A while back I received a large frame as a gift and placed it in the living room. Every time I came upstairs I saw the frame almost asking me to do something with it, something different. I took the frame into my studio, covered the board with newspaper and painted on it. I don’t consider myself a painter but I paint a little. I don’t like to make social/political statements in my art, but this time I did. Not criticizing or supporting any causes or movements, but motivating people to hold on and thrive in the midst of today’s overwhelming news. That’s how “Daily News” was born.

Last week I decided to bring to fruition some company to the painting. Two more pieces were born that day: “The Life we Live” and “Rise Above”. Again, linear figures painted on newspaper. I’ve been working on a clever way to put them together in one sentence to make sense of the set and its message:

The life we live must rise above our daily news.

 

The fact is that more than just a title or explanation of the set this is the soul of a society calling for a chance to live not just exist. The almost asphyxiating images and reports of the news are suffocating our lives and hopes. We need to rise above the constant negativity of every day. Moreover, we can become an oasis of hope. Our behavior, our work, our daily interactions should be refreshing to people. This is applicable online as well. The last thing people need to encounter is another self-centered, self-loving, know-it-all, contemptibly obnoxious person. A smile, a kind word, a gesture of humanity, someone to listen, time given… all this things can make a great difference in the life of a person who might be drowning in the fierce waves of the life they are living each day. Rise Above!