108 Intentions Project Revisited!
There’s two new cards in my Etsy Shop this week!
Back in Action!
Two weekends ago I purposed myself in getting back on track with my 108 Intentions Project. This is something I started last Summer but then got sidetracked when I bought my new printer! I then went down the Photography rabbit hole for a bit.
I’m teaching Mixed Media this semester at school again, I wanted to dive back into my own art. When I learn new techniques it keeps things fresh. Plus this started off as a pretty great fundraiser for Breast Cancer research and awareness. Click here for the original blog post.
Feel free to read the original blog post from July. This project was inspired by a need to bring joy into the world through Art. So much is going on right now, I wanted to do my part in changing our stream of consciousness. Since this project is driven by social media, I hope that even when I post project updates, it gives people something to look forward to instead of the same old newsfeed.
Some tenets of this project are that I am creating 108 different positive intentions. I am using this project as a means of learning new skills to both help me as an artist, but to aid in my teaching. As I post them on Etsy, each card increases in value. So for example, earlier this year I sold Card #1 for $1. Cards numbered 2 and 3 will be sold for $2 and $3 respectively. This keeps going up to $108. This will help provide a foundation for my new Etsy/Art and Craft fair business venture, but my goal is to raise $600 for Breast Cancer research and a cure by donating to the CT Breast Health Initiative. https://www.ctbhi.org/
This is about 10% of my profits, and I’m rounding up and adding money in to get to $600. This cause is important to me as Breast Cancer runs in my family. My Mother is a survivor and my Grandmother passed from it before I was born. I also have a handful of co-workers and friends who have been effected by this disease. Through early detection and modern treatments we’re finding more people are surviving, and we want to keep that trend going. I’ll be walking the Race in the Park at Walnut Hill Part in New Britain, CT on Mother’s Day Weekend, and I have until June 30th to hand in all my fundraising.
Subscribing to my Newsletter for the Inside Scoop!
As this is my first blog relating to this in 2018, I’m having a campaign to build my email newsletter list. As a subscriber to my newsletter, below is an example of the insider scoop to the behind the scenes process on my card creation. You will also get first notice of when my cards have been posted to Etsy (and thus first dibs!). I’ll be sending these newsletters out early Tuesday mornings at 6:00am and not posting info to Social Media or my Blog until dinnertime. Click here to subscribe to my newsletter!
Here’s some stories behind my latest creations!
Shanti – Card #2
Over the last 8 years or so I’ve taken up a Yoga practice. I find it is good for balance, its great for breathing and meditation and for finding grounding in a chaotic world. One of the things that makes an impact on me during our practice is when you get a room of yogi’s chanting the world “Om”. That’s what this symbol represents. In Yoga culture and the Hindu religion, Om is understood to be the sound of the universe. It has a beginning a middle and an end and tends to come full circle. This piece is one I’ve been wanting to finish for a while. It was inspired by my partaking in the Om Street Yoga in July of 2017. WHY Studios in West Hartford hosts this event and over 2000 yoga practitioners and instructors come from over 40 different schools in Connecticut and practice together on LaSalle Street in West Hartford Center. Hearing “Om” chanted amongst 2000+ people and practicing for nearly two hours together is a pretty impressive experience! I named it “Shanti” which means “Peace”. One of my favorite yoga instructors ends his class with that and I always feel comfort in his closing salutation.
This card was created about a week and a half after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. I was pretty upset by what had happened, especially since I’m a high school teacher. This card originally had been an outpouring of my feelings intuitively. There were a lot of red, black and white colors originally, however I felt the mood was too dark to keep it as part of one of my 108 cards since the mission of the project is to is to bring joy to people through art. So the next day I decided to layer up and make beauty from a bad situation, symbolizing that there’s hope amidst the aftermath of tragedy. Hopefully things get better in our country and our lawmakers and school boards will make real policies that will keep our schools and communities safe without adding more guns or warfare.
Timelapse video of the creation of this card: https://youtu.be/0g3TUhkBFd8
Behind the Scenes:
When mounted, they fit easily into a 3.5 x 5″ frame. Frames are not sold with the artwork.
If these inspire you, feel free to check them out on my Etsy site or share this with a friend!