BIG IDEA

I’m getting way ahead of myself by declaring this idea, but I want to share it now so that you know where I’m headed, and you can decide if you want to keep moving forward with me. This idea will be a blueprint for the direction in which I take my business. It is this:

Our parks, both state and national, are a mess. I went camping recently, and was once again dismayed by the trash left behind. Not only the usual trash, but the toilet paper droppings left by campers who don’t know how to pee – or poop! – in the woods. The lack of camp hosts and rangers means that a lot of refuse sits around, marring OUR natural landscape.

Camping is one of the essential activities I use to reset my brain, and I know that I’m not alone. We NEED nature to feel wonder and awe, and scattered piles of used toilet paper definitely dampen the experience. I can’t guarantee, of course, that the TP and garbage will be addressed, but extra funding can’t hurt.

I will start in my local area and move out from there. Quite literally, I’ll start with my street; move on to my neighborhood; progress to city parks and local natural areas of interest; grow out to camping trips, and culminate in a cross-country trip that covers north to south; east to west. Portraits and landscapes both. Each painting sold that is related to this project, less the donation percentage that goes to a specific park, will go into a fund for future trips and paintings. You will get a slice of America, and America will get dollars for our parks. The park chosen will change once I reach a goal dollar amount. For example, once I raise $2,000 for Oregon State Parks, I’ll then raise money for Crater Lake National Park, and so on.

How much money I’m able to donate will depend upon you and I, working together: I make the paintings and you buy them! If you have an opinion about how I might improve my compositions/colors/painting choices, by all means let me know!

What do you think?!

I have a few paintings to finish first. As of today, I have completed two 6″ x 6″ landscape paintings! I’m excited to learn how to paint landscapes – and, for that matter, portraits! – on a larger scale. Let’s go!