For this one, I decided to enter some of my fusion pieces.  They will look great in Times Square!

Even though I’m not fond of the “popularity contest”, I may as well give myself a shameless plug:  http://bkartphoto.artistswanted.org/atts2012 You’ve got about 4 1/2 days to prove me wrong by voting or, as they call it, Collecting on the People’s Choice thing so get to work

Also, I have some work in this exhibition which is having an opening reception tomorrow night from 7-9 pm.  If you live in the area, or are visiting, the show is in the Glass Gallery located at Pembroke Pines City Hall on the Southwest corner of Palm & Pines.  If you can’t make it to the show, it will be on display until July 16th so you’ve got a little bit of time.

During the past six months, I devoted a great deal of time to an exhibition I am currently featured in at Studio 18 in Pembroke Pines, Florida.  After such great response, from visitors who were intrigued by the process and all of the ideas that went into The Human Spirit & Ribbon Share Project, I’ve decided to share the process in a series of posts on my blog.

The Human Spirit installation & Ribbon Share Project

The show closes this Friday, May 25th.  In the coming weeks I will share the inspiration behind the project, expectations of what I thought I would discover, the physical fabrication, obstacles and learning experiences.  I must admit that when I initially set out on this adventure that, while I had an open mind, it turned out to be so much more than my expectations in so many ways.

Ribbons contributed for the first piece in the Ribbon Share Project

While waiting for my first installment, please check out a photo tour of The Human Spirit & Ribbon Share Project on my flickr.  Feel free to post any questions you might have in the comments below or feel free to contact me directly.

Thank you so much to the supporters of my project. Currently, I have 3 backers and have shared it with everyone I know. I appreciate the support more than you will ever know. My family doesn’t always “get” my projects but they always support whatever I’m doing. I know they were a little surprised by the amount I was hoping to raise so I explain that a portion of that money goes towards fees for the project, credit card processing and there are several reward levels to fulfill. It is easy to forget some of the expenses too: postage, mailing materials (I recycle as much as I can though!), production expenses, etc. I am hoping that, when funded, I will have about $2400 to put towards my project and my anticipated budget for the whole project is about $5000. I have affirmations all over the place and appreciate all of the good vibes and I can’t wait to share more good news so stay tuned for that!

When I was working on the postcards this past weekend, I also made a couple of mini posters. I’m happy with the way they came out. It’s an abstract concept to communicate and I really didn’t want it to get too busy. I was also thinking of making it into a digital wallpaper with just the imagery (without the text). Still thinking about that. Here’s what they look like…

• Representing a road or path
• Reminiscent of a DNA strand
• Similar to the way we are woven of many ideas and experiences
• Also represent obligation or being tied to something for better or worse

While researching family history, it became apparent that there were many shared experiences and similarities. In a journey to find my uniqueness, I discovered a paradox. We are very much the same but different.

Searching for a way to share that idea with a larger audience, I made an experiential activity to accompany my installation. I ask everyone to find something they share with someone else and to write that on a ribbon along with their initials. It can be an idea, character trait, anything that is not extremely vulgar or hateful. I will then take all of the ribbons and make them into a piece of artwork to be presented at a future showing. All of those ideas will make a larger impression when combined, proving that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I call this The Ribbon Share Project.

Why all the ribbon, you ask?  Well, The Human Spirit is a tree made of ribbon!  I’ve wanted to use ribbon in a project for a long time but I wanted to incorporate it in a meaningful way-I wanted it to be part of the concept.  Ribbons of Time turned out to be perfect timing because I had started working on a concept of family heritage.  My first sketch was a wall installation about 10 feet wide.  In the months that followed it became a 12 foot tall 3-dimensional installation and a companion project.  There were so many ways to tie in the ribbon: it’s very reminiscent of dna when twisted, represents the ties that bind or how we might be bound to an aspiration or legacy that is not our own desire.  Ribbon is woven of many threads and those threads represent everyone who has come before us and those who will come after us.  I will be revealing more throughout the process but some of it will be exclusive to my backers on kickstarter.  To view the project, you can visit here
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1713286870/the-human-spirit-and-ribbon-share-project

In my next post, I’ll be sharing more about The Ribbon Share Project.  Thanks for visiting and stay tuned!