Priceless

The following piece below was a collaboration with my husband and 3.5 year old daughter on thanksgiving morning in 2019. Having the honor and joy to create with them, see their focus and intent choosing colors, mixing and pouring all together for the first time is a memory I’ll cherish forever. This piece is priceless to me and to accompany it I’m sharing my poem about money below the photo, as well as a bit more about my Why behind all those $$$$$$$…

Pricing your artwork or music or photography or service or whatever you do … can create all kinds of emotional reactions in your self and others. Historically equal pay for men vs women artists has been non existent and laden with unfounded biases. There’s an artist I’ve followed for a couple years from Belgium and she’s utilized her own blood in some of her paintings and priced the biggest one for 15 Million Euros. To my knowledge she’s the first artist I’ve seen to use her own blood/human material, and I think it’s courageous and weird in an amazing way. She also speaks openly about her mental health journey and utilizes her time to teach and Coach others to do what she does with her Art, Thrive. To my knowledge I haven’t heard of any artists using their own breastmilk… but seriously I’m interested to know if you do hear of it, drop a comment! I’ll be interested and inspired to connect with the artist(s)! So since my DNA is literally in some of these that plays a huge factor.

There’s a massive gap in how most Artists are compensated for their work and whose work is valued more and why. A gentleman once told me, “support live artists! The dead ones don’t need your money or support” and it’s so simple yet profound. Of course we value the work of those that have passed because it’s finite, they can’t make anymore. And so many phenomenal artists suffer without proper support unnecessarily today, while others thrive.

My dream is to have my work make a massive impact in the lives of my community, observers, clients, patrons, and customers. I price my work the way I do to not only support my family and our needs for further education, and a permanent home, but to also give back massively locally and globally.

20% of all proceeds from my Art whether original paintings or prints will go to charity. The charity for My Grieving in color series is the ALS Association to find a cure for this devastating disease. My father passed away from ALS when I was 14 and the families suffering due to this disease need all the support they can get. The charity for my Planetary and Cosmic movement series is the Sierra Club who is working to protect our wildlife and their habitats, fighting against climate change.

The rest will not only fund my dreams for my family, it will also fund my life career dream of building a nonprofit education and wellness center. The nonprofit’s goal will be to significantly decrease the rates of suicide and homicide in our country by bringing all the best knowledge and resources together in one place, then expand to many places. We will be working in partnership with civilian and military hospitals, senior homes, recovery centers and shelters. To have the capitol for a starter location, materials, and be able to pay my teachers, doctors, therapists, practitioners, and staff a comfortable living wage for their time. To be able to bring these amazing classes and services to those that don’t have access to it, and change their lives for the better. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had access to art & music classes since I was a child, as well as access to proper health care both physically and mentally. There are too many people that need help and don’t have proper access to it, but that can change and will.

Money 💰 written in 2018
Is energy
A tool
Essential
In our society

What you do with it
How you earn it
How you feel
When you earn it

Spend it
Save it
Lose it
Gain it

Ebs and flows
Grows
Amplifies
You

Money itself
Isn’t evil
Bad
Or
Good

It reflects
The bearer
The manner it’s given
Received
And wasted
On the crucial
Or The frivolous

Invest
And share
Or horde
And insulate

The power
The influence
The shady business
To only increase
That bottom line
The fights about it
The lack of truth
Transparency
Support

Money isn’t the problem
People in power for control
Are the problem
Egotistical and overprotecting
Lack of care for others
Broken moral code
Intuition silenced
Steeped in fear
And lack

But not all
who have money
Are this way

There are many
Who’ve harnessed the tool
Shared their knowledge
Resources
And yes
Their own money
To better the lives of others

To share their wealth and love
To teach others
How to build
Sustainable flow

What you think you know
About money
What’s available to you
And to all of us
Is probably bullshit
I sure was full of it

Steeped in lack and fear
Or the notion
That you have to work
Every moment
Every day
To earn it
Our parents
Limiting beliefs
Passed on as gospel

Become aware
Investigate those thoughts
Break the pattern
Flip the narrative

You’ll be surprised
To find
It was here all along
Just disguised
And unnoticed

Due to the vail
Of beliefs
About what you deserve
And what’s available

It’s a whole new reality
When you break free
From those limits
To see what can be
And express gratitude
For the energy
And flow
To get you where you want to go
It’s already here
Shift your perspective
And you’ll see
Trust
And believe