Beatrice and Maurin

Thanks Mom, Brandy, Melissa, and Za!

Guess What?

2 Even Me paintings are finished
5 Even Me panels are framed with African fabric.
5 Even Me panels are primed and ready for paint.
A total of 10 Even Me paintings are in progress, which is almost HALF of the project!
Stay tuned for a short video!

Beatrice

Frank Even Me Painting Finished!

Wahoo!

Frank's painting is done-skies! I'm thrilled. And, I love having two completed (minus the flat background coat and wooden-fabric frame) Even Me paintings filling up my apartment.

You're not the first person to see this photograph. One very important person has seen it already — and he's all the way in Africa! Yep, Frank's seen it!

Thanks to my friend Sara in Tanzania, who I've mentioned a gazillion times, (ergo familiarize yourself with Sara with no H) asked Frank to sit down with her during playtime because she had something to show him. Of course he agreed, especially since she had her laptop! 

Most of the kids get pretty shy when they're being recorded, but here is his reaction to seeing his 'picture':

Thank you, Sara Nickels!

The Little Things.

Lunch break post:
With a paint brush in hand, I carefully mix titanium white, dioxazine purple, and cadmium red light hue to obtain the perfect color to place right under Frank's bottom lip. This mark is one of many small marks, all varying in color. The marks are so small they are hardly recognizable when standing ten feet away. However, each brush stroke is important, as it's part of a bigger picture. The process is unhurried and the hours are long. 

It's the little things that give me encouragement.

Yesterday, along with every Wednesday at lunch, I skype with my dear friend Sara, who is currently working at the Rafiki Village in Tanzania. She gets to see Frank, Glory, John, and Beatrice every day. 

As we're catching up on recent events in our lives, she informs me of a story that I just have to share: 

Sara, also known as Meeses Neekos (Mrs. Nickels) asks the students to come up with adjectives to describe other classmates. Maurin, who is such a sweetheart, and might be the next Even Me painting, shoots her hand in the sky:

"Meeses Neekos (Mrs. Nickels), I know — famous!"
"That is an adjective, but no, Maurin, famous does not describe your classmates. Your classmates might be famous in the classroom, but they're not famous in the world."
She thinks a bit harder, "YOU! Meeses. Neekos, you are famous!"
"Thank you, Maurin, but no, I am not famous."
"But even in Uh-marica (America), you are famous?!"
"Nope."
She sits on it longer and her hand shoots up once more.
"Meeses. Neekos, I know! Mees John-uh (that's me) she is famous. She is a famous artist!"

As I was painting last night, my best friend Chryssie called. She recently moved to LA in pursuit of her dream job: working in communications/advertising in the skate industry (might I add, the beautiful, talented girl is a rockstar skater and already has an agent for modeling! Let's be real: she's cool). We're reminiscing, laughing, and catching up when she tells me she's been thinking about how to advertise my Even Me project. "Jenna, I want the world to see my best friend's art." Her ambitions are high and excitement contagious. Her ideas left me with, "hmm...why haven't I thought of that? Those are splendid ideas!" 

Someone I've yet to mention on this blog, and will probably kill me when he reads this, is Za Alexander. I've never had someone who is more encouraging, motivating, and just plain helpful. He always has practical solutions to my questions. In frustration I ramble on, "I need to transport four Even Me paintings to Pensacola and back, and they don't fit in my car...bla bla bla" His response to that question, and every other question is, "Jenna, I'll take care of it."

All these little things, the words, the thoughts, and generosity make Even Me. Thank you all for the encouragement you give me every day. 

What's been going on in the studio!