Inspirational Quote of the Week

A Palette of Compassion

I wanted to share the work of local artist David Hummer. He is amazingly talented but also has a very kind heart and his story of compassion was just featured on CNN. The following paragraphs are taken from the article written for CNN.

This story is not about his artistic talents, it’s about how he has helped make the world a better place. According to David “In 1989, while he was in Manhattan on a business trip with a fellow gallery owner he realized his work was about to take a different direction. He had just exited a building where they were showing Hockney’s latest work. A gallery where one with means could purchase a work of art priced in the millions. It was then that he noticed a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk with a sign on his lap asking for help. This extreme contrast of wealth and poverty came as a shock.

A few years later his work transformed into realist portraits of homeless people in an attempt to create an awareness of an ever-increasing problem in the US. He abandoned his gallery business and would spend the next 15 years producing these portraits and working with homeless shelters and nonprofit organizations”.

Read more about this wonderful story right here, http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-327828.

Although the story is featured around his previous work of the homeless, he also does some beautiful work with children, some of my favorites shown above. The last two are currently hanging in my studio and were done with sharpie marker and watercolor. You can view more of his work on his site at http://www.davidanthonyhummer.com/. If you are interested in a personal commission with David, please contact me and I would be happy to get you in touch with him. Enjoy:)

Inspirational Quote of the Week

The Moth and The Cocoon

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home, so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. One day, a small opening appeared, and he sat still, watching for several hours, as the moth struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then, it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared, as if, it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. It seemed to be stuck. Then, the man in his kindness, decided to help the moth.
So, he took a pair of scissors, and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily. But, it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the moth, because he expected, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life, crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was, the restricting cocoon and the struggle, required for the moth to get through the tiny opening, were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth, into its wings, so it would be ready for flight, once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, the man deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets, and don't forget the power in the struggle.

~Author Unknown~