Busy Day.

My Goodness.  I am not even sure what day it is.  I just finished a workshop in the Studio and the work was not only beautifully rendered, but the writing is incredible.  I continue to be stunned by the honesty and depth at which people are sharing their stories.

I haven't even finished reading all the writings from the Impact NW workshop from Monday.  Luckily Sam reads fluent Spanish and will translate for me.  Although I think I want to keep the original Spanish with the translation when we print.  It seems more honest somehow.

This morning Sam did an incredible job on her senior lecture and the display of ACMA student 'panes' in the first window was so cool to see.  The kids even went up and re-arranged them in the window after the lecture.  There were more paintings than spaces in the window, so it was cool to see the window change as different 'panes' were switched out and reorganized.  This is only the beginning.

Cedar House Media really came through at the last minute and printed a booklet with all the response writings accompanying photos of the paintings.  Sam was able to hand out copies for all the ACMA paintings/writings in full color.  Again, this is just the beginning.  To have a tangible booklet makes me realize how powerful a full, professionally done book will be if we can pull it together.

Impact NW is gonna get the hot wax treatment.

I am taking the Traveling Recovery Panes Set-up out to Impact NW.   Impact NW’s mission is to help people achieve and maintain self-sufficiency and to prevent and alleviate the effects of poverty. 

They also provide services to help those that are broken on the inside as well.  Trauma is a part of these stories, addiction has a massive impact, and hopefully, by bringing the encaustics directly to them, they will have an opportunity to tell their story and be heard.

The First Recovery Panes Window ...in Progress

Well, here is the handmade window frame, done by Mark Randall of Frame World.  It is backed in magnetic material and all the individual art is movable/re-arrangeable.  Just a few spaces left to fill in. 

I am really excited to see how the audience takes these very personal stories and makes it a community art piece. Every time we put our experiences together, we change the outcome.  We no longer stand alone.  The healing begins.

This will be displayed and lectured about at the ACMA (Arts and Communication Magnet Academy) on Wednesday, May 19th at 7:50am in the new Performing Arts Center Gallery.  It will continue to be on display for the remainder of the school year.  Sam Stidham,  my intern for the last year, will be giving her senior lecture and including the Recovery Panes Project. 

I am so proud of her and thankful for her incredible energy and perseverance over this last year.

About the brain...the mind and the spirit

"I work in an addictions program for homeless youth. My panel reflects how I see my work. We travel together, side by side. It can take many times going down the same road, always starting somewhere different, always trying a different way and ending who knows where, yet, with intention to find a place in the cycle of addiction. I watch the ebb and flow through darkness of a relapse to the light of change. Always being aware of the most important part of ourselves, our brain. Healing the damage of drugs, trauma and pain, then watching the resilience of our minds and spirits."

Prototype Frame.

I have an awesome framer, Mark Randall, helping get the prototype frame done for the ACMA Capstone (senior project) of my intern.   We are trying to have the magnetized back inset into the 'paned' window for display by Friday.

Now we just need the last of the moulding.  I am hoping Frame Central comes through, but in the mean time, I am getting some 2x4's... 

I guess it really will look like an old window after all...

ACMA (Arts & Communication Magnet Academy) Workshop

The workshops we are doing at the arts magnet academy in Beaverton have been a huge success.  We were hoping to get at least 16 to participate, but incredibly we have had double that.  The honesty of the kids in both their paintings and in their writing has been moving.  Many are asking to do another panel and  openly sharing their experiences with the other students painting along side them.  For some, it is the first time they have openly expressed their experience with how addiction has impacted their life.  This is why I do this.

Recovery Pane

Lots more images and response writings to come.

"Addiction impacts every cell of my body—as a child, as a sibling, as a parent—it lies layer upon layer, experience within experience, seeping, pounded, muddied and scarred. Each colour reveals and exposes both the ache and the beauty of recovery.

It is from the broken places that healing begins."