Pet Portrait Commission-Dan's cats

This painting was actually done last spring.  I was looking for new ways to help fundraise for my Breast Cancer 3-Day walk and I decided to try to do art and craft commissions in return for donations.  This worked really well for me and helped me bring in quite a bit of money to help in the fight for breast cancer.  This painting was done for my friend and walking buddy Dan.  We walked together in San Diego in Nov. 2010, and again in Boston during July 2011.  We're signed up to walk again in San Francisco in Sept. of this year.  He is a wonderful friend and I enjoy all the time we are able to spend together. 

I found it funny that I was super worried about painting the tiger striped gray cat.  That one went well and just fell into place without much of a struggle.  On the other hand, the black and white one was very hard for me.  I had to redo that one a few times to get it right.  This is an acrylic painting on a 9x12 canvas.  It was a fun project to work on and I learned quite a few things while I was working on this painting.  Here's one of the photos' I was sent to base my painting from:

You can see another pet protrait that I painted here.

I'm still open to doing commission work both for donations, and for profit depending on the situation.  I've got a few things in the works and I can't wait to get started on them.

Thanks for stopping by

Button fun, You need more flair!

I had so much fun designing this button.  I started with paint, but I have digitally altered the image so much, you can hardly tell it was paint on paper.  In Cleveland, the route safety team goes with a pirate theme every year.  We get to dress and talk like pirates for 3 days (4 if you count our crazy crew day!).  We tell horribly bad pirate jokes and have a great time with the walkers.  I recently bought a button maker and I'm very excited.  Buttons are like gold on the 3-Day, everyone wants them!  This was my original idea, and then as I was working on it I thought, hey, you could make them say different things.  Like, I treasure my wife's pirate chest, or I treasure my itty bitty pirate chest, or like the one I've designed for our team this year, Protecting all the pirate chests.

I think they'll be so much fun on the walk.  Heck, I wanna wear mine around now and see who notices and comments about it ;)

I also threw this one together.

What movie is it where Jennifer Aniston gets yelled at for only having the required amount of flair?  If you've ever seem my 3-Day pictures, you know I go way beyond the minimum for flair.  I think we all need as much flair as possible each and every day.  It makes life so much more fun.

Dare to be outrageous

More from my altered book of me from Tam’s class.  When I started this book, I went through my parents old photo albums looking for pictures to copy and use.  I came across this one of me and my decorated, tin foil covered bike.  I remember decorating the bike and riding it in a parade in the small town we lived in at the time.  I was so proud of how we spiffed up the bike!  I get to decorate up my bike doing crazy things twice a year now as part of the route safety teams for 2 of the 3-Day for the Cure Breast Cancer Walks.  We decorate as pirates in Cleveland and I have a magical pink treasure chest I strap on the back along with a pirate flag, decorated bras and whatever else catches my eye.  In Michigan we are the Pink Panthers and my bike gets decorated with as many Pinkies as I can attach (and of course includes a few bras too!).  I even made a pink panther bike helmet cover and a pink panther bra that I wore this year!  It is fun to see the walkers perk up and laugh as they discover all the things on my bike.  Sometimes that one little smile can change the course of their day and that is worth pedaling around all the extra weight of the decorations.

This spread is all about embracing the unusual and loving it.  One of the quotes I have on there says “Life isn’t about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.”  I believe it is a quote from George Bernard Shaw.  I love this as it reminds me that we can go beyond what seems like our limits and really do anything that we set out to do.  It goes right along with the feelings of the last post on not letting others decide what you can or should be.  I choose to be unusual, remarkable in my own way and no one else will ever be the exact same.  Isn’t that amazing?  We are all one of a kind and bring so many special qualities to this world.  We are all irreplaceable and that is incredible!  So I challenge each of you to do something you’ve always wanted to do, but were held back from for some reason.  Be outrageous and enjoy every moment of it!

Love, Kindness and Compassion

I was on another Susan G Komen 3-Day for the Cure event this past weekend. I cannot express how meaningful these events are and how firmly I believe in what they support and do for the community and breast cancer research and detection.

On Saturday night, while we were dancing, this beautiful rainbow appeared over our camp. To me it was like a sign from all of those we have lost to breast cancer. I think they were trying to tell us how proud they are of what we're doing, and that even though they may not physically be with us, they continue to be with us on the 3-Day walk.

I had someone ask me how this past weekends event went and I honestly think it was my favorite one out of the 12 I have participated in over the years. Well, that got me wondering why. At first, I really wasn't sure why myself. I just knew I had a great time with my teammates, and the walkers. But that always is true. So what made this one stand out as my favorite? It surely wasn't the 90+ degrees and high humidity. It also wasn't due to no problems. We had a few bicycle repairs that were necessary throughout the weekend. So why? I think it was because last year was so overly emotional for me after losing my Grandfather the night before the event started, and these people, these teammates and walkers were a tremendous support system for me during that time. They showed me the true love and compassion that people have for each other. Some of the support came from people I'd never met before, and wouldn't have recognized if they were there this year. Some support touched me in a way I'll never forget. Being able to be back in this community, without the raw pain of loss, allowed me to recognize the love they had shared and then let me share that same love with others over this event. This community of people represents the very best in humankind. They are out there year round fundraising and training so that someday none of us will suffer another loss to cancer. They are there with smiles and laughter even though their feet are covered in blisters and each step is excrutiating. They are up at an ungodly hour so we can all have a hot breakfast to start our hard day off in a great way. They are massaging sweaty bodies to give someone a bit of relief. They are cleaning up after someone so they don't have to take those few extra steps after a long day of walking. They are making you laugh on every street corner. They, both walkers and crew, are everyday heros.

Our Michigan Route Safety Bicyclists have a tradition. We go out for breakfast away from camp on Saturday morning. This started as a fluke one year when we were passing a place known for their potato pancakes and we had some time before our designated spots to work. It continues because it allows us to reconnect with each other and also get to know our new members in a little bit quieter environment than the 3 day breakfast. While we were dining this year, we had the most amazing waitress. Before we were finished with our meal she came up and pointed out her vehicle. She asked us to please go out and each take a hat she had in the back. They were breast cancer ball hats with fiber optic lights in the ribbon. She just gave them to us! She was hoping to get off her shift in time to go out and cheer for the walkers, and giving us these hats was a way she could contribute to the event. She also offered to help us come up with some things to sell as fundraisers for next years event. She displayed the type of kindness one encounters throughout a 3 day event.

On Day 1, I stopped where a boy was passing out cups of lemonade. I thanked him for taking time out of his summer day to support the walkers and the adult that was with him told me that he knows the value of what we are doing. He has already lost his mother to this dreadful disease. He had to have been under 9 years old. I cried as I rode away from them.

I saw survivors in their yards with signs of thanks, I saw young and old passing out treats and cold water through the weekend. I saw almost an entire block in Dearborn with the best decorated lawns and sprinklers and people cheering. I saw a cheering station in Plymouth that was so crowded, I couldn't find my sister. I saw a walker who had just lost her Dad on Tuesday who was still walking.

I saw love, kindness and compassion everywhere! I hope that someday there will not be a need for the Breast Cancer walks, but until that day I will continue to participate in these events.

Strength

Have you ever been blown away by the amount of strength a person has within themselves?

You think about how they just keep doing, no matter how bad things are. Sometimes there isn't even the slightest whimper of complaint. Other times there are sobs of heart-wrenching sadness. But they just keep moving, living, loving.

This past weekend I was crewing the Cleveland Susan G. Komen 3-Day for a Cure. The strength I witnessed in people was amazing. These women and men, both walkers and crew persevere through a very trying 3 days. They overcome emotional trauma and physical limitations as they are on this event. They walk through blisters that are sometimes larger than toes. They cheer until their voices are gone. They wake up at the butt-crack of dawn so that others may have a hearty breakfast. They pop blisters on sweaty feet so others may take a few more steps. They support someone else even when they are in need of support. They laugh, they cry, they hug, they yell-both in frustration and in joy, they cheer and they keep doing. No matter what.

I dont believe I have the strength that these people do, but I was able to be a part of their lives for the event. This year, a friend lost her loving husband to a very quick battle with cancer. She buried him on Thursday and showed up on Friday to walk 60 miles. As she walked, a heart-shaped blister formed on her foot. You never walk a 3 day alone, those you walk for are with you each step even if they have lost their fight. In her words, she was there because "It's important to me now more than ever" and "it was very therapeutic". She is in the 2nd picture of this post, flanked by 2 of her safety girls. She's a pillar of strength as I struggle through one of the more emotional moments I had on the event.

A teammate struggled with a kidney stone. Passing it in a dark porta-potty. He never uttered a complaint that I heard. I didn't even know he was struggling. Strength. He made a commitment and he followed through on that even though most people would have bowed out and gone home.

A walker still in chemo woke up sick every morning and her body ached even before the walk began because of those treatments pushed to walked on one painful step after another. When she could no longer continue for the day, her husband who had severe shin splints refused to give up because he was walking ALL 60 miles to support his wife who is in chemo. They met at the last pit stop of the day and journeyed into camp hand in hand. Strenth and love displayed in the finest manner.

Everyone who participates has a story. We all have our reasons why, and people we are there in honor of, or remembrance of. There are painful moments, yet we know that we are doing something that might someday help others avoid losing their loved ones. There are happy moments as friends laugh and play together. There are moments when you're not sure you can go on, yet there is always someone there to help you, to support you. Each person on the event is an inspiration. Each person involved shows you the very best in life. Each person is a pillar of strength and it was an honor to be with all of them this past weekend.

2010 Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure

I am embarking on a great journey this year. I have decided to walk another Breast Cancer 3-Day, 60 mile event. I walked my first 3-Day in 2004, along side my Aunt Bev. It was a challenging event for me, but I did it with Bev's help in both the fundraising and the motivation to keep putting one blistered foot in front of the other. We both finished all 60 miles that year, and I wish I could put into words, the total experience of being a part of that walk. Amazing, incredible, powerful and significant just dont seem to explain what the event is like.

In 2005, I did my second 3-Day, participating as a crew member. My main reason for switching to a crew position was due to the fundraising requirement every walker must reach in order to participate. I couldn't walk away from the charity, but I also couldn't commit to that amount of fundraising after struggling to make my goal the first time. Over the last 6 years, I have participated in 10 events. This year, I will be doing 3. I am crewing in Cleveland and Michigan and walking with a friend in San Diego.

Last year, while I was on the Michigan 3-Day, my grandfather passed away. It was the hardest 3-Day I've ever done. it reminded me of the importance and value in every fundraising dollar raised. He was a victim of a different form of cancer, but I, like many people, feel that if we can find a cure for one cancer it will lead to advancements and cures for all the other forms. When I walked my first 3-Day, I was one of the lucky ones. I knew very few people who had suffered from breast cancer. The people I was aware of were all survivors and thriving. Since that time, I have met many people of all ages, race, and sex-- yes, men do get breast cancer--who have faced this disease. Some of them are survivors, but many of them are still in the middle of their battle, and sadly, some of them have lost their fight. Watching these people and the raw strength and determination they demonstrate while they fight the battle of their life is humbling. Their stories prove how vicious and unrelenting breast cancer can be. I walk for all of them and for all of us. So that the next time one of us finds a suspicious lump we may be a little less terrified. So that I never have to see another young mother wonder if she will get to see her little girl graduate from kindergarten. So that none of us ever loses a best friend, a mother, a sister or anyone else to this horrific disease. I walk because I can't walk away.

I am required to fundraise a minimum of $2,300 to walk in this event. As of today, I have raised over $1,400. I need your help in reaching my goal. I know that money is tight these days and I truly would not ask for your donation if I did not completely believe in the charity it will be supporting. Do you know 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their life? That's a pretty startling percentage. That number all but guarantees that each of us will have a close experience with this horrific disease at some point in our life. Do you also know that every major advance in the fight against breast cancer in the last 27 years has been impacted by a Susan G. Komen for the Cure grant. It is stunning that this charity, something that started as a promise made between sisters, has come so far. It reminds us that with enough hard work we are all capable of reaching amazing goals and doing incredible things. Please be a part of this incredible event be donating toward my walk today. To make a donation, go here. If you don't want to donate online, you can download and print a donation form from that page that you can mail in with your donation. You can also call 800-996-3DAY to donate over the phone. If you have someone who you'd like to make your donation in memory of, or in honor of, please let me know and I will carry their name with me through my 60 mile journey.

As extra incentive for your donation, I will dye my hair hot pink shortly after reaching my goal. (Although it will be delayed until after my sister's May wedding if this were to happen quickly). I will keep my pink hair from that time until the end of the San Diego walk in mid November. That could mean half a year as a pink haired church organist! I admit that I'm a little hesitant to make this change, but it will be worth it if it brings in just one more donation. I figure that it will be a great way to strike up conversations about the 3-Day and allow me to raise awareness as I go through my everyday routine and my pre-walk training.

Thank you very much for helping me reach my goal. We can all make a difference and someday we will find a cure and live in a world without breast cancer.

Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, and Mother Henna's heART exchange

I participated in Mother Henna's heART Christmas art exchange last month. I was paired up with Bev Baird for this fun endeavor. She was so thoughtful in sending me a watercolor she has painted that will match my teaching studio perfectly. I love it and hopefullyBev and I will continue to keep in touch by visiting each other's blogs. It was fun to meet her through this swap.

I struggled with what to send her way for a little while. You see, I got distracted.

I have signed up to walk the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for a Cure in 2010. This is a huge fundraising commitment. In order to participate, I need to raise $2,300. I feel very strongly about the importance of funding the fight for a cure. I also like the 3-day events because they raise breast cancer awareness as well as funds. Some of you may know I have been involved with the 3-day events since 2004 as both a walker and a crew member. When I walk in San Diego it will be my 13th event. I'm terrified at the prospect of raising so much money in Michigan with the state of our economy, but I am committed. I have done some brainstorming for fundraisers and have constructed a list of both tried and true things, and a few things I'm hoping will work. One of my brainstorms was to compile a cd of me performing Christmas music. I have 2 degree's in music and make my living playing and teaching music so this was something I thought this would be a wonderful way to share my talents and help me toward my fundraising. I did a quick investigation on what kind of copyright laws there are and a quick look through my many stacks of Christmas music. I found out I'd need a mechanical license to be copyright legit, and one of the publisher's who I have a bunch of music from had an online form to apply for the license. I quickly filled it out, just glancing through the music and thinking, "Well, that looks like it'd be nice." To my suprise, I got a reply back within hours telling me the fee that would be involved for my very limited production run and it seemed very reasonable so I started practicing. (Silly me had picked out some songs I'd never even played through before!) I bought a USB mic and set things up in my office so I could record at home on my beloved piano. Things were going slow, but they were progressing when disastor struck. The motherboard in my laptop quit working. Done, kaput, finite. Oh Crap!

My sis came to my rescue and loaned me her laptop for the rest of the recording process. Recording really is much harder than I thought, but I'm starting to get the hang of all the levels and tricks. Since it was already late November, I was on a very tight schedule. I wanted these out in time that people would buy them for this Christmas season. My stress level was pretty high but I kept working at it. When I needed a break from actually playing/recording the music I was working on liner notes and buying the blank cd's and labels.

I sat down one morning to design the cover art for the cd. I kept tossing around ideas that involved the pink ribbon, but nothing was sparking my interest enough to get to work. Then I was thinking about Christmas in general and the idea of a simple snowflake jumped in my head. It wouldn't leave so I pulled out my paints, made a pink, mottled backgroun with watercolors and then used acrylics and gel pens to make the actual snowflake. From there I scanned it, photoshopped my title and name and this is what it looks like.

I ended up making 2 volumes of music. Vol. I is a grouping of upbeat, faster music with some jazz added into the mix. Vol. II is full of soft, flowing "pretty" music. I have sold out of my Vol. II's and only have about 4 Vol. I's left. This fundraiser has been a wonderful start and I am now over half way to my goal! Not only that, I have recorded my first 2 CD's and gotten incredible feedback from people that have purchased them! What a great experience.

So, to make the connection to the start of this post, Bev received a copy of each CD for her gift in the exchange. It wasn't a typical art exchange item, but I sure put my heart and soul into making the gift. I received a nice email saying how much she enjoys them and that makes me very happy.

If you've never heard of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure I urge you to look into it. It is a life changing event.