Sharing

When I create, it is from my heart. My work has been criticized as overly sentimental , intense, haunting and "feminine." Somehow that is a compliment because I myself have been "characterized" using those same descriptors. I paint who I am and how I feel. I don't know any other way. Taste in art is obviously very subjective ,as is taste in anything. I hope that others appreciate my work ,but am not offended when they do not or cannot.

Recently I received a request for permission to post my work and words on another blog, Artodyssey.It is a beautiful site featuring a compilation of artist's biographies, exhibits, articles and works. Through it I discovered the creations of many artists like myself who create in response to the fragility,beauty,pain,hope and promise of a more universal, yet intimate, human experience. I was especially moved by the images of the Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado. He states, "What I want is the world to remember the problems and the people I photograph. What I want is to create a discussion about what is happening around the world and to provoke some debate with these pictures. Nothing more than this. I don't want people to look at them and appreciate the light and the palate of tones. I want them to look inside and see what the pictures represent, and the kind of people I photograph."

Just one example of the powerful images created by Sebastiao Salgado

It is an honor to be included on this site amongst so many "colleagues" that create with similar passion and purpose. Art is an extension of the individual who creates it but, when shared, it has the power to forge connections, impact change, reveal beauty and give voice to concepts and situations that might otherwise go unnoticed. Please visit http://artodyssey1.blogspot.com/ . I hope that you discover, "notice" and appreciate our work.Thank you again to Art Odyssey Jazz for generously sharing.

"May you always see the beauty in the world around you, especially when it seems most difficult to find. It is there..." In recent months, I have ceased creating and myself have struggled to see the "beauty" but it is in abundance and surrounds us. At times we need friends, old and new, to remind us to open our eyes wide and SEE what is right before us. It is there. It is within us. Peace and love, Jude

A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.~ Albert Einstein