the display, the more information the viewer would take in. Art creates strong feelings, and strong feelings are needed in the fight against breast cancer.

Part of the competition was to make the display as visible as possible, so arrows were added all throughout the building, leading students and professors to our "Tree of Hope."

The display is located on the third floor of the math building at SFA.

^Sorry for the bad lighting. I'll try to get a better picture later^

Upon closer examination, you will notice the soil is made up of statistics, facts, and knowledge about breast cancer. From this soil of knowledge, a tree, made of many awareness supporters and survivors is born. The trunk and limbs are made of large companies who have made considerable donations. The limbs are bursting with flowering hope; yoplait lids to be turned in for further donations.

I think we have created a meaningful, artful, informative, and beautiful display, for a worthy cause. I am thrilled to have been allowed the opportunity to work on such a project. Thank you all!!

Easter WIPs

This may sound funny, but it feels great to be swamped... at least when it comes to art. I can never really get myself into gear until it all piles up at the last second, and here we are again!

I have STJ to finish, several special orders to work on, and hopefully a few new Etsy pieces.

Here's a touch of what I will have to offer for STJ this month. As far as I can remember, this will be my first ever Easter ornaments, and I'm not sure why; I love Easter! I also have a larger Easter piece in the works for the hootenanny, and a new Halloween piece as well.

I've decided I should probably put my moon man project aside for a while, or at least until the 13th, when STJ updates. Here's another update pic on the big fellow:

Anyway, my coffee mug is almost empty, and so is the pot, so I better get ready to tackle this big pile of work in front of me!

Mushroom WIP

This little guy has been dwelling in my sketchbook for quite some time now. I'll have a few days off soon, so hopefully I can finish sculpting and painting him. I also need to get to work on some STJ stuff and some orders, so I have a busy couple of weeks ahead!

Henry Selick

I'm back, with a new computer, and new modem, and a new sense of care when it comes to computers. Hopefully that will be the last time my computer bites the dust.

Last night after work, Steph and I took in a movie that we've been anticipating for a long, long time. "Coraline" is a movie shot in stop motion animation, just like "Nightmare before Christmas." In fact, Henry Selick, the director of "Nightmare" directed Coraline.

Don't beat me up for saying this. I know a lot of you are huge Tim Burton fans (as am I), but I consider Selick the true genius behind Nightmare before Christmas. I do love the story of Nightmare, but what really draws me in is the vivid characters brought to life by Selick, not Burton. His style encompasses everything that I, and probably a lot of you, would love to be as an artist. I think there are many parallels between what we do in our artistic community, and what people like Selick do in theirs. Basically, movies like "Coraline," and Nightmare Before Christmas" are folk art sculptures brought to life, frame by frame. To me this is mind blowing and fascinating.

"Mind blown" doesn't begin to describe how I feel about "Coraline." This movie is amazing in every aspect, and I cannot wait to see it again, and again. Please do yourself a favor and see this movie. Let it inspire you.

Gone Fishing...

...fishing for inspirations that is. I'll be away for a few days to cool my creative jets and hopefully pick up some artistic inspirations along the way. Our destination? First we'll spend a while in Eureka Springs, one of my favorite places in the world. It's pretty much the melting pot of all of my interests, be it the town's rich, artistic background, or it's fascinating haunted history.

Next stop, Branson Missouri. If you're not familiar with Branson, you're missing out. There's a seemingly endless amount of attractions here, including music and variety shows, museum, shops, theme parks, and much much more. If only we had more time.

Anyway, I'll be back soon!