“Shoot for the moon; even if you miss it you will land among the stars”

-Norman Vincent Peale

I have no desire to go to the moon, but apparent my painting does…

This month NASA will launch another addition to the Lunar Codex Project to the South Pole of the moon. The Lunar Codex includes works of over 35,000 contemporary artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers from 254 countries. Six launches have already taken place and this month in partnership with the Art Renewal Center (ARC) The SpaceX Falcon rocket will include 1,970 finalists from their International Salon Competition. The Lunar Codex project will be housed on a lunar lander which will be stored at the Nobile Crater region of the moon. 

Among those will be one little Swann.

The New York Times calls this project “A time capsule of humanity, stored in the sky”

I was very honored to have my painting below digitally included in this launch. It is a very cool endeavour and I was very excited to learn my painting would be part of it. The ARC salon is one of the most prestigious competitions of realism in the world, and I guess now on the moon too.

Pretty cool.

As part of my “kintsugi” series, my explanation about the painting is below. And yes, I cut it up with a saw and glued it back together. 

On another note, tomorrow I leave for Indianapolis where I have been invited as a guest of my good friends and master artists, Robert Griffing and John Buxton to attend the opening of Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum. I have only attended one other time with them and it is a very stunning exhibition with the very best of western genre painting. Art collectors come from all over the world to bid on the masterpieces on display. To see the works up close and meet the artists will get me fired up for my own work. I’ll share some photos next week.

“Kintsugi Broken Vessel #7 / Innocence”

Innocence is perhaps that one element we can never fully recover. Childhood trauma, abuse or neglect can take the rest of our lives to comprehend and to heal. It is amazing to me how much damage a cruel or careless comment can cause and can how it can linger for the rest of our lives. 

I wanted this “shatter” to seem like a rock just missed hitting her. This child looks back on the world through a broken gaze. But she will survive. Thrive even. It is just a matter of recognizing the damage done to us at a young age. Realizing we were innocent and forgiving ourselves. 

The good news is we can get back a sense of child-like wonder and joy from the world around us- even as adults.