Hope – The Theme of Now

                                                          

Hope is such a powerful word and amazing thing to grasp.  We have been dealing with this theme lately with the ongoing battle with cancer that our son Caden is fighting.  Shannon produced a painting called Harvest of Hope based on events surround his stem cell harvest.  She is also working on a series of finding Hope in Hopeless Places that is ongoing.  Darin is working on a sculpture about the events surrounding his illness and the hope that we have.  There is an event that some balm friends are putting on coming up in October that relates to Art and Hope, that will benifit an AIDS charity and we would encourage you to be involved if there is any way that you are able.  Hope Lawrence describes itself as: 

“Hope Lawrence exists to give hope to those in need by connecting the arts community of Lawrence, KS to the plight of those ravished by the AIDS epidemic as well as other social concerns.  It is our belief that the arts can play an important role in bringing attention to problems that have been overlooked for far to long.  Everyone has something unique they can offer, and as artists we can lend our voice and talents in order to bring some relief to those who are suffering.

Our first Hope Lawrence event will take place on October 6th and 13th from 3:30-5:30pm in the basement of the Lawrence Community Center.  For two hours on these two Saturdays we will come together to paint, sculpt, and draw around the theme of Hope.  This will be a communinal creative experience where each person will work on their own piece but in a collective setting where we can get to know one another and see each others works in progress.  In addition to our individual pieces we will also have the opportunity to work on a collective mural.  The event will culminate on October 20 when we will hold an auction/street sale where we will sell the pieces in order to raise money for a charity addressing the issue of AIDS in Africa.  We will announce which charity here at this blog in the coming weeks.”  See Original Post

Without hope it is impossible to really live life.  So for this end we would say give hope to those who do not have it, so that they to can live a full life.  Do whatever part you can to make someone’s life a little better. 

Even though we have physically not been able to have a gathering for balm recently, we want to encourage you to keep creating.  We want to thank those in the art community that have reached out and encouraged us in many ways.  We would love to see what you are working on.  Send us your updates of what is going on in your life.  If you have an upcoming show, a spoken word reading, a short film, a new design, a painting, a print, a new musical piece, a sculpture, a weaving, a thought, new writings, or anything else you would deem creative, let us know about it.  Keep creating…hope.

Designs From Life

So, as noted in our last post the reason we bailed out on the last gathering was that our amazing son Caden came down with childhood cancer.  Events like this tend to make one rethink everything about life.  I always prefer to play to my strengths rather than weaknesses (maybe this is a weakness?).  After trying to absorb the effects that this was going to have on our family’s life, I thought about if there was anything that I could do about this situation.  Realizing that I was completely and not just completely, but COMPLETELY unable to do anything about neuroblastoma in myself.  It was a not-so-nice-I-think-I-would-like-to-stop-the-world-and-get-off-for-a-while feeling.  So besides praying (which is very worthwhile, and highly recommended) I wanted to do something.  I decided that I would collect the paraphernalia from the events surrounding the cancer that Caden is fighting and produce a sculpture.  Shannon mentioned in the last post that I was working on a sculpture, but I forgot to post a sketch.  This is a rough sketch, but I think it embodies some of the ideas I am trying to address.  I am using the actual items that Caden sees daily, or when in the hospital.  I am basically making a history of the event in this way.  I am going to insert them (aesthetically of course) into clear resin and have them surround the object in the middle, which I am hoping will be the glass encapsulated preserved tumor.  I know, I know this may sound a little bizarre to some.  I think it is more about facing fear, and knowing that whatever we go through, no matter how painful, we can do it.  So ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’?  Maybe that is how life is.  The truth is in how we respond to what we are given, rather than what we are given.  I would love to say I haven’t had any fear in this whole ordeal, but that wouldn’t be true.  I appreciate the prayers of those who are praying, as we can feel them in a real way.  Caden has been wonderful throughout this whole situation.  His attitude is excellent and his smile is infectous.  We are so blessed to have him.  We are taking steps, small ones maybe, but steps to learning how to face our fears, to overcome them and realize that even though we don’t like it, we can learn from them and be better off even than before.

   

darin m. white 2007 Copyright

All Rights Reserved

Art & Life Update

Lately, we have been challenged with the juncture of our art and our life.  Our four year old son mr. c was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, which has caused us to rearrange our artistic schedule and look at life with wonder.  This is the cause of our delay in the parabolic b.a.l.m gathering.  If you would like to find out more about his situation, we welcome you to visit his site.  We process each day in the hospital and at home and these unfamiliar and uninvited happenings in expressions of all sorts — words, emotions, prayers, sketches, questions of existence and connectedness.  D is collecting medical paraphenalia to make a sculpture about this ordeal.  He is also involved in helping others produce their work and running our business.  S is encouraged in her pursuit of affirming people even in or especially in seemingly hopeless situations through painting and otherwise.  For her, sometimes the art is a life of caring for our son and the family, enjoying the beauty of time together, seeing beauty in others, and other times it is creating a painting.  She is gathering the radiology scans right now, and doing artwork with little C as part of his therapy.  She appreciates clients’ understanding about time frames on portraits she is finishing. 

 

We have been affirmed in so many ways from so many people during this passage.  There is beauty to be found in and on the other side of the suffering because of the discoveries it brings.  About life, love and goodness.  While there is not as much time for us to sculpt and paint right now, we are seeing and creating artistically.   We are being formed by these experiences.

 

There is so much artwork around the CMH and RMH that has enriched our lives and given us comfort, that we wanted to document and share a few pieces.  Without it our days would seem a little bleaker, like a world without color or variety or hope.  We love the personalities which are expressed and the benefits we have received from them sharing their creativity with us.  We thank Children’s Mercy Hospital for investing and presenting this artwork, as well as the Ronald McDonald house and all of the respective donors.   We are constantly learning about the connections there are between creativity and healing.  Mr. C benefits from music therapy times in CMH and times making crafts of all sorts.  Engaging in creativity seems to comfort, soothe, mirror, occupy, divert, give expression to emotions and draw out hope and life.  It is a productive way of bringing a tangible beauty to raw pain and emotions and engage with others.  We are exploring these parts of artistic expression as well, personally, and with others.  We have also found a couple outlets for artists or people who want to use art for healing.

   

We want to connect with all of you and update those of you we have not spoken with personally about this situation.  We plan to have gatherings for artists, still, and want to hear from you about what you are working on, going through, excited about and how that influences your work as well.   Please contact us with ideas or about hosting the next gathering.   We appreciate those of you who linked Mr. C’s website on yours, so that more people will know the situation that he is in. 

  

PARABOLIC P ART Y invitation – An evening of artistic discovery

Please pass the parabolic art and conversation.  Come explore with us through childlike creativity this graceful, physical and abstract form found all around us.  We plan to play with the themes of art inspired by sound, sight, movement and light.   Bring yourselves, possibly a pertinent work, your creativity, and a bowl of food.  Art lovers are welcome.  We will provide noodles of all sorts to eat and to sculpt.  Contact us for details. 

click image for invite

A Dialog with the Director and Invitation to “An Abstract Alphabet: New Work by Stephen Johnson”

We were blessed greatly yesterday to have the opportunity to sit down with the wonderfully enjoyable  Saralyn Reece Hardy the director of the Spencer Museum of Art who in our humble opinion has done wonders for the museum as well as the art and artist’s of Lawrence, KS.  Her no nonsense approach, quick smile and charm but even more importantly her true love of the arts, has quickly positioned her as a liaison between the museum world and the artists in the world.  I would love to go more into our meeting, but we hope that this is an interview waiting to happen, as this was not the purpose of this visit.   During our discussion which ranged all over the board from the down and out of the world and how we as artists can assist them rather than use them, to ways how the Spencer is positioning itself in the community, to kids with their joys and trails and of course art.  Besides being an amazing resource of individual artists, Ms. Hardy suggested that we attend the opening of Stephen Johnson’s new show  “An Abstract Alphabet: New Work by Stephen Johnson” which is tonight May 21, 2007 at 5:30pm at the Spencer Museum of Art. 

Don, the artfully knowledgeable security guard showed us to “The Prints of Roger Shimamora” (which I highly recommend as well) and afterwards to the Stephen Johnson show. 

 

I was struck, by Mr. Johnson’s since of humor and love of resin.  The basis of the pieces are from abstract descriptions of the alphabet.  Amazing landscape type paintings with a physical ladder, wrapped items that start with “w” to french fries flung on to a colorfield.  Perhaps the most intriguing piece to me was one I got right away without having to look at the title, which was entitled M – Meditation on the Memory of a Princess.  I asked Don where the pea was.  He promptly responded that it was hanging above the pink 8 layered blow up mattress.   We hope to see many of you tonight!  Below is the article reproduced from the Spencer Museum of Art website.

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An Abstract Alphabet: New Work by Stephen Johnson
May 19 – August 5, 2007
Central Court

Expanding on Robert Rauschenberg’s playful curiosity with new materials, Marcel Duchamp’s concept of the “ready-made,” and Jeff Koons’ modus operandi of art as readily accessible, Stephen Johnson’s An Abstract Alphabet explores new ways of pulling abstractions from the real. Originally developed as a concept for a children’s book in 2001, this alphabet series has evolved into a body of work that uses a range of materials and interchanges collage, painting and sculpture. For each letter of the alphabet, Johnson has taken an ordinary object and made it unfamiliar, removing functionality to reveal the metaphorical associations that lie within. The Spencer is delighted to present the public debut of this work. The accompanying book, A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet, will be published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Children in fall 2008.

Press:

• A is for artist
  Lawrence Journal-World, May 19, 2007
• Abstract Art; An Audio Slide Show
  Lawrence Journal-World, May 18, 2007

   

  

original article________________________________________________