FUNDRAISING GOAL PROGRESS: 

$227 of $1600

...come on, we can do this!

We can show that we care! — feeling hopeful.

Many more colors and styles available at http://www.facebook.com/kg.creativity?ref=tn_tnmn

Check them out in the ALBUMS :)  Low prices for a great cause!

AWARE Fundraiser has officially begun!!

HELLO!!
 
The fundraising component of my Honors Project has officially begun!!  I have also set the main exhibition up and it will be open from now until May 31st :)  My show is called AWARE. :)
 
I will post photos from the show closer to its closing date :)  There will also be a closing reception on May 31st from 5-7PM.  EVERYONE IS INVITED :)
 
The AWARE show is located in the IUS Library Gallery, which is located on the lower level of the library.
 
As for the fundraising component..I have made a Facebook event and linked it to my new 'official' Facebook page for my artistic identity..KG Creativity!  Movin' on up, eh? On the Facebook page, there are 5 photo albums that contain all the handmade (by me!) goodies that are available for purchase.  75% of all proceeds will be donated to the foundations that are represented in my project.  The foundations are listed below...

Autism Society  www.autism-society.org

Bone and Cancer Foundation  http://www.boneandcancerfoundation.org/

Foundation for Women's Cancer  www.foundationforwomenscancer.org

March of Dimes  www.marchofdimes.com

Prostate Cancer Foundation  www.pcf.org

Testicular Cancer Research Foundation  http://tcrc.acor.org

The direct link to the fundraising event is: 

http://www.facebook.com/kg.creativity#!/events/372271266223555/

The fundraising goal I have set is a modest $1600, and I will keep you posted on the progress of meeting (or exceeding) this goal :)

NOTE: Merchandise purchase is not required to help with this fundraising campaign-all monetary donations will pply towards the fundraising goal as well :)

I want to thank you for your continued support with my endeavor and I hope that you will take this opportunity to check out the show and the fundraising campaign :)

Countdown Begins!

Hello ALL!!

Just wanted to let you know that the long anticipated 'Sneak Peek' to my show is coming up very quickly!! 

It is only 14 days away!!!  YAY!

 

The Sneak Peek will be held on Friday, April 19th from 5-8PM at Indiana University Southeast Knobview Hall in New Albany, Indiana.  I have included a link to the Facebook event in this post for more details.

 

I am so excited and quite nervous!  Over a year's worth of work and research is finally coming to fruition!  I truly hope that you can join me in this celebration!

 

 

I also wanted to let you know that this is just a sneak peek of my full exhibition show and everything will be revealed on April 24th in the Indiana University Southeast Library gallery.  The exhibition will run from April 24th with a closing reception on May 31st.  It is going to be great!!

 

It is with great hopes that I will be able to relay some very good news concerning the fundraising component of my show at the closing reception :)

 

 

As for the Sneak Peek show...it is being held in conjunction with the 5th Annual IUS Fine Arts Open House!  If you can attend on the 19th of April, you will enjoy in good food, good music, awesome demonstrations and even more awesome artwork by some very fine students!  You will also have the opportunity to leave the double event with some 'good-for-all" goodies and you will be helping a very worthy cause :)

 

 

PLUS:  I will be beginning an electronic fundraising campaign through this blog that will include merchandise (all handmade by me from start to finish) pictures and ordering information.  I will also keep a running total of progress towards my fundraising goal updated everyday :)  The electronic fundraising campaign will begin the weekend immediately following the Sneak Peek show (April 19th).

 

 

Here is the link to the invite... Please feel free to join, request me as a Facebook friend and invite your friends to this event as well :) The more the merrier!  I look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/events/155204544645607/

 

 

*Note*  If you are unable to attend any of the site specific events for this exhibition, there will be opportunities for you to be part of the amazing event through the electronic fundraising campaign and I will also post exhibition photos once the main exhibition opens.  :)

 

 

I want to thank you all for your support throughout this amazing journey I have taken and I hope that you all will come away from this journey with new awareness and the ability to go forth and save others with the awareness.  You already have my undying gratitude :)

 

 



Guest Post by a Survivor Family

Caregiving for a Cancer Patient

November 21, 2005 is forever burned into my family’s memory.  This is the day my wife Heather was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare and extremely deadly type of cancer.  This is the day I took on a role I wasn't prepared for: caregiver to a cancer patient.  Just three months earlier, we had celebrated the birth of our first daughter and were looking forward to our first holiday as a family of three with Lily.  Instead of enjoying holiday festivities, we slid into complete chaos as we began a long and difficult battle with cancer.

Providing care and support for my wife's cancer battle started before we left the doctor's office.  After giving us the diagnosis, our doctor explained to us a little bit about Mesothelioma.  We had three choices for her specialty care: a local university hospital, a regional hospital with an outstanding reputation, but without a developed mesothelioma program, or a renowned mesothelioma specialist in Boston named Dr. David Sugarbaker.  I looked to my wife for some input as to what choice she would want to pursue, but she remained silent.  She was in shock and disbelief.  I took charge and stated, "Get us to Boston," the first of many decisions I'd have to help make regarding Heather's care.

For the next two months, our lives went from routine to chaos.  We had both been working full time before the diagnosis, and now I was the only one working, as Heather had to leave her job to focus on beating her cancer. I had work, and doctor's appointments as well as making travel arrangements to and from Boston, all while taking care of our precious daughter Lily. I was overwhelmed and facing fears I hadn't been prepared to face, thinking about losing my wife to cancer and being left a broke, widowed single father.  Several times, I found myself bawling on the kitchen floor, the emotions too overwhelming to hold back. Being Heather's rock and putting up a strong front carried me through and allowed me to focus on being supportive for her.

We were so blessed with help from friends, family and even total strangers.  We were offered comforting words, financial help and an outpouring of love that helped lighten the load.  If I could share any advice from my journey it would be to take help if it is offered, in any form.  Every little thing that takes a burden off of your shoulders is such a blessing, and we can't begin to thank all of the people who offered us this kindness.   

The role of caregiver for someone with cancer is hard.  You experience so many emotions, so much fear and so much uncertainty.  There is no end goal that you can look forward to like so many other obstacles in life.  You can't walk away, give up or give into your emotions.  You can have bad days where you confront your fear and stress, but you can't give up hope.

After her treatment, which included mesothelioma surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, Heather is now cancer free.  We are seven years out from her mesothelioma diagnosis and are learning to enjoy a new normal.

This battle taught me to tap into my stubbornness and that time is precious.  I made the decision two years after Heather's diagnosis to go back to school for Information Technology, while still working full time and caring for Heather and our daughter Lily.  The battle with mesothelioma taught me how to balance stress and time commitments, preparing me for the challenge of finishing school.  I graduated with honors and spoke at my graduation about our journey and how I would have never pictured myself up on that stage, giving that speech, just a few years earlier.  My message was about never losing hope and believing in ourselves even against insurmountable odds.  I told my fellow graduates how my wife taught me that within each of us is the strength to accomplish unbelievable things, if we only believe in ourselves and never stop fighting for the ones we love.

-Cameron Von St. James

 

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful story with my readers and I ...Stories like yours is the reason I love doing what I do!

-KG Creativity

Overdue Update

Hello again!  First, I want to apologize for the lengthy hiatus between posts-I have been super busy!  However, I promise I did not forget about my faithful readers J

Since my last post, I have completed the following tasks…

ü  Finished creating pieces 4 & 5 (Pregnancy Loss & Bone Cancer)

ü  Created over half of the fundraising merchandise

ü  Glaze fired pieces 1-3 (Autism, Testicular & Gynecological)

ü  Bisque fired fundraising merchandise and pieces 4 & 5

ü  Designed and ordered the advertising materials for the show

ü  Created and revised the foundation letter for the six foundations

ü  Researched electronic fundraising possibilities

ü  Begun creating last half of fundraising merchandise

ü  Begun final piece #6 (Prostate Cancer)

ü  Continued informational (vital statistics) research for each piece

 

WHEW! Looking at that list (and knowing of the numerous other small tasks), I really have been busy! It is a wonder that I have not yet collapsed J

 

Moving on.  Between now and March 1^st, I will be finishing the creation of the final piece (Prostate) and the remaining fundraising merchandise. I will also be sending out the advertising materials for the show and the foundation letters to each respective foundation.  These letters will inform the foundations of the purpose of my show, the show’s fundraising component, and are a request for informational material. Last but not least, the foundation letter is also an invitation!  In which, I truly hope the foundations will be able to send a representative J

 

**IMPORTANT NOTE**

Due to unforeseeable scheduling conflicts, the opening reception of my show has been moved to the 19^th of April instead of the 12^th.  YAY! One more week to get my ducks in a row J

 

Currently, I am only having issues with the electronic fundraising aspect of my show. (I finally got my studio’s heating, humidity level and drying process figured out) My issues with the electronic fundraising are mainly cost and the possible audio visual aspect.  No worries though, I will get this figured out ASAP!

As for the cost, I have set my initial goal of trying to raise a total of $2400-this would easily give $200 (or more) to each foundation (there are 6, remember?) and will also cover the out-of-pocket cost of the show.  It may not sound like much when broken down, but it sounds like a lot to obtain for one little ol’ me.  I am truly worried over whether or not I will fail on being able to contribute to something that is so desperately important.  Don’t worry-I never give up (or back down).  Somehow, I will make sure these important foundations at least get a little monetary help J

 

As for the audio visual issue, honestly, it terrifies me to bits! *Context* Most fundraising campaigns have a video of who, what, and why they are raising money.  I have been told (numerous times) that by adding a video, the success of the fundraising campaign goes up by 114%.  I understand, but I am having a terrible time convincing my nerves and tummy!  An additional issue to the audio visual is that I do not have the proper equipment?  I may be able to have my husband use his tablet or I think that my digital camera has a video function? O dear, this is one of those times that I think to myself “Now, what have you gotten yourself into?” Ha ha ha ha. (always pushing)

 

Well, that is enough for now.  Please enjoy the snapshots of the past three weeks and don’t forget to feed the fishies!

Pregnancy Loss

Bone Cancer beginnings

Pregnancy Loss (my, my, she grows!)

Peek-a-boo! I see you.

Peek-a-baby!

Hubby's tribute-haha

 

Bone Cancer frontal

Bone Cancer side

Uncomfortable with your own mortality yet?

 

sneek peek ;)

The march continues

Happy New Year!

After a holiday season that unfortunately did not afford me much opportunity to work in my studio, I am back at marching right along with my Honors Project!

Over the past couple of weeks, I have begun pieces 4 & 5, selected the representative foundations for the fundraising portion of my project, begun the glazing phase of pieces 1 through 3 and completed a supply inventory and need list for the remainder of my project.  I have also been working on the design of my show advertising and compiling research for the informational component of my project.  These are just a few of the many tasks I am working on J

Let’s delve into some of these tasks a little more, shall we?

Piece #4 is for Pregnancy Loss.  I am approaching the creation of this piece in two separate techniques.  I am solely coil building the piece for one of the techniques.  (Coil building is where a piece is comprised of many hand rolled coils that are stacked and manipulated to create the form of a piece)  It is sort of like when we made ‘snakes’ out of play dough when we were children, but instead of trying to ‘scare’ our playmates with the ‘snakes,’ they are pieced together to form a large ‘snake pile’ structure J  As for the other technique, I am attempting to incorporate slab building and coil building. (Slab building is where a lump of clay is rolled out and flattened into a slab. (Sort of like pizza dough or dough for cut-out cookies)  I am crudely manipulating slabs on a dress form to get the basic shape I desire and then I will connect coils to the slab form for support and continuity (adding the back of the form) once both have reached sufficient rigidity (this means the clay needs to be stiff enough to support itself against gravity, but still remain malleable for further manipulation)

For piece #5, which is for Bone Cancer, I am experimenting with creating a whole out of individual pieces.  I am making individual bones that I will articulate after the firing processes.  I am in the hopes that at least one of my possible methods of articulating the pieces will work J  So far, I am entertaining using pre-drilled holes, wire and epoxy for minimal movement or using only epoxy for zero mobility.  We shall see J

As for the glazing phase of the first 3 pieces, I only have the last coat of color to apply and a coat of clear.  It is my hope that I will be able to begin the final firing of these pieces this weekend.  (Ref: Pieces 1-3 are Autism, Gynecological & Testicular)

The design for my show advertising is proving to be a little more complicated that I bargained for-or maybe I am just being indecisive?  An artist indecisive? Never! HAHA.  Anyhow, I have been working on a couple of art concepts and sketches at every available moment I get.  However, if any of my readers would like to give suggestions, I am all for it!!  If I am given suggestions, the author will be given due credit J Who knows, maybe you will become famous!

On a bit of a sour note, I have come up against a pretty significant problem where my project is concerned L  With thanks to an uncharacteristically wet winter and an under insulated studio, I am having significant issues in getting the clay to dry. However, I have a couple of possible solutions on the table; such as, installing dehumidifiers or creating an area within my studio that can be retrofitted to promote climate control and air movement.  Any other possible solutions given would be greatly appreciated J  Either way, I will persevere!

I believe that is enough for this post, until next time, please enjoy the photos and feel free to give me any suggestions that may help with my endeavor J

*Due to a technical issue with the image loader for this blog, please click the link below to view the progress photos

http://s755.beta.photobucket.com/user/MoireErin/library/BLOG

Prepped & Ready

FIRST: Sorry for the delay in posting-I had some technical difficulties with the website and internet.  I am happy to say that all seems to be back in cooperating order J

I am super excited to report that pieces 2 and 3 (a.k.a., Testicular & Gynecological) have survived, beautifully, through their first fire! Now, all that remains for pieces 1 through 3 is some minor bisque-fixing, glazing and final firing. The final firing is what I like to call the ‘glaze fire.’

Lesson* A ceramic piece typically goes through a minimum of two firings: bisque and glaze.  The bisque firing is to remove any remaining moisture from the piece that is left over from the drying phase. Bisqueing also gives strength to the piece by causing chemical reactions and creating new bonds between the materials that harden the clay.  Glaze firing is typically the final firing a piece will undergo. In this firing the cone (temperature at which the piece reaches to produce chemical reactions) is much higher than the initial bisque temperature. For example, I typically bisque a piece at cone 05 (1888 ° F) and I typically glaze fire at cone 6 (2232°F). During a glaze fire, the piece goes through more chemical reactions to vitrify the materials and bond the glaze to the ceramic surface. The result gives a much stronger piece that is significantly impervious to water absorption. A 0% water absorption in ceramics is desired for food safety and durability. Cone 10 is much closer to a completely vitreous piece and is achieved at 2345°F. However, I like the results of a cone 6 over a cone 10 due to more vibrant colors and less warping in the piece. End of lesson.

Onto more good news: I have gotten final approval across the board to pursue the fundraising aspect of my show! WOO HOO!! This means that not only can I make a beneficial impact on my audience, but I get to make an impact for the foundations that will be involved.  By fundraising, I can, in essence, ‘pay it forward,’ like a wildfire for the affected and non-affected alike J Beneficial all around!

I will be beginning my notification campaign to the respective foundations shortly (most likely after this week’s FINALS).  I will also be beginning the final 3 pieces for my show within the next week as well as the fundraising products.  J

Over the break, my goals include, but are not limited to…

ü  Create last 3 show pieces

ü  Notification Campaign

ü  Fundraising Products

ü  Project firing & test firing

ü  Make marketing/advertising materials

ü  Continue research

ü  Make informational plaques

With thanks to getting fundraising approval, improving climate control in my studio, making another large batch of my special clay body and getting the needed ingredients for my desired glazes-I look forward to a very productive semester break!! My ultimate goal is to have all pieces and products finished by Spring Break so that I am allowed some ‘final detail’ time before I setup my show.  Let’s keep the fingers and toes crossed J

Please enjoy the following snapshots of this busy artist.  Photos include cold and hot views through the peephole, Cone 05 temperature reading, before and after bisque shots, and clay making.

 

Remember, feed the fishies! :)

Cold View Peephole- Scary Dark, huh?

Hot View Peephole-Toasty, got marshmallows?

Cone 05-Couple more 8s and I call "Yahtzee!"

Gynecological Pre-bisque (Testicular is beneath shelf)

Gynecological Post-bisque-lighter color, reverse tanning?

Testicular Post-bisque

Mixer BEFORE I get a hold of it

My special clay 'cookin'

Mt. KG Sculptural Porcelain

Mixer AFTER me

That is a HEAVY cart of clay!

No worries, I cleaned it-like new again :)

The backseat is reserved for clay (thankfully I didn't break the car this time-haha!)