This week, I'll share info about two events I'm participating in--and I'll tell you a story about each.
First, about the piece I shared last week, "Renaissance Rabbit"...
I painted this for the 35th annual Celebration of the Arts exhibition to raise money for the Ryman Arts Foundation. Herb Ryman was one of the first artists to work with Walt Disney on the design of Disneyland, and the non-profit art school named after him serves 1,500 students annually throughout Southern California.
I participated in my first Ryman show back in 1992, when I still worked full-time at Disney Imagineering. The annual fundraiser features many Imagineers who exhibit their personal, non-Disney work. It also attracts other high-ticket items unique to the company.
This year, they put the auction online, so people who can't attend in person can still bid on the items. Here's a link (mine is #325).
My second announcement is that I have a book signing event on Saturday, May 10, at Copperfield's in Petaluma.
If you've been on my list for a while, you know that last year, I wrote and published a book titled "A Creator's Guide to Stopping Self-Harm." It's a prescriptive guide for those who struggle or know someone who struggles with cutting/burning themselves. Contrary to popular belief, it's not limited to teenage girls--it's almost equally split between males and females, and about 5% of adults engage in the behavior. In this book, I combine my own story of recovery with creative exercises in a unique approach to healing--not by "stopping," but by listening to what the voice on the skin is trying to say.
It was a labor of love, and I'm amazed at the number of people who've approached me to say they have personal experience, either themselves or with loved ones. I'm honored to be able to offer help where I can, using my lived experience. I also created a website, www.stoppingselfharm.com, to accompany the website. As with everything in my life, it's a work in progress!
Art Heals
I'm indulging in a little of my own healing, here--in this case, a painting I did about 10 years ago when I was recovering from self-harm. Which, for me, meant finally facing the part of me that was so hurt and angry that it wanted to cut my own skin. It was like holding a feral cat with razor-sharp claws. But eventually, with enough love and listening, that part calmed down and revealed the pain, horror, and grief we'd experienced as a child--and I was able to love myself back to health. This painting is one of the last in the series "Dangerous Angels"--about how our fiercest guides and protectors sometimes come in the scariest forms. Not all angels wear flowy white robes. But when you can face down the deepest fears and embrace them instead of running away, they transform into powerful sources of creativity.
"Nightmare Eater," Maggie Parr, oil and digital painting, 2016
