Sometime in January, my heart froze over. I just gave up, like when a blizzard hits and you cancel all your plans, resigned to curl up with your book and your cup of coffee. Like a glazed creek covered in white that refuses to move, I stopped even feeling the desire to paint. The perfect…Read more The Lies Artists Battle
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The Final Portal
Just a few days ago we visited a friend in hospice care. I recognized the signs: he stood on heaven's threshhold. Today he crossed over. Strange, the straddling of two worlds. The one leaving, caught betwixt and between, seeing one and then the other. While those who walk with them weep for the coming reality,…Read more The Final Portal
Creating a photo essay
This past summer I enjoyed the incredible privilege of taking an on-line class with photographer and blogger Otto von Münchow. My learning curve felt like a ride up a roller coaster hill: rapid, challenging, thrilling. I shot some of the workshop while in Kenya and then photographed images back in the US to add in, with…Read more Creating a photo essay
From Their Hands to Yours – a Pamba Toto photo essay
As an artist, I am passionate about other creative people, especially those buried in situations where they struggle to have a voice. My involvement with Pamba Toto beats at the core of my heart… For these women buried in Nairobi slums to realize how incredibly talented they are and how much their voice matters, as well as being empowered to provide for the children they love. I count it one of my life’s greatest privileges to stand with these beautiful artisans.
From Their Hands to Yours…
A Pamba Toto photo essay
Children in Kibera slum
City dump, managed by “slum lords,” next to and scoured by Korogocho slum residents for a livelihood
Child in Mathare Valley slum
An artisan in the Korogocho group, Kumbatia, with her children
Tuungane Pamoja work-space and shop in Kibera slum
Mwangazi artisan group workshop in Huruma slum
Tuungane Pamoja artisan group at work in Kibera
Kumbatia artisans at work in Korogocho
Finished bags hanging in the Tuungane Pamoja workshop in Kibera
Sanctuary of Hope (SoH) kids, rescued from Nairobi’s slums into a family through Hope’s Promise, making bracelets for Pamba Toto
Bracelets made by the SoH kids, now available through Pamba Toto
Kitenge patchwork apron made by Tuungane Pamoja, available through Pamba Toto
Bag made by Tuungane Pamoja, available through Pamba Toto
Kitenge patchwork bag made by Tuungane Pamoja, available through Pamba Toto
Our Mission
Transforming lives…
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When the Darkness Comes to Your Town
Last week on Wednesday, my two high school kids and my middle-schooler were on lock-down due to a teenager who shot another youth between the two buildings. Then, my middle-schooler was again on lock-down two days later as a precautionary measure due to rumors that a classmate was planning a shooting at her school. These…Read more When the Darkness Comes to Your Town
Loss
I began this painting about a week after my grandma transitioned from this life to the next. Since then, we've been working together as a family to hold an estate sale and prepare her house for the market. But last week, I set aside the logistics for a few mornings to complete the painting, to…Read more Loss
Artist Process – All That’s Lost
I've been pondering an idea lately that what is “lost” does not actually cease to exist, but simply morphs into another form of equal (or perhaps greater) value. Of course this idea is not original, but is a basic principle of physics. Definition of conservation of energy (Merriam Webster) “a principle in physics: the total energy…Read more Artist Process – All That’s Lost
