Velentines Recap

Printmaking set up

I was late this year.
Part of the excuse was another event I got involved with that took most of my creative time.
In the spirit of finding something significant to do for Shrove Tuesday, I found myself working with St Thomas Episcopal church (here in Miami) and Didi Bertrand's Women and Girls Initiative to help traumatized women in Haiti and Rwanda get access to healing, education and leadership training.
I volunteered the art club students and several of my colleagues to make decorations for the tables for an event that would raise money. We had a silent auction, and ate crepes. Didi, a medical anthropologist and the wife of PIH Paul Farmer, shared about the work she is doing and her enthusiasm was infectious. Access to an educatation is vital and life transforming. Changing the life of a woman actually changes the economical status of her family and heals a village. Women are care givers and want to give back.
So that is how I came to draw the image for this years Valentine print. A pencil signifies school supplies, and the heart grows as we work together. I printed it on an assortment of recycled paper scraps, so each one is different, but with the same message. Love is a choice. We can all do it!

Lino Print, edition of 34 plus 4 AP