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<\/a><\/p>\nThe ART of the Lost Art of Letter Writing\u00a0<\/strong> My inspiration for creating this piece came to me after hearing one of my fellow Toastmasters\u2019 speech. I heard Susan\u2019s talk just days after we gave ourselves this My creation involved initially researching famous hand written letters. In my search I came across letters from Thomas Jefferson, to John Lennon, to Jimmy Hendrix and several more that became my background texture. In addition, I realized that beyond one\u2019s personal thoughts on paper, so many amazing domestic and international stamps adorned an individual\u2019s envelope which added more uniqueness and beauty to the letter. And to honor this lost art, I painted a Monte Blanc fountain pen which is one of the ultimate writing tools that allows one to write endlessly without strain as ink flows effortlessly. Lastly, this artwork has a real life workable letter slot that I found on Etsy. So my added message is to not let hand written letters go to the way side. Show someone you care by writing them a hand written letter today. You\u2019ll be amazed how connected you\u2019ll feel and they to you by this generous act.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tree of Life<\/strong> At the base of all spiritual and cultural beliefs is the wisdom that all forms of life are interconnected and bound together. We are each just one thread in the web of life. What we do to the web, we also do to ourselves.<\/p>\n This mixed media piece uses color, texture and imagery to express the word \u201cconnected\u201d and bring it to life. The background is a collage of various maps denoting human connection through geography. It also can be looked at as the network or webbing of life. The background spheres represent humanity in all it\u2019s various forms, color, energy and vibrancy. The lower panel represents our beautiful and bountiful earth and our need to nurture and protect it so that it remains green and fertile for future generations. At the bottom, five circles contain images of nature, art and humanity, the circles further symbolizing the grandeur that can be spoken in a circular language, like that of the sun, the moon, the planets and stars. The number five is also meaningful as it widely signifies balance and harmony. I am particularly drawn to the use of circles in art, as to me, circle symbology is universal, sacred and divine and so simply communicates wholeness, inclusion, completion, relationship, unity, and the cycles of life. Fundamentally, connectedness.<\/p>\n Layered in the art are the words Create Connect Community as a reminder that we are a creative and powerful species that thrive on connection and building communities. After all, if we are all truly connected, aren\u2019t we just one big community of human beings on this circular planet of ours? And lastly, sprouting from the earth against the webbed sky <\/p>\n Connected<\/strong> Life is a string of connections. From the decisions you make, big or small, to the people you interact with, it\u2019s all related. Things tend to overlap, they become intertwined, and become complicated. One moment can cause a ripple effect which can lead to any multiple of outcomes. Yet if you take a step back, you can see how every connection\u00a0 ultimately creates a bigger entity, which we are all a part of.<\/p>\n The art piece is very minimal yet quite delicate, similar to life. By using only thread <\/p>\n
\n<\/b>by Stan Evenson, CEO and Creative Director<\/p>\n
self-imposed assignment for depicting the word \u201cConnected\u201d. Susan spoke about how letter writing was such an important part of her childhood, having pen pals across the sea. And her letter writing is still greatly important to her as an adult writer, as she shares her love and appreciation of the written word with her young daughter. I was so inspired and moved that evening that I blurted out, \u201cI want to write a letter to someone I care about!\u201d But as I drove home, it truly hit me that letter writing was for centuries upon centuries the only way human beings could connect with each other. It wasn\u2019t by hitting the \u201cLike\u201d or \u201cDislike\u201d button on Facebook, sending a text or a tweet, receiving an IM or an email or sending an invitation through evite. Mail traveled through time, often taking days, weeks, even months to arrive at it\u2019s destination. There was something inherently special about receiving a personal letter in those days, knowing someone took the time and care to sit down, write, address and stamp each piece of correspondence. Today we communicate instantly with each other in such very temporary fashion and unappreciated ways through advanced technology. This idea that letter writing has truly become a lost art became the spark for my expression of the word \u201cConnected\u201d.<\/p>\n
All in all, it is a mixed media piece that embraces the lost art of letter writing.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>By Tricia Evenson,\u00a0President and Creative Director<\/p>\n
is the Tree of Life, which reminds us that everything is connected through a divine and cosmic energy and that we as humans should live in harmony with rest of the world and all living things.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>By Brittney Backos,\u00a0Designer<\/p>\n
and nails, the word \u201cconnected\u201d is formed by simply lacing the thread around the nails. There was no specific pattern planned ahead of time to determine the way the lacework occurred. Towards the completion of the piece, the tension from the thread caused one
of the nails in the center to come out of the wood which led to the thread to start come undone. Although this was a complication, it was the perfect illustration of how one moment can impact everything it is connected to.<\/p>\n