The Power of Photography to Stop violence Against Children With Albinism in Africa

~UPDATE: Dec 1~ Unfortunately, this project failed to reach its goal. Bummer. :(

Albino children are often abused or sacrificed for medicinal and witchcraft purposes in Africa because people do not understand their condition. Joanna Rudnick and Rick Guidotti are part of a team traveling to Africa to make a film about these children and to encourage others to help rescue them from death and abuse due to ignorance. Only 26 hours to go!

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We did it!

Take a look a that little widget, my friends: 100% funded SUCCESSFUL

A big, big thank you to everyone who helped make it possible. I'd write more, but I've been in bed most of the day with an excruciating migraine (too much stress, argh!!), so just know that I love you all. Details will come in a few days.

Peace,

-Emily

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New art, HandmadeNews.org feature, and "Art and Advocacy" at 92% with 14hrs to go (eek!)

This widget automatically updates every time someone pledges. Cool!

Wow, oh wow, folks, "Art and Advocacy" is nearly there! Only 14 hours to go. That means we need about $7.50/hr for a total of $105. I'm sure we can make it, but we need your help!

I know there's a few of you still on the fence out there. How about it? Seriously, look in your wallet--got four quarters and a dime? Can you spare it? It would help tremendously and I'd love you forever. Oh wait, I already do love you forever. :) But still, I would really appreciate it.

Screenshot of the HandmadeNews.org feature

Also, this project and my artwork were recently featured on Handmade News, a wonderful craft blog for artists by artists. Check it out. :)

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Paradox Uganda

Drs. Scott and Jennifer Myhre have lived in Uganda many years now, running a clinic in one of the poorest regions of the world--the Bundibugyo district. Jennifer's patient and beautiful spirit are very evident in her daily outpourings of hardship, sacrifice, joy and perseverance. God is doing real work among His people; that is made very clear though this blog. I highly recommend Paradox Uganda as the latest addition to your Google reader.

Scott, Julia, Jack, Luke, Jennifer, and Caleb Myhre

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A revelation, new art, and "Art and Advocacy" is marching towards home plate!

First off, we've now added a handy-dandy retweet button to each of our blog posts. Perdy, huh? Go ahead, give it whirl. :)

Second, using traditional watercolors with the aforementioned landscape I'm working on was proving to be a nightmare...

Me, being not very happy with the landscape painting

In order to make the landscape a coherent whole it all had to be at least somewhat wet all the time or unwanted brush-stroke edges formed. But if I kept it wet, I could never do detailed work. And if I did the detailed work on top of the dried base, undoing anything compromised the integrity of the paper. What a nightmare!

So I sat at my work table and pouted, letting my eyes wander self-pityingly around the room until they settled on my rarely-used watercolor pencil set. Bingo!

 

My lovely Derwent watercolor pencils

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Capturing Shadows

"We travelers, walking to the sun, can't see

Ahead, but looking back the very light

That blinded us shows us the way we came,

Along which blessings appear, risen,

As if from sightlessness to sight, and we,

By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward

That blessed light that yet to us is dark."

~Wendell Berry

Thus Mr. Berry introduces us to Katie Tricarico's blog, Capturing Shadows.

Kate and I grew up in the same church; her father was the pastor. Wednesdays they opened their home to my father and I for food, laughter, singing and bible study. Nearly five years ago Uganda called her family to be missionaries, and in the isolated regions of Karamoja Kate began blogging about her new life and all the adventures therein, her wit, humor and gracious heart dancing out of my screen and flinging her words into my enchanted soul.

Now, studying abroad in Rome, she continues to delight me every time Google announces another post. Won't you care to join me?

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Almost halfway to our funding goal!

The above widget automatically updates with current stats. Cool!

Our "Art and Advocacy" project is now almost halfway way there--whoa! Thank you so much to all my faithful backers and promoters. I love you all. Please continue to spread the word and keep the pledges coming! Only two weeks to go. I'm excited. :)

In other news, I was going to post some pictures of my paintings from over the weekend, but I didn't like any of them. *sighs* I'm really out of practice with a lot of techniques. Let's just say that if you learn from your mistakes, I did a lot of learning this weekend. God is still good, no?

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Our Kickstarter project is taking off!

Dear friends,

Our art project is now over a quarter of the way there. I'm so excited! I can't wait to be able to use my artwork to help out those in need, and I have so many people standing behind me already. Thank you so much to all who have pledged so far. You are an essential part of making this happen. Just 23 more days to go!

Grace and peace,

-Emily

PS: If you have missed out on past updates, you can see them here.

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Our project is 9% funded and counting!

Hello again! :)

Thank you so much for all the encouragement people have sent our way and to those who have already pledged to our Etsy store project. Your prayers and love are what keep us going. We have already raised over $100, or 9% of our goal! Please continue to help us out by sharing our project with your friends and by pledging to our project if you haven't already. Even $1 will help set us on our way! :)

A few other updates:

1. Where can I see some of your artwork? Take a look at our Flickr.com gallery.

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Kickstarter Project Launched!

Dear friends,

Our Kickstarter project has launched! Yay! You can access the project here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/324781445/art-and-advocacy-bringing-hope-to-the-world-one-a

Our store, however, is not up and running yet!

First, Caleb and I need $1250 to get started. There are two ways to help us out. One, spread the word about our project! Help us get people excited about it.

Two, pledge toward our funding goal. You can pledge as little ($1 even) or as much as you want. Here’s how it works: After you enter your pledge amount you will be given the opportunity to pick your reward. We have many items to choose from, including coupons to the store, prints, greeting cards, originals, even custom paintings! Just be aware that no matter how much you pledge, you will NOT be charged until November 3, and that’s only IF we reach our goal amount. And if at any point before the deadline you wish to change or cancel your pledge, you may do so as many times as you want. Pledging is very safe—your credit card will be handled by Amazon.com. Caleb and I nor Kickstarter.com will ever see or have access to your information.

Thanks again! Remember that even if you cannot pledge, you can still spread the word and encourage us in our goal. :)

Love you all!

Peace,

Emily and Caleb

P.S. For those of you who have blogs or other websites, feel free to post the widget on your site. It will automatically update to give the latest stats on our project. The widget can be found on the Kickstarter page (linked to above).

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"Ugandan Suns" series

A can of peaches sat on my blank sketchbook, smirking at my lack of creativity. What to paint next?!

So I started by tracing a circle around the bottom of the can. Then I added some triangles. And a few abstract lines. I selected a deep black and a blood red from my watercolor palette, and mixed an ochre and bright yellow to my liking. Then I filled in the shapes with a special mosaic pattern that I developed while sketching one day during a particularly lengthy sermon. And behold, my watercolor series "Ugandan Suns" was born.

Why Ugandan? Two reasons. One, the design is distinctly African, both in color and shape. Two, I am donating 50% of the profits on this series to missionary work in Uganda. More on that later.

I am now on the third painting of this beautiful series, which will hopefully become prints and greeting cards once I get my printer and scanner up and running. If I can bear it, I might even part with the originals. We'll see. I usually can't.

P.S. Caleb is currently taking donations of canned peaches (his favorite) since I need the can to be full so it's heavy and will sit still on my paper while I trace. :)

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