KIDS ARE HEROES!!!

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children, gabe o'neill, kids are heroes, leadership

Gabe O’Neill’s daughter had an idea when she was nine to start her own website to help animals. When she and her dad started talking about what she wanted it to include, they ended up starting an organization geared to feature the work of other kids doing good in the world. The result has been an extraordinary snowball effect of kids inspiring kids around the world to take action and foster change. It has not only changed the lives of the kids by encouraging them to discover ther passions and to take action, but it has changed their families as well. And most importantly, Kids Are Heroes illustrates the incredible impact a simple gesture of kindness can make.

Love and Water- What was your inspiration to start Kids Are Heroes?

Gabe O’Neill- It was actually started by my daughter, MaryMargaret when she was nine years old. She came to me and said she wanted to build a website to help animals. I said that was a good idea, and suggested that she could help people too. I saw an interview with Sir Richard Branson on Charlie Rose and he was talking about social entrepreneurship, which was something I had never heard of. I thought it was such a good idea to give ideas instead of money in the name of solving problems. So I thought I could help my daughter build her website and help other kids to get their ideas out. We had business meetings at first to figure out what exactly she wanted to focus on, and that got the all rolling. We kept going with it, and it has now turned into a foundation that will no doubt be my daughter’s legacy. MaryMargaret has now spoken at schools and has developed leadership skills that will benefit her for the rest of her life.  She is learning at such a young age how to create the life she wants for herself, which centers around helping others.  This organization will be her legacy.

L&W- So how does the organization work?

GO- We teach kids about giving through showing them what other kids are doing to make a difference. We showcase kids from all over the U.S., and now internationally, who do things for other people without any consideration for their own benefit. They want to inspire others through their actions. When kids are given the freedom to explore what is meaningful to them, they end up discovering their passion. And once they discover that, they are ready to take action. There is one boy who on our site who, when he was seven, drilled his first well in Africa. He’s 18 now, and has an organization that has drilled over 500 wells in over 16 countries, helping over 600,000 people. This came from his idea that he wanted everyone to have clean water. He couldn’t believe that by running his spigot at home he could have clean water, while so many people in other countries couldn’t. There is another 14 year old boy who is trying to help the United Nations solve the issue of world poverty by the end of 2015. He found out about the Millennium Development Goals the United Nations had come up with to help solve poverty, so he came up with the Little Millennium Development Goals (LMDG) that he has presented to them. I spoke with his mother and the problem she is facing right now is whether or not to take her son out of school to go to Copenhagen to speak with some diplomats, because he just got back from Korea, having done the same thing. Both of these examples are of kids who are future world leaders, but we also have stories of kids who do simpler things. There is the story of a five year old whose mother came across our site and told her about it, and she immediately wanted to help her neighbor, Mr. Dove, who was older and couldn’t plant his flowers anymore. So she arranged to plant flowers in his yard. There is a 16 year old boy who has been fly fishing since he was three years old, and has discovered a way to teach disabled veterans how to fly fish, along with the benefits of relaxation that goes along with it. Each story illustrates the huge effects this kind of selfless giving has, and each one serves as an inspiration for the next child who reads our site. We paint them all with the same brush, because we know that each child is different and will be inspired by different stories.

L&W- What is the typical response you get when people first learn about your site?

GO- Often, when a child has an idea and begins to implement it, the whole family changes because they all get involved in the process. I’ve heard countless stories from parents who tell me how their lives have changed because of what they’re helping their kids to accomplish. I can’t tell you how excited I am about the progress we’re making. The visceral reactions of people who start working with their children to make their ideas come to life is just amazing. Once people find out about our site, they read our stories and usually what happens is that once the kids read the stories they immediately start coming up with their own ideas. When my daughter first launched her site to help animals, our neighbor down the street who was eight at the time said to his mother that he wanted to help premature babies. He was premature at his birth, and wanted to give something to other premature babies in the hospital. So he got people in a nursing home to knit premie hats and sweaters, he got a quilt company to donate some quilts and he got bears donated from a local company. He put together 36 gift baskets, and took them to the hospital. Normally they won’t let anyone in because of the delicate conditions of the babies, but the hospital gave him scrubs and let him go in to give the baskets to the families. He said to his mother at the end that it was the most important thing he had ever done. They now continue to give baskets to the troops and other groups in need of some help because they enjoy it so much.

L&W- Do you find that parents are ever resistant to allow their children to step up and take action?

GO- Yes, but it doesn’t last long once they see how other kids and parents are doing it and when they see how excited their kids get when they come up with an idea that has meaning to them. There are parents who believe that kids are kids and the adults are responsible for taking action. I challenge each of those parents to come to our website and see what these kids are doing. When parents read some of the stories on our site, it inspires them as well.

L&W- How has social media played a part in helping you get the word out?

GO- Twitter and Facebook have been completely amazing as far as helping to market our site while connecting us to so many stories that we’re able to feature. We now have a partnership with ex-NFL star Levar Fisher, who found us through social media. He travels around to schools across the country to talk to kids about how they can make a difference, and he is now going to talk to them about Kids Are Heroes as part of his lecture series. I try everyday to think outside the box to get the word out about our organization. We are now part of Disney’s Give a Day, Get a Day, where you can win a free ticket to a Disney park in exchange for community service. We are hosting these events now, so people learn about our site through the Disney site.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far with Kids Are Heroes?

GO- I think it was hearing about how our neighbor, John, immediately set out to help premature babies with such amazing results, and that he told his mom it was the most important thing he had ever done. I felt that my daughter and I played a part in inspiring him to do so. That’s the whole reason I’m doing this to begin with, and it means more to me than any dollar amount could give to me. I also know there are so many more stories that I haven’t head yet, which is also very moving to me.  It’s what our site is supposed to do, and that makes me very happy.

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Alex’s Lemonade Stand

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alex scott, alex's lemonade stand, cancer, children, jay scott

Alex Scott was a four year old cancer patient who decided to set up a lemonade stand to raise money for the doctors who had helped her.  Her parents thought she would make $10.00- she made $2,000.00 in one day.  The rest is a story that is not only inspiring, humbling and profound, but completely, unequivocally extraordinary.

Love and Water- Can you explain how Alex’s Lemonade Stand started?

Jay Scott- Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was started by my daughter, who was a childhood cancer patient, when she was four years old.  She had been getting some experimental treatments that really helped her, so she thought that if she set up a lemonade stand she could help the doctors by giving them the money she made to help other kids who were sick like her.  She first asked us about having a lemonade stand after she had been in the hospital for a month getting a stem cell transplant.  When she first got out it was winter and we were living in Connecticut, so we said she should wait until it got warmer.  She kept asking about it, and finally my wife asked her what she wanted to buy with the money, because we wanted to just buy it for her.  When she said she wanted to give it to the doctors, we thought that was really cute, so we let her set it up.  We thought she would make about $10.00.  Word got out about it, and people came from all over the area, and she ended up raising $2,000.00 in one day.  It was great, she was happy, we delivered the check to the hospital and basically forgot about it.  We then moved to Philadelphia in order to be closer to the hospital she needed to be near for her treatments.  When we got there Alex said she wanted to set up her lemonade stand again.  We said it would be really hard because we didn’t know anyone in the area.  She insisted, so we made her wait until the Fall when she was in school because we thought we would know some people by then.  We told her that she probably wouldn’t raise as much as she did the first time, so as not to get her hopes up.  We gave her some fliers to give to the kids at school, hoping that would help get the word out for her.  When the time came, it was cold out and she raised around $800.00.  She wasn’t happy, and told us it was our fault for making her wait until it was cold outside and nobody wanted lemonade.  So when it got warm out, we let her set another one up, sent fliers home with the kids again, and somehow the word got out to the newspaper here in Philly.  She ended up making around $12,000.00 that day.

L&W- How did you have enough lemonade for that?

JS- We had to keep running out.  It was my job to keep the lemonade stocked and take out the garbage, my wife’s job was to mix it up for her, and Alex served it with her friends.  She had a great time, and we brought that money to the hospital.  Again we thought it was a one-time thing.  But the next year she was ready to set up another one.  And we were thinking there was no way she could beat $12,000.00- we were concerned that she would be disappointed again.  But we let her set it up, and in the pouring rain she raised $18,000.00 in one day.  Our yard was trashed, our rugs were ruined because so many people came inside our house, but Alex has a great time.  My wife had called the police earlier that day to let them know there might be a traffic jam around our area because our daughter was having a lemonade stand.  They thought she was a little crazy, but when the day ended they called her back and said if Alex ever has a lemonade stand again to let them know because it caused a major traffic jam.

L&W- What happened from there?

JS- After that day an amazing thing started to happen.  The word got out to people outside of Philly and people started having their own lemonade stands and sending Alex letters with money saying they had raised more money for her cause, hoping it would help.  Letters started coming from all over the country, and eventually all over the world.  She got letters that would say “Lemonade Girl, United States” on the envelope, with no address, and the post office would deliver them to us.  That was 2003, and with the help of other people that year she raised around $100,000.00.  All this time she was still fighting her cancer.  She had some good times and some bad times, and when one treatment stopped working she moved on to another.  The longest she was on a treatment was a year and a half.  By the end of 2003, she wasn’t doing very well health-wise.  The cancer had spread as high as her neck and as low as her foot, and was starting to invade some vital organs, like her liver.  So we certainly were not going to bring up the lemonade stand again.  But then we found out she was still planning to set one up that year in spite of her condition.

L&W- How did you find that out?

JS- We would get calls from reporters wanting to interview her, and even though she was only eight at the time she was pretty grown up.  So we would always tell her who was on the phone and let her do the interviews.  It was usually newpapers, but one day a magazine called, I believe it was Family Circle, and Alex took the interview.  My wife heard her tell the woman that last year her goal was $100,000.00 and she made that, so this year she was going to raise a million dollars.  When she hung up the phone, my wife said to her that she shouldn’t tell people she is going to raise a million dollars, because it’s very unlikely that she will raise that much.  Alex said that there were a lot of things we had told her she couldn’t do and she did them, and that she believed that if other people helped her that she knew she could raise a million dollars.  That was the first time that we realized we needed to help her, because we knew she didn’t have much time.  So many people had written to see what more they could do to help throughout the year, so we decided to have at least one person in every state set up a lemonade stand the same day Alex was going to set up hers.  We called it Lemonade Day.  So in 2004, we had the first lemonade day.  We had to move ours to the school because of the traffic issue, and there was a stand in every state and a lot of other countries.  A couple of days before that day she went on the Today Show for the second time, and she had done a taping on Oprah and the CBS Morning Show, all of which aired the same day.  At the end of the day, with the help of all the lemonade stands around the world, she raised $700,000.00.  We got a call from Volvo, one of her sponsors- because even though she would set up stands in our yard she had sponsors.  They asked how she was doing, and we said her health wasn’t good at that point.  They asked if she had raised the million dollars, and when we told them she raised $700,000.00, they said to tell her that they were going to take her over the million dollar mark be doing a fundraiser in all of their dealerships.  We told her, and she clapped twice and set and even higher goal for the next year.  She died a couple of weeks later, knowing that she had reached her million dollar goal.

L&W- What happened from there?

JS- After she died we thought the lemonade stand concept would go away.  We usually got hundreds of emails a day when she was alive from people wanting to help, and when she died we ended up getting twice as many, saying that we had to keep the lemonade stand alive.  So in January of 2005, the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was born.

L&W- Can you talk about how the foundation works today?

JS- Lemonade stands are still a huge part of who we are and always will be.  The percentage of funds from lemonade stands alone has gone down over the years, but the funds raised per lemonade stand has gone up. There are around 20,000 lemonade stands around the world, which makes up around 40% of our funding.  But people do other kinds of fundraisers now as well.  Some people run marathons, we have a Lemon Ball every year, and we have a lot of corporate sponsors.  So many great people in the world who are so giving and involved with giving back have helped us and continue to help us raise money to find a cure for childhood cancer.

L&W- So Alex had a kind of cancer called Neuroblastoma, correct?

JS- Yes, it usually occurs in infants one and under.  She was diagnosed a day before her first birthday.  It attacks your sympathetic nervous system, so it usually starts around the spine.  Hers started in her adrenal glands.  It can be very aggressive.  Unfortunately hers didn’t respond to therapy right away, like we had hoped.  She lived with it for seven and a half years, which is much longer than kids usually live with it.

L&W- Why do you think she was able to live so long?

JS- She was a fighter, and her tumors seemed to become active in stages, where they would be active and then slow down for a period of time.  We could never get rid of it all, so it would continue to grow.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had with Alex’s Lemonade Stand?

JS- Alex spent a lot of time in the hospital- an amazing amount of time.  She always had problems with her platelets, where she would bleed a lot.  I was responsible for taking her to the emergency room in the middle of the night because my wife was on duty during the day with the kids.  I was taking her to the emergency room at around 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, because she had a severe bloody nose.  I said to her, “Alex, I’m so sorry you have to go through this.”  And she said to me, “I’m happy for the things I have, I’m not unhappy for the things I don’t have.”  I thought that was a pretty profound thing for a seven year old to say when she’s going to the hospital in the middle of the night.  It was so profound that I actually called my wife to tell her what she said to me.  It made me appreciate everything I have.  When I’m having a bad day, I just think about that.

L&W- Is there anything else you want people to know about the foundation?

JS- One is that childhood cancer kills more kind in the United Stated than any other disease.  So it is a big problem, because even the kids who survive have long-term side effects, including learning disabilities or loss of limbs, eyes, kindneys, among others.  And this is all because of the treatments.  So we need to find better treatments for these kids.  I also like to tell people about some of the things we do as a foundation.  We try to attack childhood cancer from multiple angles- we try to help the families, since it is so difficult financially.  We help them in any way they need, including a travel fund.  We also give to research projects for preliminary research.  The government won’t fund research unless there is proven research already in place, so we give doctors that seed money to begin their research and to then get government funding.  And finally, anyone can make a difference.  It doesn’t matter how much you have, there is always something to give.

L&W- I noticed you state that on your website, and it is very similar to the concept of Love and Water, in that every little bit counts.  I think it’s so important that people are reminded that a very small donation does make a serious impact in the grand scheme of things.

JS- Yes, it’s definitely true.  Just to give you an idea of how that works in real numbers, the average lemonade stand raises around $400.00.  But when we add up all of the stands from around the world, it adds up to tens of millions of dollars.  So every little contribution makes a bigger difference than people realize. We take every donation to heart, as I’m sure to people making the donations do as well.

L&W- Thank you so much for sharing Alex’s story.

JS- It was my pleasure.  Thank you.

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The Wonderfully Accessible Art of David Hooker!

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david hooker, pottery, sculpture

David Hooker’s art is not only beautiful, thought-provoking, and unique, it is accessible!  His pottery and sculpture have brought new meaning to the art of relevance, particularly by giving back to communities in need.  This is art that anyone can see, buy, enjoy and just feel good about.

Love and Water- Can you talk about how you came to make the pottery and sculptures you make today?

David Hooker- My training was in ceramics originally.  When I was in undergrad, I wanted to make really big things that people could walk through and experience.  I didn’t want people to just look at my art.  I discovered, mainly be accident, that my desire to make those things wasn’t about making big pieces as much as it was about making functional art.  Pottery has that quality to it- you can touch and feel and hold it, and it can be part of your intimate space.  So I dedicated myself to making pottery, and while in grad school I started working in sculpture as well.  Since then I’ve been doing both, and more recently I’ve become interested in performance and video.  Both are allowing me to explore different avenues, and are exciting and terrifying at the same time.  The idea of performance is great in the ways it breaks down to structure of what people consider “high art” in the sense that the audience is part of the performance, and there is the spontaneity of theater involved.  This is exciting, but can also leave the artist feeling very exposed at the same time.  I’m starting to make things that I’m not necessarily in control of any more as a result.  I’m exploring similar themes in all of my work having to do with structures in society, thinking about who we are and how we relate to each other by how structures can both connect us and keep us apart.  This has been an exciting year for me because of how my work is changing, and I’ve had to keep up mentally with what has been happening visually.  So that’s been pretty cool.

L&W- What lead you to share your work with charitable causes?

DH- I don’t exclusively make work with charity in mind, but I do definitely find myself drawn to various charitable projects.  One thing I wanted early on was to break down the idea that art is an elitist activity, and that one has to be a cultural elitist to get what art work is.  That was one of the things that attracted me to pottery in the first place, because it was a way to make art work for everybody.  It’s not particularly expensive, and it’s very accessible.  That kind of work has allowed me to work on bringing people together, including charities.  A lot of people can get together, spend a little bit of money and raise money for another community.  Recently I did the “Empty Bowl” project with my students at Wheaton College.  We took our ceramic students and made functional bowls that we sold to our Wheaton College community very inexpensively- they sold for between $5.00 and $25.00- and they got lunch with whatever they bought.  The concept of the “Empty Bowl” project is to raise awareness of the need for food around the world, and how many empty bowls there are out there.  So we had sponsors who donated food and coffee, and anytime someone bought a bowl or mug it was filled with lunch or coffee.  We took the money we raised from selling those bowls to a local food pantry.  That was an extraordinary event because between six or seven students, we made around 200 pots and sold them all to Wheaton students within two hours.  I set it up as a four hour event and thought we’d sell half of what we had.  It was an incredible whirlwind of excitement, and we were really moved by it.

L&W- I understand you also have done work for a school in Rwanda?

DH- That was a really great project, and it started with our church.  It was too large financially for the size of our church, so had to reach out into the community.  We partnered The Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee, since it is a Rwandan organization.  I made mugs and we sold mugs and coffee to raise funds and awareness for the need in Rwanda for healing and reconciliation and education post-genocide.  There was so much damage done to Rwanda that needed to be built back up.  There were about 125 mugs that we sold out of in a couple of hours, which again made me feel we were able to connect communities together.  I’ve done fundraisers where there are auctions for very expensive pieces of art, and it just seems like only a few people are able to participate in that and appreciate the art.  This kind of fundraising is so different because of the level of accessibility.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far working with community and charity?

DH- I think the most recent “Empty Bowls” project because there was so much synergy of students, community and people in need.  When the students realized they could make work that has a direct impact on the community, their excitement fed me in a way that was very gratifying to me.  That has to be the most moving experience I’ve had.

L&W- Is there anything else you want people to know about your work?

DH- You can order my work from my Etsy store.  A portion of the proceeds of those sales go to sponsor a child in Rwanda, so it’s for a good cause.  Also, I want people to think about the fact that art isn’t necessarily about self-expression as it is about relevance.  And that relevance can take on many different forms.  Relevance in the art community is one kind, and then relevance to the ideas that are spinning around in society, both locally and globally, is another very thought-provoking way to think about art.  There are so many different facets that come up when you can see how your work is expressing what is going on around us, and that can be a great perspective to take when we are viewing and making art.

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1-800-Charity Cars Gives Cars to People in Need, and Transforms Lives

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800-charity cars, brian menzies

Brian Menzies owned a car dealership, did extremely well for himself, and woke up one day wanting to do more.  So he started 1-800-Charity Cars, a non-profit organization that donates cars to families in need in all 50 states.  The amount of people they have been able to reach and help is remarkable.  But what is even more remarkable is the spirit behind their mission.

Love and Water- When did you start 1-800-Charity Cars?

Brian Menzies- It started in 1996.  I was in the automobile business, and had a fabulous year in 1995.  I was sitting up one night, reviewing my life, and realized I wanted to do something meaningful to me.  So I started Charity Cars at my dealership, just locally.  We ended up getting some publicity that we didn’t expect, and an associated press article went national and we were on Oprah, and suddenly we were a national charity.

L&W- Can you explain how Charity Cars works?

BM- People who want to donate a car can call our 800 number, and based on the condition it’s in we determine whether we’re going to sell it, send it to the junk yard for salvage or to an auction, or if it’s cost-effective to repair.  If we can save it, we get it repaired and notify a client through our website.  The process of paperwork begins, and then we let the client know where they can pick up the vehicle.  We do this in every state, including Alaska and Hawaii.

L&W- Who qualifies to receive a car?

BM- The recipient has to be within 200% of the federal poverty level.  They have to be generally in need, and they have to be generating votes through our website.

L&W- Does the person donating the car receive a tax break as a result?

BM- The new tax laws require you to write off only what the charity uses the vehicle for.  If we use the whole car, then you can write off the full fair market value of the car.  If we only use a part of it for repairs, then you can only write off that part.  So it behooves people to donate whatever they have and let us help them write it off.  We handle the entire process ourselves- we don’t use a for-profit charity fundraiser.  We’ve provided over 4,000 vehicles for families in need, which is more than any other charity who focuses on vehicle donations.

L&W- What’s the most moving moment you’ve had so far with giving these cars to families in need?

BM- In ’05 we gave away 101 cars in one day to kick off domestic violence awareness month in Chicago.  It took us four hours to award each car.  It’s a life-changing event for each person who receives one.  People cry, they praise God.  When you think about it, in the majority of places in the U.S. with the exception of the few big cities, you really need a car.  There have been studies done that prove car ownership is one of the deciding factors of people getting themselves off of welfare.  So it transforms lives.  They can take their kids to the doctor, they can go to the grocery store, they can do what they need to do in everyday life.  There was a single mother with two little girls, around five and seven, who we gave a car to.  The little girls both started crying, and one held on to my one leg and the other held on to the other leg and they were just thanking me.  It was very emotional, and that’s what is so rewarding.

L&W- So when you give them a car, they own it outright?

BM- In the state of Florida, we actually ween the car for a year so they can’t sell it for a tax break.  But outside of Florida, we give them the title.  We take great care to make sure each recpient is truly in need of a car.

L&W- I understand that Charity Cars has also expanded into other areas of giving, such as Charity Farms.

BM- Yes, we now have a 35 acre organic farmin Central Florida dedicated to feeding the poor and the elderly.  We grow entirely organic crops to help improve the quality of lives of those who are in need.  It has been a really gratifying experience, and watching it grow is just incredible.  The produce is delivered same day of harvest to local food banks and then distributed to over 500 local area non-profits who serve those in need.  There are now similar farms popping up all over the U.S. because the concept is so sustainable and helpful to those who need it.

L&W- How do monetary donations help you?

BM- We use donations to help repair the vehicles.  Fortunately we’ve always had more money that cars to fix, and in the past we’ve been funders for other projects helping people in similar ways.  We provide downpayments for insurance for people, and other things they may need.

L&W- What do you think of the concept of Love and Water?

BM- Very cool- very creative.  I love the democratic feel of people creating products that then help charities.  I think it’s a great thing.  Plus, we really need a Charity Cars t-shirt, so maybe you’ll have the answer for us!

http://www.800charitycars.org/

The Practical, Magical Pottery of Patty Bilbro

Tags

asheville, etsy, north carolina, patty bilbro, pottery

Asheville, North Carolina native Patty Bilbro’s Foxfire Pottery is earthy, uplifting, thought-provoking and endearing- and it’s the kind you can actually use!  In short, it’s exceptional.  We love it, and thought we’d share some of this practical magic with you.  Oh, and it’s on Etsy right now!  So go ahead and buy away!

Love and Water- Can you talk about how and when you started working with pottery?

Patty Bilbro- I went to college in psychology, but spent so much time in the clay studio that I put psychology on hold and went to a crafts program at the Haywood Community College Clay Production Program instead.  I loved it, but was too young and not self-disciplined enough to make a living out of it, so I went back to school to get a degree in mental health and worked in the mental health field for three years.  I finally decided I wanted to go back into working with clay so I started making things again about two and a half years ago.  I wasn’t doing any drawings originally, but one day I had the image of a little girl that stayed in my head for a few days until I finally drew what I was seeing.  I decided I wanted to transfer that to a pot.  Once I started adding drawings to pots, I couldn’t stop.  I would put my headphones on and draw to the music.  I draw based on experiences from my psychology background- I’m interested in the brain and why we do things and what motivates us as humans.  That’s definitely a huge influence for my drawings, along with my own relationships.  My relationship with my partner and with my friends and family play a large role in inspiring me to create work.  I also watch other relationships and how people react and respond to each other.  Their interactions often tell me what they might be thinking on the inside, which is really interesting.  I like to explore those areas through my work.  I started drawing for myself at first, and didn’t expect people to respond so well to them.  So I started adding them to the clay work about a year and a half ago and have been doing that ever since.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far working with your pottery?

PB- I have so many tiny moments when I’m working on a piece that move me, but those are all inside my own head.  I’m always moved by people telling me that if they’re having a bad day or really struggling with something they’ll pull out my work and use it throughout the day to cheer them up.  I had a mother who has lots of kids tell me that my work helps her maintain the chaos in her head.  Some people have told me that it makes them drink more water.  So every time I hear something like that it reminds me of why I’m doing it, and that’s the best part for me.

L&W- Where can people buy your work?

PB- I have an Etsy account and then in local studios and galleries here in Asheville, including Curve Studios and Gardens, Mud Fire and Woolworth Walk.

L&W- Are you familiar with Vincent’s Ear?

PB- I actually worked there!  I miss it dearly, still.  It was a real gathering place for a lot of people, mainly artists and musicians who normally spend a lot of time in a solitary life working and creating, and this provided a place for them to come together and feel they could gather in a group and not be as reclusive as usual.  We don’t really see each other very much anymore because of that, and I miss seeing them all.  It was a great place to take a break and go to see bands and share ideas and stories with other artists.  There is a lack of that now.  It was a real community.

L&W- Is there anything else you want people to know about your work?

PB- I hope it keeps growing and changing, so I hope people keep checking back to see what I’m up to.  Who knows what I’ll be doing in ten years- I’m going to start experimenting with hand-building and sculpture now, which I’m excited about.  So we’ll see where that goes!

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Meet NYC’s most popular improv coach, SAMANTHA JONES!

Tags

comedy, improv, samantha jones, stand up

Samantha Jones is SERIOUSLY funny.  She’s first and foremost an improv coach who teaches some of the most effective and sought-after improv workshops in New York City.  She’s also a stand-up comedian, actor, director, producer- just to name a few.  I’m laughing the moment I hear her laugh, because it’s so infectious, and I can see why people are banging down her door to take her workshops.  She could no doubt unleash the inner actor in each of us and teach us how to let our authentic selves fly.  But what sets her apart from other teachers and courses of this ilk is that she doesn’t care about whether or not you can be funny.  She cares about whether or not you are getting in touch with your soul.

Love and Water- Can you talk about how you came to teach improv?

Samantha Jones- In my process of trying to find my voice as an artist I found improv to be one of the most liberating experiences in my life.  That immediately lead me to 15 years of stand-up comedy.  I felt there was nothing more scary than stand-up, and even though I didn’t care for the actual business of comedy, I felt there were too many challenges for me to face to give it up.  I was able to face those challenges in stand-up because of my training in improv.  My coaching and directing continued because when I was put in the position of directing a group of people who wanted to break free themselves, I felt a tremendous sense of responsibility to them, as well as a sense of understanding what they were going through every step of the way.  That humbled me.  I realize as an artist that challenges such as that never end.  I continue to be interested in that.  I’ve been doing this now since 1990, which is a testament to how much I love what I’m doing.  I tend to get bored with things that are not compelling artistically, which can cause me to walk away fairly quickly.  But this has been a constant in my life, and I’m more and more interested in it as time goes on.  Even if I was an Academy Award winning actress, I think I would still be coaching improv because it is one of the most organic experiences you can have as a performer and artist.

L&W- How did improv help you with your stand-up work?

SJ- I could deal with hecklers and with forgetting my material by getting off myself, which is a big part of improv work.  As a stand-up comic you need to be very aware of the audience at all times, and while delivering the material be looking around at your audience and sizing them up.  You can see really good stand-up comics do it who are great at crowd managing.  Judy Gold does it brilliantly.  She’ll be talking about one thing and sizing up the woman in the front row at the same time, and then bring something up about that woman later.  So it’s multi-tasking and being aware of everyone around you.  I learned all of that by doing improv.

L&W- Can you explain how your classes are structured and what you do in them?

SJ- I don’t call them classes anymore, I call them workshops or courses because I think it gives more respect to the people in the group to not focus on a teacher/student scenario.  The first meeting is where I get everyone really naked, figuratively, so that they can get out of their heads and I can see what I’m up against, as in where they’re blocks are.  And the way I do that is to get them completely exhausted!  The warm-up we do is usually over an hour, and the workshop itself is only two hours, so it’s extremely and immediately physical.  By the time everyone is doused with sweat and exhausted they can’t think anymore, and that’s where the work really begins.  We play a bunch of games to reach specific goals, all of which are essential building blocks toward learning how to be an actor.  It starts with getting off of oneself, and learning skills in the process.  It’s so much fun that they end up learning without knowing that they’re learning, which is another really rewarding aspect both for me and for them.

L&W- I know your family plays a huge role in your work as well.

SJ- They do, definitely.  I have a production company with my family called Dora Mae Productions.  It’s an important aspect of what I do because they’ve helped me develop all of my work over the years.  My mother was my director for three of my solo shows, and my sister also directed one.  Any solo performer is never really solo.  They all have to have a successful team behind them in order to do well, and mine have always been my mother and my sisters.  It adds an interesting element to my work, because I grew up doing this and have always had such a supportive team behind me, which plays a huge role in my wanting to give that back to each person who works with me.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far with your work, both as a teacher and performer?

SJ- As an improv coach, I had a guy come in to a course once who had a lot of “cool guy” issues.  He was into putting on a show to mask what he was really feeling.  He knew this about himself, which was why he signed up for the course.  We started doing a simple exercise called “freeze,” where two people get into the middle of a circle and freeze when we tell them to, and then begin improving based on their reactions to one of their positions.  He was so blocked that he couldn’t think of anything, ever.  Nothing was coming up for him and he wasn’t able to give to his partner.  I could tell that it alarmed him, and he started crying.  He had to leave the room and collect himself, and I thought I would never see him again.  Ten minutes later he came back into the room and said, “Ok, I’m ready.”  And from then on he was present and working.  That was a moment I realized why I love what I’m doing so much, because to witness that kind of transformation is just incredible.

In terms of my own performance career, I remember playing a role in a play that my mother wrote called “Breezeway.”  My mother is a playwright and won huge awards for this play, and I remember hearing readings of it from when I was a little girl.  I then had the opportunity to play one of the lead characters, and was so happy to have this chance.  It was about a bunch of sisters in New Jersey, and my character is the narrator of the play.  It’s a very bold play with lots of love and drama, and one of the elements of the story was abuse between an aunt and an uncle.  One of my monologues was about a brother who couldn’t take it and ran away.  The rhythm of that monologue was such that all of my technique up to that point seemed unnecessary.  I started to say the words and there was so much depth and emotion involved that it moved me in a way I hadn’t felt before on stage.  I had never been that vulnerable.  I still do that monologue today for auditions, and it’s still as effective as it was back then.

L&W- What is one of the most important aspects of your coaching that you would want people to know?

SJ- I grew up in a house with a single mom and two sisters in New York City.  My mom instilled in us that the most important thing was our art, and that the second most important thing was that we didn’t work for anyone else.  That we were our own bosses.  It was such a progressive lesson for a single mom to be teaching her daughters in the 70’s and 80’s in New York City.  I was always focused on doing what I knew I wanted to do, and now I’m at a point where I’m finally my own boss and all of my hard work has gotten me to this point.  It’s such an important element of who I am, and it’s also why I’m so passionate about my coaching, because I feel we don’t have much time.  We only have one life and we want to do so much, so why not do it in the most efficient and bravest ways possible?  That’s how I approach my work when I coach both celebrities and actors just starting out.  I treat them exactly the same in that respect.  Also, my courses are not geared to help people get on Saturday Night Live, as a goal, which is why I choose to work with short-form improv instead of long-form improv.   My work is not about trying to make people funny; in fact, I tell people I’d rather they be serious in class and get as much as they can out of it for themselves and their personal goals.  Of course, everyone ends up being hysterically funny because of the nature of the work, but there is no competitive aspect involved- no one is competing to see who is funnier.  I feel strongly about bringing out the best in everyone so that everyone succeeds.  That’s really important to me, and I make sure everyone knows that before signing up for my courses.

Sign up for Sam’s Courses
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Listen to Sam’s Voiceover Reel

Photo credits: 
Samantha Jones by Evan Cohen
The Headshop Guerillas Improv Troupe by Evan Cohen
Samantha Jones and Penny Pollock by Rebecca Chiappone
Samantha Jones by Rebecca Chiappone
Postcard from Samantha Jones’ fourth solo show, “Butterfly Suicide”

Valentine’s Day with RINO CARDS!

Tags

illustration, jan, music, new york city, poetry, rino, rino cards, sculpture, valentine's day

It doesn’t take much to realize that Jan Horvath and Rino Li Causi are in love.  All you have to do is feast your eyes on their Valentine’s YouTube video, which features the art of Rino Cards and the song “And I Still Love You,” written by Rino for Jan, sung by Jan.  Rino is an artist/sculptor/poet from Sicily and Jan is a concert singer, having performed on some of the best stages in the world.  Together they have created Rino cards, a line of handmade cards each individually designed and signed by Rino, that are selling like crazy in New York City.  They have now translated some of these original images into a video that is undeniably an expression of their love for each other, and shared it with the world.  We could think of no better artists’ work to share with you on Valentine’s Day.

Love and Water- Your cards are just beautiful, and each one is so touching in such a unique way.  How did you come up with the idea for Rino Cards?

Jan Horvath-  We started Rino Cards around seven years ago, when we decided we wanted to have our own business that we really loved and were passionate about.  Rino has been a painter his whole life, and we had always made our own Christmas cards that our friends and family really enjoyed.  I’m a concert singer, and I had some time in between concerts and thought this would make a good business for us to work on together.  We started off slow, as each card is handmade, but have continued to grow, creating one card at a time.  Slowly but surely it has grown to 148 images.

L&W- Where do you find the inspiration for the art on your cards, Rino?

Rino Li Causi- My art is just a part of me.  It’s the way I see my life.  It’s the way I feel.  I make the cards but I also have paintings, poetry, sculptures and songs that are all my expression of who I am, and it’s what I will continue to do.  The way I see it with my art, if the money comes, that is great.  But this is what I love to do, so I continue from that perspective to create what is meaningful to me.

L&W- Where can people find Rino Cards?

JH- The cards are on our website, and they’re also in various bookstores in NYC. You can find them at the Barnes and Noble near Lincoln Center, the Barnes and Noble on Greenwich and 8th Ave, and Rizzoli Book Store on 57th St., between 5th and 6th Aves.  We are starting to approach publishers because Rino now has a full body of work, and they’re selling well in the stores in New York City.  The only problem we anticipate with a publisher is how to avoid growing too fast.  Because each card is handmade, we don’t want to run into the problem of not being able to fill all of our orders.  We want to keep the art our main focus and not get into mass-production.  Right now we’re very happy with the fact that we have enough work to put in a few bookstores and to watch them sell.  It’s amazing to get positive feedback from customers.  I ran into a man who was buying a card for his daughter’s birthday and he said he just loved our cards.  That’s a great feeling.

L&W- It’s so wonderful that each card is handmade.  Will you custom design videos for people as well?

JH- Yes!  We would love to do that.  This is our first foray into making videos, and that is definitely a possibility.  We’d love to find a way to market the video further, and right now we’re just giving it to the world to see the kind of response we get.  So we’re definitely open to making others.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had working together?

RL- We can fight a lot when we work together, but we have made so many wonderful things happen at the same time.  I think for me, this is the most important thing.  Because we have so many good moments together and we discover new things about each other through our work.

JH- Rino is used to working by himself, and I’m from the theater world, where it’s all about collaborating.  So it’s often foreign for him to allow someone else to collaborate with him on his work.  When we decided to do the video, I took his work and the song he wrote, translated the song to English, made a recording of it and made a video collage of his work to go along with it.  It was unnerving to him while I was working on it because he didn’t know what to expect.  But once he saw his art come to life in the video, it was a really special moment.  And the fact that he wrote the song for me was also very moving.

L&W- Did Rino write the music for the song as well?

JH- Well, since he doesn’t have musical training, he wrote the lyrics and starting humming in my ear the tune he was hearing for it.  I took that and tranlated it to the best of my ability, and came up with this song.

L&W- It’s such a beautiful, touching song.  I understand you wrote it in Italian first?

RL- Yes, and I sang it in Italian.  You can see that on YouTube as well.  I take inspiration from Jan.  My age is 66, and my brain is so young and wants to do more and more, and I’m very excited about working further.  You will see more from us.

L&W- I hope so!  How does it make you feel to know that your cards are selling so well?

JH- Both Rino and I get a kick out of the fact that we can put our art out there and it helps other people express their emotions.  It’s such a privelage.  We’ve had such positive feedback from the cards, and I’m really touched that they can give people such joy.

RL- Sharing our dreams with others and seeing their interpretations of it is really amazing.  It’s a satisfaction when someone loves my work and it keeps me going.  It makes me want to share more.

JH- I think also as a painter one doesn’t have an audience standing there, applauding every brush stroke.  So when people respond to our cards, it feeds Rino in a new way that is so gratifying for me to witness.  It’s really wonderful.

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Visit Rino’s site 
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Meet David Fuelling of 3for5.org!

Tags

3for5, clean water, david fuelling

David Fuelling started talking to some of the kids of his church youth group about the lack of clean water around the world, and decided to do something about it.  So he started 3for5.org, an organization that raises money for clean water through an amazing mathematical concept: reach 20 million people who all give $5.00.  And they’re well on their way to meeting their goal!

Love and Water- How did you come up with the idea for 3for5?

David Fuelling- My wife and I were volunteering for our church youth group and we were trying to get the kids interested and involved in something bigger and greater than what they deal with everyday.  We started talking about worldwide humanitarian issues, and I knew that places in the developing world lacked clean water but didn’t know exactly how dire the lack of clean water is in some areas.  There are nearly a billion people who don’t have clean water, so it’s a huge issue.  So many kids die every year from lack of clean water.  We knew we wanted to help and it seemed such a huge undertaking because we don’t have millions of dollars.  But we do have some friends, and those friends have some friends, and we thought that we could start there.  Everybody can support clean water, so we thought it could just be a function of getting the word out and seeing how much support we could get.

L&W- Where did the initial funding come from to start the organization?

DF- We went to friends and family, and there were a couple of family friends who really got behind the mission.  They helped us come up with some ideas and helped us really get it off the ground.  We launched our website in September of ’09 and we just broke $8,400.00, which seems small in the grand scheme of things but it has really helped us see how the concept we put together is working.  Most donations are $20.00 or less, so we’ve done really well considering the structure we’ve set up.  I think it will take some time to reach our goal of 20 million people, but it’s very doable.

L&W- Can you explain the mathematics behind the concept of 3for5, since it’s such a brilliant idea?

DF- Every time a person invites three friends and each person gives $5.00, that’s $20.00.  We call that a “wave” of clean water.  When those three friends invite three friends to give another $5.00, then nine more people are involved and we call that another “wave.”  So every time a person gets three friends to join they form a wave.  It only takes 15 waves of a social network to reach 20 million people.  It’s exponential growth of the community as we move forward.  So far we have people who have made five waves, which is really inspiring.  It will start off rather slow, but then every time someone can add three friends the growth triples.

L&W- What is the most moving experience you’ve had so far watching your organization grow?

DF- Becoming aware of what is going on in other countries because of their lack of clean water is up there, for sure.  That’s what got us to move and to act.  I would say on par with that is the amount of people who have actually come to us and said they want to help somehow.  That has been really tremendous because my wife and I would never have been able to do this alone.  Early on we were talking to a friend who is an attorney, and she loved the concept from the start.  She offered to ask her law firm if they would want to represent us, since they took on pro bono clients occasionally.  They ended up taking us on, and so all of our legal help has been free.  We were really moved by that, and that’s just one example of how friends and family have volunteered to help.

L&W- There are many water charities working to end this problem around the world.  How do you interact with them to help each other?

DF- There is a lot of data that proves that a community does better when they own their own water system, so a lot of water charities are making sure that happens.  We are primarily focused on the charity side of things, although we’re always talking to other organizations to see what they’re doing in terms of getting creative and intend to support them as time goes on.  Once we raise our first $10,000, Water for People will be our first grant recipient.  Another great organization is Water Alliance, which is a group of water charities helping each other.  The hard truth is that there is just not enough charity money to solve the problem, so there has to be the sustainablility aspect, where people are able to learn how to build their own resources to provide themselves with clean water.  We’re of the opinion that we want to concentrate on fundraising so we can support the many great organizations that have the capacity to build wells and interact with the people.  We want to help them do more of that, so partnering is the key.

L&W- How has social media been helpful in raising awareness for you?

DF- Social media has been a major catalyst in raising awareness and getting people involved.  We had the pleasure of going to Blog World, which was a social networking competition that Ebay and Pay Pal put on, and the idea was to vote for your favorite charity.  We used Facebook and Twitter to rally our troops and ended up in the top ten, so we got a free pass to Blog World.  Email has been huge for us as well.  That is one of our primary conduits of communicating with our followers.  We send regular emails to keep in touch.  All aspects of social media have been extremely helpful in different ways.

L&W- Is there anything else people should know about 3for5?

DF- *We’re trying to raise our first $10,000.00 in the next few weeks, and we’re really close.  As soon as we raise that we’re going to give our first grant to Water for People.  So we would love for people to make a few waves and help us reach that goal.

L&W- Thanks so much for sharing with us, David.

DF- It’s my pleasure.  Thank you- we look forward to being further involved with Love and Water.

*As of Monday, February 8, 3for5.org reached their first $10,000.00!

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Amazingly Functional Fabric Sculptures: It’s PINK INC.!!!

Tags

debra roth, fabric, pink inc, sculptures

Debra Roth is the founder of Pink Inc., which creates incredibly breathtaking tension fabric structures.  Used for events, interior design, halftime shows, and basically anything you can think of, Pink Inc. creates sculptures from fabric that go beyond any conventional ideas of design.  And they’re all BEAUTIFUL!!!

Love and Water- Your work is so stunning and unique.  How did you get started doing this kind of work?

Debra Roth- I do so much work in events, and there has been a lot of this kind of work over the last ten years.  But I came to it because I have a sculpture background, and ended up working with some fabrics for a project in school.  I studied fine arts and sculpture, and I took a class that required us to do a collaborative project where we had to use mediums we had never worked with before.  So we ended up beginning to work with fabrics, and used performance to stage a live manipulation of the fabrics.  From there people started asking us to do various shows, so we started building stage sets to put our work in, and it just evolved and grew from there.  The first ten years I was focused on the art world and theater, and wanted to stay in that genre.  But then we started to get picked up with festivals, that lead to us doing events and put us in a whole new industry, and we just went with it.  The next ten years were spent getting organized and really finding ways to explain clearly to people what we did, because people were just becoming familiar with it but it was still a new way to design events.  After that, we started to see more of it in various areas of event design and architecture, so people are more familiar with it now.

L&W- What do you think helps your work stand out among other similar styles?

DR- We really still have the creative edge because I think a lot of companies began to do this kind of work from a monetary perspective, because they knew it was an upcoming industry.  But we never looked at it that way; we always came from an art perspective.  I think that’s what makes us unique.  We’re always developing ideas and listening to our clients and trying out new things.  We’re really engaged with our clients and with our work, so we enjoy the process of creating a new piece from beginning to end.

L&W- Who are your clients?  Can you do the same work on a smaller scale as well?

DR- A lot of our clients are events producers, which includes corporate events and smaller events.  We work with a lot of production companies because the fabric works so well with lighting.  There are a lot of hotels we work with as well.  Exhibits have also played a part in what we do, which is always fun and interesting.  But now interior designers and architects are starting to discover how they can use these kinds of structures because they’re so light weight and easy for them to design with.  You can pretty much make any shape with the fabrics, so there are a ton of options available.  There are a few things you can’t do, but what you can do you can do really well with the fabric.  If you have to make a curved wall out of sheet rock, it can be really difficult, but to make a curved wall out of fabric is really easy.  These days people are remodeling every three to four years, which is also an advantage because you can remove fabric structures very easily.  We’re doing something for Google right now that I believe is going into the corporate office.  The fabric will have printing all over, which is an interesting twist.  It will be something that they can use for as long as they want, and can change it just as easily.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had in designing a piece?

DR- We did the halftime show for the Dallas Cowboys over Thanksgiving.  It was really cool because we took something that we already do and just enlarged it for them, and sent it to them to assemble.  They rigged them and did a great job.  I was watching the game and when halftime started they weren’t out there, and I thought oh no, it didn’t work.  But then they got them up in a flash, and it looked great.  It was really moving to see it on television, looking so good.  The sponsorship for the event was the Salvation Army and they wanted parts of it to look like flames, and they actually raised the flames during the show.  The whole thing was really cool to watch.

L&W- What do you enjoy most about your work?

DR- It has a lot of potential to keep going.  Some people in the event industry get tired of certain looks, but this look changes all the time.  Working with fabric is really cool and always evolving, which I really enjoy about this work.

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Meet Skip Hunt, Photographer

Tags

photography, skip hunt, visual art

Skip Hunt is a visual artist who takes photographs, and ends up producing photographic masterpieces.  His work is a generous, private look into the intense world of humanity.  Thankfully I got to talk to him.  Feast your eyes on this!

Love and Water- Your photos are absolutely breathtaking and clearly from your unique point of view.  When did you begin taking photos?

Skip Hunt- I kind of fell into it.  My mother bought a 35 mm camera when I was 15, and I put my hands on it and knew I had to have one.  I worked the summer to make some money to get one, and have been shooting ever since.  I’ve just been compelled to make images.  I started emulating other photographers’ work and came to my own style without even trying.

L&W- Your work spans the globe, and you’re clearly moved by other cultures.  Can you talk how that has allowed your style to evolve?

SH- I’ve always been fascinated with other cultures.  I’ve been trying to live my life like something I would want to see in a movie, trying to absorb as much color and texture and culture and conversation and people as I can.  There seems to be something related to when I’m traveling that opens up my mind a bit more and I start noticing the little things that we tend to just walk past most of the time.  It seems to be inspirational to be in a state of being a stranger.  It doesn’t even have to be another country- I don’t live in New York, so I could go to New York and feel like a stranger and get the same effect.  I learned so much about other cultures and people from the traveling I’ve done so far and I have a feeling that if everybody did that or was exposed to it we wouldn’t fight with each other nearly as much as we do now.  If people knew that everyone else is basically like them, that they want to have families and a decent life for their children, that everybody wants pretty much the same thing, we would see things in a whole new light.  This idea of “the other” is a huge illusion.  I know a lot of people can’t travel, or aren’t going to, and I enjoy reporting back through my images how different cultures are so amazingly connected.  And it helps me as well relive my experiences.  It’s like a huge collection of images from other countries, and it feels like I’m traveling in my own time machine because I remember why I made the image and how I was feeling at that time.

L&W- There are a number of photo illustration pieces on your site- can you talk about how you create those?

SH- One of the first photographer/artists who inspired me in the beginning is a guy named Pete Turner.  He did some compositing of various parts of 35 mm images through a process called masking, where he used a slide duplicator and take multiple exposures and mask off different parts of a slide to make compositions in a collage fashion.  So when I first started to play around on a computer, that’s what I wanted to do.  I took pieces of an image and blended it with another image.  I wanted to create something that didn’t exist, that you couldn’t find in nature.  I wanted to do compositions that were more of a reflection of what I was thinking, and slightly more complex than what I could capture in a single shot.

L&W- What advice would you give to photographers who are just starting?

SH- I think to first look at a lot of photography.  I used to go through all the photography books I could find in book stores and galleries, and I would look at paintings as well.  That’s a big one- looking at paintings for composition and lighting.  And then decide what it is that you like.  Because once you figure out what it is that compels you to make images, then I would learn how to emulate that.  For example, if you find you are drawn to portraiture, I would look at as many Renaissance paintings as I could for lighting, composition and inspiration.  From there you can figure out the kind of lighting and poses that suit your personal style.  It will become your own.  Also, I would say to not ever get hung up on too much technology.  It seems that over the years the photography marketing industry has tried to convince us that all you need to make great images is the newest and most expensive product on the market.  You can make great images with a cell phone camera, if you know what you’re doing.  So you don’t want to buy into hype that can bog you down.  If you have good content and good composition, it doesn’t matter what kind of gear you’re using.

L&W- There is something in every single one of your photos that is striking to me.  As I look at your work I am moved by something in every shot.  How do you think you are able to capture such unique and interesting moments?

SH- I think what you’re seeing in those images is what I’m looking for in myself.  In the movie “9 1/2 Weeks,” the lead actress is a curator in a museum, and the artist whose work they are going to feature has disappeared.  She goes out to find him, and discovers he is in his house in the woods.  She goes to the house, and finds him sitting outside studying a fish in a pond.  She tells him that there is something about his work that is so moving to her, and she doesn’t know what it is, and asks if he can explain it.  And the answer he gives is the closest I’ve ever heard to describing how I feel about my own work.  He said that the the secret is that the moment a thing becomes so familiar it’s so strange.  If you think about that over and over again, when something becomes so familiar that it’s strange, that to me is when you can create something and just hit the mark.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far with your photography?

SH- I made an image in Morocco after I had my last conversation with my mother from a pay phone.  I decided not to go back to the U.S. because I wanted to grieve on my own.  I went out to the Sahara at sunrise.  There are these amazing, jaw-droppingly huge sand dunes that I went to and waited.  I wanted to watch the sun rise.  I was climbing to the top and getting short of breath, and it seemed like something was strange as I had paused, like there was no sound.  I held my breath to figure out what it was, and I heard this thumping sound, and realized it was my heart beating.  There was no wind, no traffic, no people, only the sound of my heart beating.  The sun started to rise and there were these golden beams shooting out over the desert, and I looked down and saw a man walking alone and shot that image.  That was probably the most moving moment I’ve had related to photography.

L&W- Thank you so much for sharing that.

SH- Sure!  It was my pleasure.

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