Art for Arthritis benefit for the Arthritis Foundation, Wichita chapter.

This event wrapped up a thoroughly enjoyable bit of art making with my partner, third-grader Brynn Swank, who is dealing with arthritis herself. We made two pieces that sold in live and silent auctions, a pretty rare feat considering that art, Wichita, and money are not usually used in the same sentence in a positive light.

This may appear to be yet another signature piece of mine. In fact, I hauled out the tools and machines, and let Brynn guide the process of color choice and painting. She did an awesome job, and the Arthritis Foundation staff and volunteers deserve a lot of credit for pulling off this first-time event successfully.

Maths.

I actually pulled off "A's" in math in school, until I found myself in calculus in (I date myself here) junior college. Calculus distressed me so greatly that I swapped the class for Trig. Problem solved, and no more math classes for me after that.

So, fast forward to today when I stumbled into this article:

 http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/finding-your-roots/

I began reading, and immediately thought "this is why I'm an artist and not a mathematician." And then I kept reading and got into the visual stuff toward the end, and thought "now I don't even know what I am." Defining what one does is pretty difficult sometimes.

Nice!

I recently saw some cool purses in Spice Merchant, made from reused coffee sacks by Whitney West. She has purses, pillows, and more at her website. I guess she is local as the coffee sacks supposedly come from Spice Merchant? Local - recycled - sustainable...how did this miss my radar?

Arthritis Foundation benefit with Brynn Swank, Day 2.

I love doing what I do, and I like sharing what I do. That, and my own bit of history with illness, was the impetus behind agreeing to help the Arthritis Foundation with the "Art for Arthritis" collaboration where they paired up artists with kids who have arthritis. I hoped that I could take a bit of what’s in my head and share it with my partner Brynn Swank, allowing her imagination to run free, creating artwork she could call her own. Note: She is in THIRD GRADE.

I paint with processes that use mechanics and technology and these processes are underscored by two simple tenets: "What if?" and, "I didn’t know you could do that." They are processes of discovery and experimentation, and I wanted Brynn to take those concepts and run, creating a large, iconic work that would stand on its own.

Uh, yeah. I think she did that.

QDD: Quasi-Didacticism of the Day

Goodwill Store = I saved a boatload of money over full retail, and I don't think I can tell the difference in the product. I must do this more often.

Make Good Choices. Be the Red Chinese Buffalo.

Seen in an elementary school in Wichita. I want to be that buffalo.

Art for Arthritis, day 1.

Spent Saturday morning making art with third grader Brynn Swank for the first annual Art for Arthritis benefit for the Wichita Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. Or actually, I set things up, handed her the paint, and let her go. The Arthritis Foundation paired up artists with children with arthritis, and the finished results will be auctioned off. Fun! And she's a natural. More next weekend.