My Whitney....

I cannot put into words how much she means to me and I thank God everyday that she is in my life

Fozzie is ok too....

Penguins on the March

"Woodland Park Zoo and Greenwood’s shared creative work space The Greenwood Collective launch Penguins on the March at two corresponding exhibits on June 12th starting at the base of the Space Needle in the morning and closing at The Greenwood Collective in Greenwood-Phinney. 

Sixty-two Seattle artists of all ages and experience levels painted, embellished and decorated fabricated penguins as a community celebration of art and wildlife conservation, inspired by Woodland Park Zoo’s brand new Humboldt penguin exhibit, which opened in May. 

After its June 12th launch, Penguins on the March will begin migrating by June 15th into Ballard, Fremont and Greenwood-Phinney, where you will find individual penguins prominently featured in front of neighborhood businesses in July, August and September. 

After migrating through Seattle, the penguins will be auctioned off to benefit Woodland Park Zoo’s field conservation program. Woodland Park Zoo supports 38 wildlife conservation projects in 50 countries worldwide, including the Humboldt Penguin Conservation Center at Punta San Juan."

The project is not only for a wonderful cause, but it was absolutely fun to participate in.  I was privileged to be one of the artists selected to decorate a penguin and I'm glad I did!  I was about to pass up on the opportunity because the due date for it landed on the same time as both of my finals, plus I had a 15 page independent study to do as well.  But, my mom talked me into it and she helped out a whooooole lot to make sure it got done on time.  I wasn't able to go to the launch event at the Space Needle, but from what I hear, my penguin was a hit with everyone else.  I'm hoping it goes in the private auction so that it can a good amount of money towards the zoo's conservation program!  Pictures of all of the decorated penguins can be found here. 

My first idea for the back didn't quite work out, I was going for a Tron look, but ended up not prepping the surface properly:

Final product before varnish:

Hello....

Welcome to my blog! Seeing as how this is my first official post, I'll take the opportunity to introduce myself. I'm from Seattle, WA, I watch a lot of cartoons, and am a complete nerd for comic books. As a recent graduate from the University of Washington with a degree in art history, I have witnessed my interest in art explode into a multi-dimensional and multi-faceted passion for everything that art entails, giving me an aspiration to pursue a career in the field of art. This however, is not currently my highest priority, as I have gone through some dramatic changes recently.

Realizing that I am about to embark on a major transition in my life, the cloud of uncertainty about my future also brought perfect clarity. Suddenly I understood my life, my role, and the individual aspects that contributed to both. Through that perception, I gained an instant recognition of my own wealth; I was richer beyond anything I could imagine, implicitly accumulating in value towards what my life had and will become. My parents who bend over backwards and have sacrificed everything that they can so that I may have every opportunity that life has to offer. My grandparents, whose constant love and support has shown me I can achieve anything. My girlfriend, who has shown me what it means to adore someone beyond words, have true friendship, and confidently know that you are meant to spend the rest of your life with that person. All are the intrinsic components of the totality of my wealth.

None of this, however, would have ever been realized if God had not grabbed me by the neck and revealed to me that I was not on the path he intended for me. With an informal inclination towards a somewhat atheistic mindset of secular humanism, anyone that knows me closely understandably would say I was not the religious type. God to me was ineffective and irrelevant, nothing more than superstitious belief for those who didn't have what I had. And why should I care? Their problems did not compromise my contentment or happiness. I justified my behavior and actions through the self-righteous mindset that I was a good and moral person who did the right thing. Though I did not realize it at first, God revealed himself to me in the most powerful way possible. In the depths of my sin, God's metaphysical manifestation was planted in my heart and rapidly grew outwards, creating change within me I can't explain, let alone grasp. My pride was crushed, my idols destroyed, and my contentment replaced with guilt. From then on God gave me new desires, new vision, and the strength to repent of my sins, and I have not looked back.

My distorted rationality of the world within the context of my closed consciousness was shattered by the abrupt awareness of all that is truly wrong with it, plagued by injustices, corruption, and death. That is what God showed me, and that is undoubtedly what I am called to address. I am deeply affected by (but not limited to) issues such as hunger, disease, homelessness, child abuse, and animal cruelty, all of which provide us the opportunity to make an immense and monumental impact, whether it be in an individual or the world. Though I don't fit the usual philanthropist mold (being rich), I understand that helping those that are in need starts with creating awareness and educating, largely supplemented through volunteerism.

Which is why I have decided to start my own blog; to not only create awareness of specific issues, but to also provide ways that we can all help. With that being said, I will sporadically be doing posts that feature wonderful (and most importantly, credible) charities and organizations located in the greater Seattle area and across the country.....AND I want to encourage those that come across my blog who feel strongly about a specific charity that they support or an issue they are compelled to address to please contact me and I will feature it on here and help spread the word! The blog is also meant as documented account of my own journey to make a difference in this world and the evolution of my life, while also introducing and reviewing art, artists, art books, and the arts in general (music, film, photography, etc.)....gotta keep it interesting!

There is a lot of work to be done.....we are all able to help, so ask yourself why are we not willing?