Hey everyone. I know, I know, I KNOW! It has been months. In fact I haven't written since 2009.

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm excited for this new year. I think a lot is going to happen for me, and for the world- the challenge being to keep the focus on the big picture, keep moving ahead, and not get stuck focusing on the negative. What can I do to make things improve, instead of getting stuck on what *they've* done to f*#! it all up. It's awfully easy to get bogged down, between mother nature, corporate power structures and tighter pocketbooks. 

One silver lining I have noticed for myself and others I know, is that many who are losing jobs,  now no longer lost in the all consuming job, have been reassessing priorities and are making major changes. For me I have been able to focus more time on my artwork
which has helped me to remember the deeper meaning I find in my artwork. I still love the decorative painting, it's always just been fun and a certain kind of challenge for me to create painted finishes, murals and wall glazes.

[An aside here on that topic: I know everyone has been affected by the economy, but for some it has not been a lifestyle change- more of an abstraction. I have pondered on where all the work went from that category of people.  I believe it has become ' in bad taste' to  spend money in these ways, building, decorating, anything showy......but in  fact I believe it is in bad taste not to :)  trickle down principle.  So you have my support to  keep building houses, decorating, travel, etc.so call & visit  me at OHara Arts :) ]

But back to my artwork~ animals are my focus. I paint to celebrate animals and their variety of funny, sweet, kooky personalities,
but also I use my artwork as a way to communicate for those that can't.
I'm fortunate to be able to contribute in this way to various organizations that work on behalf of the animals. This weekend I went to an event where I donated some artwork put on by an organization called Mercy For Animals. A wonderful organization that works to spread vegetarianism and to expose and change the factory farms. Nathan Runkle
-under 30 years old- heads this organization and is a powerful and compassionate force! He told the story of one pig's miserable life from conception to death,
not one moment of joy,fresh air, love or comfort. Even while nursing her baby piglets , she cannot touch them as they are outside of the metal bars of her gestation crate which she cannot even turn around in. It is so incredibly pathetic that this situation exists,but it does~ or something equally horrid for Billions of animals. When she  gets out of the concrete and metal cage, one day a month I believe, she is kicked and beaten to move her to another space. Then artificial insemination, and all is repeated, until she is so sick they spray paint a purple K, for Kill on her back, and she is killed, not instantly, but in several painful attempts. Somewhere in there she is driven insane and beats her head against the metal bars along with the thousands of other pigs doing the same.  This is not guesswork, this is a documented story by undercover animal lovers who have lived and worked and pretended for months that this is business as usual in order to help expose these horrors.  Mercy for Animals has also produced a documentary exposing the egg industry called 'Fowl Play' 

The vegan sit down meal at the gala was outrageously delicious. I think vegan food has improved even in the last couple of years. Once those celebs get involved! like Ellen.
Ellen, voted woman of the year by PETA. She has brought her vegan chef onto the show to share recipes.

On a positive note, the truth is getting out there. It seems insurmountable to change , but so did slavery once upon a time. Here, however, it is completely up to humans to save and educate. The animals cannot.   So, I try to bring attention to the animals we love so much. I love this ad campaign, in Boston now

  The emcee, Hal Sparks was great (Talk Soup on E! fame, and Dude, Where's My Car? ). He spoke to the fact that many cannot conceive of a life change to veganism immediately so what he suggests on his blog is meatless mondays, underlining that progress not perfection matters, and this is something anyone can easily do saving hundreds of thousands of animals.  So I became fan dork and had a picture taken:)

  and now I count Hal as one of my many famous close friends . mmm hmm, that's right.

So we hung (hanged?) a show at the BCEC last week, where my largest work  'What a Circus' now  shows-
hopefully getting people to consider the sadness of the circus for elephants and their babies. An excellent venue, and I'll let you all know when the reception will be , probably in early March.

On another happy note, I can re-mention, that never was there a better time to be a vegan, vegetarian or even leaning vegetarian! I just received the best little cookbook 'Skinny Bitch in the Kitch'  I've cooked a couple of awesome meals..faux reuben, yes, thumbs up from sometimes meat eatin' hubby, and enchiladas. I  never would have guessed this skinny bitch movement was vegan! They take all time favorites, junk food, etc and create recipes that are vegan AND low fat.  Dang.  Check it out! I'm not kiddding! srsly. do it. save a pig.

save a chicken.

My big goal this year is to get creative on how to spread love, not fear. All of our troubles get amplified by fear, which I've kind of noticed the media and ads  cash in on. ya think?

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