Cleveland: Circle Our City With Love

Cleveland Mandala

I’m so excited to have an art piece in Willoughby’s “The Art Gallery” this month! It’s part of an art show for the Northern Ohio Illustrator’s Society (NOIS) called “All Things Cleveland.”

My inspiration for the piece was an event that occurred on the eve of the Republican National Convention here in Cleveland. After the attacks on police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, People around Cleveland were very worried that riots would break out big time for the week of the RNC.

I discovered that week that there was a special event called “Circle the City with Love” in which a huge group of people gathered on Cleveland’s Hope Memorial Bridge to hold hands and pray silently for peace. This was a non-political movement, all about spreading the message of peace and love to the city of Cleveland.

I was amazed to hear that people came from as far as Columbus to participate in this peace movement. Thousands gathered. There were no signs of protest… just an endless line of people on the Hope Bridge holding hands and showing their support of love to the city and its officers.

It it merely a coincidence that the week was without incident? The only harm done to anyone for that entire week was when someone accidentally scorched himself while attempting to burn an American flag. A couple officers were bruised up during the tussle while trying to protect the guy from lighting himself on fire!

I decided this “Circle The City With Love” event was going to be my subject of inspiration for my Cleveland piece. I’m looking forward to the show’s opening on September 9th, 6:30-9:00pm. I’ll be thrilled if the piece sells! I had so much fun creating it! I took out all the stops, adding sparkling gems, colorful yarn and ribbons, a dangling angel charm, and a handmade charm made of Angelite gemstone.

I call it my “Cleveland Mandala: Circle Our City With Love.”

Cleveland Mandala: Circle Our City With Love

Sweet Tea Memories

I ended up taking a month sabbatical in the Carolinas in June. It wasn’t the plan, but I sure do feel refreshed. I spent most of my time with my mom in NC, learning how to get her homemade iced tea down just right so I could keep a jug in the fridge always whenever we wanted to treat ourselves (I lived on the stuff for the whole month).

I was running very late on this project to do an illustrated recipe as a promotional piece for the Northern Ohio Illustrators Society’s annual cookbook. I’ve just been SO busy with freelance, I’ve had to put my personal projects on hold.

So I had my husband ship my Wacom tablet to me in NC so I could get cracking finally on this promo piece. I had no idea what to do, and then realized I should just use my mom’s iced tea formula for my recipe.

When faced with what to use for my illustration, I had my computer set up with a view of my mom’s screened-in porch and thought it would be fun to memorialize all the different elements I saw on her porch – so many different potted plants, tables, and wicker chairs. And I had to get some hummingbirds in there for added character (my mom has a few hummingbird feeders in her backyard too).

 

Final Piece!

Rough Sketch