Blessings Abound

I love to give back and pay it forward.  I've been very blessed in my life with abundance, family, health, friends, freedom, peace and love.  And more.  Sometimes it's easy to take for granted all that I have because I've always had it.  I was born into privilege.  Born into a middle class family in a developed country.  It's what I know, up close and personal.  What I live everyday is in stark contrast with much of what goes on in other parts of the world, in the developing countries.   When my attention is directed towards such places and situations I feel a deep sadness for the suffering and a desire to help, even if just in a small way.  When a friend of mine asked if I would donate some artwork to a fund raising dinner for a group called Kaio I felt so honoured. 

Kaio is an organization that brings aid to very poor regions of India.  "We have a simple, but robust mission: to bring Hope and Restoration to the Poor.  We do that by focusing on community-based efforts including homes for the orphans, employment for the widows, education and food aid.  We see children being rescued and whole villages being transformed."

http://www.kaioindia.org/home.html

 I wasn't sure what to donate to this group.  I wanted it to be relative to the situation, but not overtly.  Something soft, subtle and gently hopeful.  I decided to utilize an approach to faux encaustic that I recently learned in the lovely Laly Mille's online course Layers of Light http://www.lalymille.com/layersoflight-chapter-2-intro   Laly's use of white, and the gentleness of her work speaks to my soul, and I have found her classes to be a delightful addition to my ever growing repertoire of mixed media techniques.  I felt the softness would lend itself well to what I wanted to convey.

Because I work smaller (usually 12"x12" or under) I decided to create a set of three paintings incorporating the well known phrase "Live Laugh Love".  The photographs I used are not mine.  They are the property of Kaio, and I was grateful for permission to use them as they involve the very people whom Kaio serves and their soulfulness speaks volumes to me.  Layer upon layer of collaged papers, paint, gesso, ink, modelling paste, stencils, image transfers and gel medium worked together to create softly neutral backgrounds to host the photographs.  As this is a Christian organization I felt compelled to draw from the Bible verses that spoke to the theme of each piece.  It was a very rewarding process, to create and while doing so 'be with' in spirits these strong and resilient people who were simply not born into privilege.  By honouring my gift and agreeing to donate some art to this wonderful group of world changers I have been blessed many times over in ways no one could even imagine.  Pay it forward.  I tried.  It came back to me again in a different form.  I love how Spirit works.