"An intentional life is not stumbled upon or the result of happenstance," writes the publisher Lope Jones at the beginning of the current issue of Park and Life focused on INSPIRATION in which they decided to feature me in a story written by Jennifer Sheets with photographs by Justine Jane.
Featured in the news
Sooooo....
The night before I left for Bhutan, Q2 News featured me. I have tried to embed the video here but some weird tech glitch or perhaps the tenuous internet service in this remote region squashes my efforts but you can follow the link..
LOTSA adventures to share since I embarked on this poignant journey. I am posting frequently on Facebook and Instagram and will do my best to write and share on this blog when I have Internet and time.
Stoked. Humbled. Open.
Artprize recap
I knew next-to-nothing about Artprize until the day before the deadline when artist Adonna Khare enthusiastically encouraged me to enter. Adonna won the $200,000 prize two years ago at Artprize; her award-winning artwork was featured earlier this year at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings (where our friendship began). While the California artist was in Montana for the exhibit opening at the YAM the poor girl was hit with a bout of pneumonia which landed her at the hospital where she saw my sculpture installation “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” at the Billings Clinic. Adonna said she continued to dream about the trees months after seeing them.
Despite my late entry, I was selected from more than 6000 applicants to participate in Artprize and asked to exhibit at one of the top three venues. The sculptures created quite a buzz at the world’s largest art prize competition featuring artists from more than 50 countries. A local newscaster picked my sculptures as a personal favorite from over 1500 entries and featured “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden on the local news. The public’s response was overwhelming, each day some stranger was moved to gift me something. People brought back family and friends to see the trees over and over again. I was voted the “Top 25” in my category – quite an accomplishment for a first-time entrant I am told.
The Artprize competition seemed like a good opportunity to show the sculptures and gain exposure to help realize my passion to create healing sanctuaries in hospitals and cancer centers. The sincere emotional heart-warming response the sculptures elicited from thousands of people at Artprize motivates me more than ever to continue to create art with a healing purpose.
Carhartt photoshoot
Carhartt photographer Jennifer just left my studio after a sawdusty shoot – a sweet gal with a cool job hopping about the country photographing women for the blog “Crafted in Carhartt” about “women who do amazing things.” Carhartt sponsored me nearly two decades ago – before they made clothes for women – in fact my studio work clothes closet is full of Carhartt bib overalls (which are hard to wear out despite the gazillion hours I work in them. I added a “vintage” Carhartt cap from my closet to the photo shoot ensemble. Pretty fun to get some new “girlie” duds and turn Carhartt onto two other awesome Carhartt women; Stephanie Revennaugh and Ona Magaro. Jennifer was totally “wowed” by my studio – said it was absolutely the best studio she has visited during her year+ photographing for Carhartt. Will share photos when I have them…