Ellie Harold

Blog

3/24/2022 11:40:36 AM

BIRDS TO FLY SOUTH OF THE BORDER

Ellie Harold / Comment on this

I've learned this week that BIRDS FLY IN: A Human Refuge has been invited to exhibit in Mexico beginning in February, 2023! The hosting organization is Casa de Europa, a well-respected non-profit arts foundation located in the heart of San Miguel de Allende. BIRDS FLY IN will spend at least a month at Casa de Europa with a plan to follow up with a tour of a modified version of the installation to other cities in central Mexico.

 

It's a fortuitous time for BIRDS to fly back to the place that inspired the project. Administration changes in our country notwithstanding, the situation at the Mexico border with the United States has been unsettled for years. Now, things have become even more complicated as people fleeing both Ukraine and Russia add their numbers to those Latin Americans seeking asylum in our country. BIRDS FLY IN seeks freedom for all!

 

How? BIRDS FLY IN: A Human Refuge offers a secular sanctuary for contemplation where one is invited to detach from outer conflicts. Deep engagement with the avian-themed art, music and poetry creates a space for healing limiting beliefs and opening to creative ideas for a greater good. In the face of so much that can't be controlled, I'm grateful we have the opportunity to contribute to a more peaceful world in this way!

 

Taking the exhibit across a national border promises to be a HUGE undertaking with many logistical details to work out. Not only will we be importing my artwork--23 large oil paintings--but we'll also be re-fabricating the Refuge Structure and exhibit furniture in San Miguel. Come autumn, Roo and I are going to have our hands full! Please stay tuned to follow our progress!

 

In the meanwhile, we won't be twiddling our thumbs. We're also planning to enter the multimedia art installation in ArtPrize 2022. Please join me in visualizing BIRDS finding the right and perfect venue in Grand Rapids, one that will allow many thousands of people to experience the "moving and powerful" art, music and poetry of BIRDS FLY IN: A Human Refuge. Yes!

 

Thank you for continuing to follow and support Art in service to Something More!

 

Ellie

 

P.S. To support this humanitarian effort, please consider purchasing and/or sharing a copy of the beautiful full-color Exhibition Catalog. If you'd like, you can make a tax deductible gift to Birds Fly In, Inc. (our project's 501 c 3 non-profit). Thanks in advance for your support in whatever form seems right to you.

Read More

3/10/2022 4:36:40 PM

Make Painting Your Refuge and Let the Peace Spread

Ellie Harold / Comment on this

 

Note: A friend recently sent me this piece of writing by Evan Yeh—she thought I'd find it simpatico and, yes, I did! Struggling as so many of us are with how to carry on in the face of horrific world events, I'd come to my own conclusion that sadness that comes of a frustrated desire to help is itself not helpful. Painting, I realized is not an escape, but a meaningful and necessary way to balance things. Finding refuge in painting isn't about turning a blind eye—it's opening the inner eye in order to rediscover and share a joy that might ripple out to make a difference to the misery.

 

"Make Painting Your Refuge & Let the Peace Spread" helped me resolve a lot of my unsettled frustrations about not being able to do more to help people who are suffering.  It helped me remember that I created BIRDS FLY IN: A Human Refuge with that intention and, over time, it has and will bring a greater freedom and love to the world. Whether or not you're a Chinese brush painter, if you're struggling with feelings of not doing or being enough, please read this gentle reminder.

 

Thank you, Evan, for letting me reprint your lovely piece:


She Made Painting Her Refuge

All of us as an extended family are bound together by a love and appreciation of Asian painting and culture.

The other day I had a wonderfully touching moment with one of our local customers. She was sharing with me how difficult the pandemic had been for her and how she was using her brush painting as a refuge. She has a teenage daughter with special needs and the struggles of her daughter were weighing heavy on her.

 

In the midst of trying to be the best support for her daughter, she had created a refuge for herself with her Chinese brush painting. She purchased mounting supplies not particularly because she was preparing paintings for any special showing but because she had accumulated so many paintings, that mounting was necessary to clear space and make the paintings easier to store.

 

She also shared with me that through this process, she had discovered a new sense of confidence and that she found herself linking her strokes in composition with greater intention - that she was really painting rather than just copying her teacher.

 

How to Make Painting Your Refuge

How can we all be inspired by her example to make painting our refuge? Here are some tips.

  1. Realize that you give to others from the reservoir of your own joy. Therefore it is always beneficial to make your joy a priority. If painting is your joy, then make time to paint. Also when you give, it is best to think of giving in a way that increases your joy. 
  2. If your experience of painting is less than joyful, then make the goal of painting nothing other than enjoyment. Refrain from judging your efforts and simply enjoy the pleasure of putting brush, ink and color to paper.
  3. Move your whole body when you paint! Try painting while standing and playing your favorite music. Dance the brush on the paper.
  4. If you feel nervous, bound or tight when you paint. Paint bigger and abstract. Make the goal to feel freedom and energy as you do large strokes. Think of the activity as exercise and emotional release.
  5. After painting is finished then you can look at your work and see what you like and what you would like to change. Make this process matter of fact rather than emotional. You can always do something different or change to make something that is more pleasing to yourself. The key is to keep the process of painting purely joyful and to save whatever evaluation is useful for when you are not painting.

Let the Peace Spread

Once you've succeeded in making a refuge for yourself in your Chinese brush painting, the next goal is to allow the peace you feel there to spread. Here are some tips for that:

  1. Realize that the pressure and stress that you feel in your daily life can be amplified or significantly reduced by your mind.
  2. Learn to think about all things in a way to maximize your own joy. Even the most menial task or stressful situation can be made better by finding a focus that is joyful.
  3. Take it easy on yourself. Refrain from judging yourself harshly. When you evaluate yourself think of things in terms of cause and effect rather than good or bad / right or wrong.
  4. Refuse to allow other people's thoughts, opinions, or agendas disturb your peace. Identify your intention in all situations and keep your focus on what you want.
  5. Realize that no matter what, you are loved and precious. This is your identity not something that is given or withheld because of your successes or failures.

Evan Yeh 

Oriental Art Supply

 
Read More