Pulse

This piece just found a new home. It is a piece dedicated to the victims of the massacre in the Pulse nightclub last year in Orlando.

The names of each victim are on a scroll, which rests inside an individual bead, making up the heart in the middle. The number representing those killed and injured are displayed using church attendance numbers.

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.

Jerry's Art Hanging This Week

I believe the world can change one art piece at a time and that it only takes the artist a moment to find a way to make it happen.  It is my personal motto and mission to make the world just a little bit better using the little talent I have as an artist.

The art you will see on the walls at Jerry's Artarma is being sold to raise money for needy schools, specifically the Native American schools hit the hardest by the government imposed sequester. The pieces have been created using National Geographic magazines and Citra Solv to alter the magazines.

Each piece starts from an organic endeavor, searching for something on the page to highlight, enhance or allow to stand on its own. Some pieces do not have embellishments, simply because the art created does not need anything else. Some pieces have been used as a backdrop for sketches and some have been embellished to highlight the paper.

100% of all profits will be donated to help students affected by the sequestration.

Please take a moment to look at the art and if something speaks to you, pull it off the wall and take it to the front to make a donation. The prices on each piece are considered a monetary donation which will be pooled with all the other donations and sent as a single contribution to the receiving charity. You will not receive a donation form and the donation is not tax deductible.

In case the sticker has fallen off, the pieces are priced as follows:

Any of the (7) 2.5 x 3.5 pieces                    $15 each                

Any of the (14) 5.5 x 5.5 pieces                  $25 each                

Either of the (2) small shadow boxes         $30 each                

Any of the (30) 8.5 x 11 pieces                   $35each                           

Any of the (24) 5 x 7 pieces                        $40 each                

The 12 x 12 piece                                        $50

The 10 x 10 shadow box                             $75

Gallup-McKinley County Schools

Hey arties!

I wanted to give you a quick update. I have contacted Mr. Ray Arsenault the Gallup-McKinley County Schools, in the hopes he can direct me about making a donation to the schools after the art sale starting July 1st at Jerry's Artarama. I will provide more information as soon as I hear back. I may split the donation with the Tuba City Unified School District, which was featured on NPR,  if I can find the contact information and find out how to make it happen.

In case you have not been following the story, because of the idiots in Washington, DC the sequester has really hit the Native American population. Here is a quote from Dr. Heather Shotten, President of the National Indian Education Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the education of Native American students.

"For our Native students in federally impacted schools, the effects of sequestration are devastating because these are real dollar cuts in real time from district and school budgets," NIEA President Dr. Heather Shotton said. "Since these districts are often serving our children on reservation as well as federal property that the districts cannot tax, these districts cannot simply find other sources of funding to make up for lost dollars."

I truly believe each of us can make a small, yet positive impact on others. For me, the way to do it is through my art. I am donating 100% of all profits from any art that is sold to this school system in the hopes they can use the funds for something critical they need.




I can provide 100% of their budgetary needs, but I can send them something to show I am behind them and that I hear their frustration as a fellow human being. I can extend my hand in friendship and understanding in the hopes they will not give up. The children and communities need some love right now, and there is an endless supply of it, if you can open your eyes and hearts to see it and send it.

I plan on posting something longer tomorrow, to show the art I have for sale along with the prices and ways to purchase. I set up a mobile banking option for ease of payment for those of you outside my area. If you want to discuss a piece of art, please contact me via the buttons on the right side of your screen.

Until next time, peace and well being.

CJ

Not the Greatest Art Day

Sometimes you are the windshield, sometimes you are the bug...

Today was a bug kind of day in the studio. I did get a few good images, and a bunch of scrap paper, but was hoping for a "WOW" which did not happen. Always tomorrow right?

Life is like a box of chocolates... just never know what you are going to get!

Anyway, here are the latest pieces that did come out pretty decent. Let me know what you think!

I will be hanging these pieces at Jerry's the first week of July. Pictures and information forthcoming.

Until I get back from a little trip, try to think colorful thoughts!

Blue Cactus

Crow

Dante's Vestibule

Desperation

Escaped Cuckoo

Fiddler

Fire Breathing Phoenix

Grapes Are Like People

Jailed

La Tour Eiffel

 SOLD

The Miner Ghost

Lone Ranger

Mermaid Dodge Bubble

Ocean Resurrection

Owl Revisited

 SOLD

 

Peeping Sam

Peter Leaving for Neverland

Picnic

Poe 1

Poe 2

Poe 3

Poe 4

Poe 5

Refraction

Space Junk

 That Gwinn Boy

 SOLD

The Enlightened Monk's Secret Temple

The Eye of God

The Gardner and Mary

The Miner Ghost

The Temple Door Is Open

Then They Came for Me

Virgin Mary Showed Up

Angel in the Valley of Death