Catalyst Thirty-Three

October 26, 2008, 9:06 am
Filed under: catalyst

As always, thank you to all of our visitors and all the encouraging comments you left for us. For those of you who did, thank you for playing along with us. We will do a drawing for the RAK and announce the name mid-week. And if you didn’t join us before, we hope you do this time.

Ok! Here’s catalyst number thirty-three:

If you had unlimited money to buy someone you know something, what would you buy and for whom?

We’re delighted to have Stephanie Lee as this week’s Guest Artist.

The minute I saw Stephanie’s jewelry, I fell in love. Her art is so emotional and so stunning that I immediately asked her if she’d be willing to guest design for us. The more I explored her site and her store, the more I fell in love with the art. Items like this Red Egg of Possibility Necklace just spoke to me.

Stephanie teaches in many locations as well as at Art and Soul. You can also see her beautiful work in her book: Semiprecious Salvage: Creating Found Art Jewelry which, along with beautiful art, also shows some of her great techniques.

If you haven’t seen Stephanie’s art before, I’d urge you to visit her blog and her etsy store to see some of her amazing art.

Stephanie’s art with this catalyst is below and you can click it to see a bigger version.

Stephanie Says:

I love this game and play it often with my husband when we drive by the powerball billboard by the off ramp – the only off ramp to our small town. We see the big, lit numbers and play “what would you do with that if you won it”. Never mind we’ve never bought a ticket, but the game is fun just the same.

I ask myself this question and the first thoughts go towards wanting for others what money can’t buy. The usual inner peace, respect for nature and all life, and solid sense of self. That kind of thing. From that place all actions in life are beautiful. Enriching, clear, expanding. And, though I truly do want those things for others more than anything else in the world I’m certainly not one to pass up the opportunity to pretend about money. (Pretending is where it all starts, you know…) So, if we’re talking money – dollars and cents – this is easy. I’d buy things or experiences that might facilitate someone finding the inner peace, respect for nature and all life, and a solid sense of self.

First up, dad. Dad would get all his houses paid for. All the houses he bought with grand visions of fixing up beautifully with his own, skilled hands and then found himself barely treading water. I’d pay off those houses so that his money would be free to be used to bring about the creative vision he has. Next up, vacations. Vacations for the whole family. Together. Dad, mom (and their respective spouses) siblings and nieces and nephews, Mothers-in-law…all of us. We’d go on vacation. Not a swanky cruise ship or resort style escape to paradise, but rather a service mission. Yup, you heard me right. Good old fashioned service. Maybe that would find us in Mexico building homes side by side with the locals in need of housing. Maybe it would find us instead teaching farming to a village in Africa (and learning much ourselves from them, I’m sure). Who knows. The bills would all have to be paid while we were gone so that we could fully relax into the experience knowing all was well on the home front. We would spend a good month or two living and loving and working with people who are grateful, innocent, and full of skill and knowledge we have no idea about. The money that would buy us this experience would be money very well spent. We just might find a little inner peace sitting there with a child whose language we don’t speak but who can sing and clap just the same. We might find a little more respect for nature as we work with the soil and the land to build a home literally from the ground. Best of all, we might even gain a clearer sense of self from stepping out of our own “hard” lives to offer up a helping hand – seeds of service. I can’t imagine a better way to spend my dollars.

Technique Highlight:

Sketching on tissue layered over collage and acrylic on stretched canvas.

Thank you so much Stephanie; we’re very honored.

Here are some interpretations of the catalyst from members of our team. Click on the photos to see the bigger versions.

Debee:

Journaling Reads:

I’d first buy a plane ticket to see you. Meet you and your family.

Finally meet you.

I’d bring my favorite candy to share.

New comfy clothes, maybe some new adidas for you.

I’d give you the money.

I have no needs compared to yours.

Stable home. Provision for your table. Your body. Your health. Your spirit.

You are loved dear boy.

My friend. My reality check. A model of God’s love and truth.

M, I’d buy you peace. Rest. Hope. Love.

Technique Highlight:

Get crazy with the spray paints! Use stencils. Use every day objects. I added magazine and paper clippings before I spray painted over them. I even punched holes in some of my scrap paper from left over projects and put a layer of glue down and sprinkled the confetti over the paper. Completely random but I loved the look. To finish the look I also added some stamps and of course, my favorite crazy sewing lines.

Severine:

Severine Says:

I want to buy freedom for my girl !!! To be free to say what she wants. To be free to make what she wants. To be free to live free … The problem is that even if I have this money, I can’t by her this freedom

In French:

J’achèterais la liberté pour ma fille. la liberté de choix, d’expression, de vie tout simplement … malheureusement même avec beaucoup d’argent c’est quelque chose que je ne pourrais pas lui acheter.

Fran:

Fran Says:

What would I buy for someone if I had unlimited money? Well, what I want for my friends and family are things that are not at all something you can buy.

Journaling Reads:

If only it were as easy as buying love, safety, health and friendship… but it’s not. And, try as I might, these are the only things that I can truly want for my friends. And, if I’m completely honest, I can’t give any of these things to my friends and family. Only they can.

Technique Highlight:

Collage on watercolor paper. Added doodling with Sakura Glaze, Souffle, and Permapaque pens.

Kris:

Journaling Reads:

World Class Education: Sometimes I wish I had all the money I needed to take my children around the world. To travel to all sorts of countries as part of our homeschooling. I’d like to show them the world instead of just reading about it all..

This catalyst was in my head for awhile. Being that we homeschool our kids, I’ve always wanted to take them around the world. To help them experience life first hand instead of out of a book. To show them India, France, Scotland, Fiji, Argentina, Russia and Australia. To see the Eiffel Tower, Stone Henge, the Panama Canal. I want them to surf in Hawaii, float in a boat in Venice, ski in Switzerland. To experience the cultures, the exquisite foods and gorgeous architecture. I want them to learn languages, help others who are less fortunate and find their purpose in life. I hope someday we might be able to expand their horizons and show them the world.

Karen:

Karen Says:

This is one of the few catalysts that had me thinking for a long time. For some reason, I couldn’t come up with an answer. I thought and thought. Finally, as I was driving to work one morning, the answer hit me. I wanted to buy a bookstore, for me. Was it too selfish to use this money for myself? Maybe. But I decided that’s what my catalyst was going to be about anyway. Even if others think it’s selfish.

Years ago, I volunteered at this amazing bookstore in New York City. This store looked the way bookstores should look. It has wooden, spiral staircases. Tables everywhere for people to sit and browse. A little coffee shop in the back to relax and enjoy. Fantastic, knowledgeable staff. And some of the best speakers and authors came to read at the store. The best part was that the bookstore was completely non-profit. All the books were donated and all the proceeds went to this organization that provided shelter and aid to people who were affected by AIDS.

Ever since my years at that store, I’ve always wanted to have a nonprofit bookstore of my own. One full of used, donated books. One with a little coffee shop of its own. One with volunteers who love books as much as I do. One where people love to visit and where great authors come to read from their masterpieces. One where all the proceeds are donated across nonprofits. My passion is education so I would start by donating to nonprofits that favor education but my hope is that we can affect change in some way. Even if it’s a tiny one.

Vivian:

Vivian says:

When I think of having an unrestricted amount of money and being able to do whatever I wish with that money, I can think of lots of things I would choose to do. To pick just one person to give something to is difficult, however I do feel that one of the things I would do is buy a brand new car for my Buddy. He has always just done with what he’s got and that makes me happy but also makes me want to give him something which is bigger, newer, nicer and more comfortable.

Now it’s your turn: show us your therapeutic art around “If you had unlimited money to buy someone you know something, what would you buy and for whom?” I urge you to give it a try. Embrace the healing power of art. It can be any form of art as long as it speaks to you.

Leave us comments with your work and we will send a RAK to a random participant. You’ll have to link your art by Sunday night, November 2nd, midnight PST to qualify for this week’s RAK. If you don’t have a community or blog where you upload photos, you can upload them on our flickr group.

To qualify for our weekly RAK drawing, all you have to do is do art around ANY of our catalysts. It doesn’t have to be the one from this week. We believe in the healing power of art and we want you to pick whichever catalyst inspires you the most.

For our RAK for this week, we are thrilled to be giving away an incredible set of products from Luminarte Inc. The recipient will receive 4 heart ornaments, double fired art glass, and a Starter Holiday Kit of primary elements and mica. This paint line, Primary Elements, can be applied on many surfaces and is great for altered work. It is very high quality pigments in powder form with an acrylic solution and extra mica for more shimmer. If you haven’t seen their incredible shimmery paints before, you will be awed by their beauty.