21 Cents That Chain Us

Hey Arties,

I wanted to share a little more about this art piece and how it came to be. This past year, I offered an after school art class and had 12 students from the ages of 7- 12 sign up. The class was about finding your inner visionary and we discussed some of the artist featured at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. If you have not been you should check it out.

Anyway, I wanted the students to push themselves to create "something" out of trinkets and left over pieces of things others had abandoned. I wanted them to connect with the material and put something on the canvas that represented them as an artist.

This led me to lead by example. About the time the class was taking place, there was a great deal of media coverage about the Michael Brown shooting. I learned that young black males were 21 times more likely to be shot and killed by police than their white counterparts. This is not OK with me.


As I went in front of the students every week, I would bring this canvas with me so they could see it transform into the final piece of art. We talked about the two Statue of Liberties in the background and how we divide ourselves. We talked about the bubbles we all live in and how that keeps up from seeing other people and learning from them as we also teach them about ourselves.

We talked about the history in the country when it comes to racism and how we all must do better and that it all starts with each of them.

There was one young man, who upon seeing this final canvas looked at the other kids and said, "We have to change all of this! We have to make things better for everybody."

It made my eyes water and my heart full that this group of 12 kids could see the meaning behind the work and were unafraid to embrace the work that needs to be done to make a difference.

The art they presented back to me was unbelievable, complex, funny, deep and meaningful. I will carry the images of them presenting their work to their parents with me always and see their faces as they told their stories.

As for me, this piece is hanging on my wall and it has become one of those pieces I am finding hard to let go. I am sure the right person or organization will come along that fits into the message it conveys. If that happens, I will sell it or donate it and move onto the next piece in the hopes it speaks as deeply to the kids as this one.

This was constructed using a bunch of different things, but the outside edge of the canvas is framed with construction strapping. I liked the way it looks and will be using it again on other pieces.

I hope you like it.

How Time Does Fly!

Hey Arties!

It has been an absolutely crazy and busy year for me, with a lot of things taking me away from my artful path. I am hoping I can get back into the swing of things now that I have actually started my business here in Annapolis, MD.

The quick update/highlights:

I taught my first after school program and had 12 students sign up in less than 24 hours.

I took on a few private students for a 4 week class.

I worked with a local school by assisting them with an anti-bullying program and implemented a "Peace fence" as a school wide art installation. The pickets are based on the 5 Human Values of Peace, Love, Truth, Non Violence and Right Actions. The youngest child was 18 months old and the oldest was 12 years old.

I worked with the school on their bi-annual auction. I designed and implemented 4 of the 7 projects from start to finish.

This project is a picnic table that converts to a bench. The children painted both sides of it, with the bench side having tulips, ladybugs and turtles and the picnic side have a similar theme with the addition of a checkers board and a tic-tac-toe board. They also painted garden rocks for the game pieces as turtles and ladybugs, with a crown on the opposite side for when they are "kinged."

It sold for $1675

Up next is the Slippery Fish table. It has part of the lyrics to a song the children sing. Each child painted a fish to represent the fish in the song. 

It sold for $750

The upper elementary students spent some time at the botanical gardens studying leaf patterns. They took those patterns and burnished them into copper and silver metal which was then attached to rounds cut from the plywood before being reinserted. The final result looks like hammered metal.

It sold for $750

Finally there is the Illuminated Letters from another elementary class. Each child used the first letter of their name and an animal starting with that letter to decorate their individual canvas pieces. The complete set of letters was then attached to a larger canvas and paper vines were added between the letters to continue the pattern from the custom from made from a chair rail. 

It sold for $2300

I was very pleased that in total these art projects raised $5,475 for the school. The community honored me by allowing me to work with their children and seemed very pleased with the quality of the pieces.

The school honored me with a sweet bracelet that states one of my favorite sayings.... "Not my circus. Not my monkeys."

Like I said, I have been busy and have even gotten in a few cigar boxes and altered books. But my best piece was "21 Cents that Chain Us" which was submitted to Smack Mellon as an artist response to the events in Ferguson. 

I think things have calmed down a bit and I am committed to limiting my time spent on other things and focusing on my art the rest of the year. I will try my best to have at least one post a week for the rest of the year. 

Until next time, keep creating!

CJ

Update for April

Hey Arties!

I just wanted to provide a quick life update for you, since I have not posted much the past few months. I have been really busy with several projects in the works for various schools all across the country and have had no time to really sit and write or post. I am hoping the new iPhone app will help me with this problem, as I can now post photos from the app and post a blog from time to time as well.

In other news, I am in the process of selling my house, which has taken away my art studio for the time being. I had the entire second floor dedicated to making art, but needed to put everything in storage for awhile, until I am settled in a new location. This means I am working out in my garage, or in the kitchen, neither being ideal for working in long stretches.

At the moment my walls are bare of any art, and the walls have been painted white, which is not my favorite thing. It makes me itch to paint something right on the wall, but think that would be frowned upon....

I have contracted with a local school to help them with their first art gala and auction. It is on a very limited budget and I will most likely sponsor the art supplies we used to create the projects, but it is all worth it. I love working with the kids and watching them light up, when they contribute to a class project or a school wide canvas. The pictures from the last post are the items they created for the auction and I am hoping they do well. 

So, stay tuned and thank you for stopping by and sticking around or subscribing. It means a lot, when you give me your feedback. I will try to do a better job of trying to update this site, even if it is a non art related topic.

Until next time, here is some personal art I am working on. This one seems to change colors, depending on the way the light hits it. I am not quite finished with it, and have not decided what the next piece of it will entail, but I don't want to lose the affect.

These next two, were custom pieces created for a couple of schools to use in their upcoming auctions. I used Citra Solv altered National Geographic magazines for the first one. The second one is my attempt at a sketch.
 

I started playing around with some sketching options with my Silhouette machine and loved this old barn. I may sketch it out on white paper and then use water colors to color it in for a finished look.

So Arties... that is all for now. I hope I have given you a good reason to check back soon. Peace and Love!!

"The Struggle"

I just finished a piece for JDRF for the Hope Ball. It is a great organization, with a mission that couldn't be better.

"JDRF is the leading global organization focused on T1D research. Driven by passionate, grassroots volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF is the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. The goal of JDRF is to improve the lives of every person affected by T1D by accelerating progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing the disease. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners who share this goal."

Go check out the links and think about attending this more than worthy event. If you can't attend the Hope Ball, think about clicking and giving here. You will be helping someone else, which will make you feel good!

Free Art Extravaganza...

Hello everyone!

Hope this finds you doing well! It is time for me to free up some art space, so I am giving a few pieces I have made away, in order to do it! I have some new things in the works and need to hang them soon.

Here is how this will work. Each piece has a number assigned to it. If you like it and want to see it hanging in your house, all you need to do is send me an email telling me which one you want and give me your address. If you live close to me, then we can meet somewhere for coffee and I will hand it over to you.

Easy right? Can't make it any simpler... I don't think?

Shall we get started??

#1- Rose Madder

 #2- Mermaid

#3- Shiny and Dull

 

#4- Lines

#5-  Swirled Experiment 

#6- Orange and Blue

#7- Epoxy Shine

#8- Not Sure What To Call It

These are the 8 I have right now. I may have a few more in a couple of weeks. Anything not taken will be donated. If you have a charity or non-profit interested in putting obtaining a piece of art, please contact me and we can discuss it in greater detail.

If you want one of these, email me at ward.carleh@gmail.com.

This is a first request, first honored type of deal and will only go through next Friday, November 25th. All work will be mailed out by December 1st.

And away we go...