Creative Project: End Result & Gallery Show

Dad, me, and Mom, "Journeys" show opening, Main Street Gallery, St. Clairsville, Ohio
(Photo by Brad Schrum, June 2013)

In June, the gallery show opened as planned with beautiful works from very talented people in the Ohio Valley area. The show was held at the Main Street Gallery, in the back of the Hays Landscape Architecture Studio on Main Street in downtown St. Clairsville, Ohio.

The theme of the show was "Journeys".

Journeys can take many different forms... physical journeys from Point A to Point B, personal journeys of growth, etc. There was a mix of photographs, paintings, poems, and even a quilt that came all the way from Bowling Green, Ohio whose image documented a bird species that's nearing extinction.

Some featured artists wrote their own poem, while others had their poem accompany another artist's piece. Each artist had an opportunity to explain how the journey theme was represented in their piece and/or read their poem.

Although my piece doesn't encompass my 'talent' in photographic composition and detail, it tells a story - my story.

Some time ago, a friend pointed out that I take a lot of photos of my feet. Nothing spectacular in terms of photographic quality, but more like, "I was here," while capturing a small detail of the location. I decided to combine my self-portrait project into the "Journeys" theme and incorporate these photos.

Self-portrait for "Journeys" gallery show
(in progress, May 2013)

In my search, I found photos I took of my feet as far back as 2004, when I lived in Miami, Florida for school. The locations the photos were taken range from several locations in Ohio and Illinois, a cruise ship in the Caribbean, New York City, Wisconsin, etc. Looking at all the photos together, I could tell you details about the moment or the day the photo was taken and why it was taken.

Because none of the photos were of great quality, I chose to create one large piece with all of them instead of showcasing each one separately. I ended up cutting each photo into an oval shape and arranging them in a spiral (above).

To fill in the space around the spiral, I incorporated the names of most of the places I have either visited or lived over the course of my life so far. Hence the name of the piece: "So Far".

I also wrote a poem to accompany my piece in the show:

Her Feet
by Josie Pickens

Tiny feet waving in the air,
Wiggling and curling wrinkly toes.
She can make them touch her nose.
One day, those feet won their lifetime's role
Of having the floor meet their eager soles.
They carried her from mom to dad;
It was the most fun she'd ever had.
Over the years, her feet traveled much,
Through mud and creeks and grass and such.
They ran, they swam, they walked, they kicked.
On planes and trains and cars they tripped;
They crossed the ocean and went for a dip.
They carried her to all sorts of places:
Big cities, small towns, and huge natural formations.
In her old age, she felt content
That her feet had touched three continents.
Her feet don't travel far any more;
They're tired, swollen, callused, and sore.
Her journeys put them to the test,
And now, all they'll do is rest.

The experience of planning and preparing for this gallery show with some good (and new) friends was a memorable one. I consider myself fortunate to know such talented people.

NDA Conference Thoughts

Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 9:12am

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. -Gandhi

That was one of the many quotes from our AmeriCorps conference yesterday that stuck with me. We listened to a couple Notre Dame Sisters and a Congressman from Maryland, Elijah Cummings. His speech was about his journey from special ed in elementary school to law school and then becoming a Congressman. It was very inspiring and he had quite a few words of advice for educators like us at Notre Dame AmeriCorps. He really had a lot of positive energy and his delivery was much like that of a preacher - which even got a few responses from the audience.

Some of the thoughts he left me with were the following:

"Never mistake a comma for a period." Even if you get what you've dreamed about, there could still be more to life. More to achieve, more to learn, more to teach, etc.

This other thing he said seemed to me to be so true: We have a culture of mediocrity. When something is tough in college, we just stay away from it and do something easier. What we should do is strive for excellence instead and tackle any challenges that come our way.

"Plan for success"

"Know yourself and be true to yourself."

A lot of people think that it takes a group to make a change or start something. But it only takes one person + commitment and dedication.

Now that you've read Elijah's words: "Store THAT in your DNA!"