What Is 350?

Over the last several years I have been able to connect with a few friendly people who are also involved with activities that protect and heal our home, the Earth. We share emails and ideas and keep each other posted about community events. At the beginning part of October I received an email informing me about an upcoming event meant to raise awareness about climate change. Seemed like the sort of thing that I should be involved with, so Joanne and I attended.

Because this event had to do with climate change Jo’ and I decided to enjoy a walk to the bus stop and a trip through the downtown core where we delighted in seeing all the colours of Autumn painted on every tree. This bus ride took us to John Paul II High School where the ‘350’ event was about to take place. Many people had biked to this event and one lady enjoyed all the attention her special bike received.


One of the first things that I noticed was this colourfully painted banner that must have been created as a youth group effort. It’s hard to read clearly – as it’s printed so small – but in the upper left there is a quote which reads, “If everyone helps to hold up the sky, then one person does not become tired!”

There were a few of us gathered, chatting away, when someone asked me what 350 meant. I shrugged and then we chatted about what it could represent. A minute later I decided to ask a person who I know would know. I was told that 350 represents the ‘parts per million – ppm’ ratio of the greatest amount of carbon dioxide that is acceptable in our atmosphere for continued life on this planet. I was also told that our atmosphere is unfortunately, at 380ppm and that our world is adding 2ppm every year. YIKES!!! I returned and shared that story with my group and then it was time for the event to begin.


It was great to see such a diverse crowd with grandparents holding the hands of their grandchildren, high school students, moms, dads and a few furry four-legged friends. The speaker told of the meaning of 350, the history of these calculations (in 1870 the number was reaching ever higher but 280 is better than our present situation), and that we were the voice to carry our community’s concern to parliament. She also informed us that hundreds of other gatherings – just like ours - were happening on this same day in countries around the world.

I thought that this was brilliant and amazing – for the first time ever, humanity can join together in positive actions, uniting as one…


… and these are just a few of the photos from different cities around the world!!

Over the last decade or so, I have witnessed several events that have reached around the world in positive ways and this makes me happy. At this point in humanity’s existence we are just beginning to take positive actions and I’m confident that this movement will continue to build momentum.


After a few more words from some other local environmental groups we were asked to raise our voice – and document it, too! – by signing a petition that would be taken to our government.


Now it was time for our group to create our own ‘350’ for the world… we just had to wait a few minutes as a couple of cameramen climbed on top of the school’s roof. While we waited, several smaller groups took photos…


… and this person entertained us with a little drumming!


It was quite a comical event as we organized ourselves to shape the numbers 3, 5 and 0. One person, on the roof, would yell down that the bottom of the 5 was crooked and people bellow would move around a bit only to hear, “Wait! That’s even worse!!”, coming from above. But we did eventually get it right – LOL!!!!


After the successful photograph we were all asked to walk – or ride bike – around the school track, three times… and we all did!!! For part of our walk the lady with the drum pounded out a beat and a simple song that most people joined in singing.


There were even a few dogs that wanted to say something about climate change, as well! Lots of small conversations broke out, here and there, throughout the group. For me, it was a chance to say ‘hello’ to a few people that I knew. It seems like every time I attend an event of this nature I bump into a few of the same people… and this is a great thing!!!


As you can see, it was quite a windy day!!!! The cool, crisp air made us want to keep moving to keep warm!

After this event was over and ‘goodbyes’ and ‘see ya laters’ were done, Jo’ and I hopped back on the bus for a trip into the downtown core. After a bowl of potato with roasted garlic soup Joanne and I split up for a few hours. Jo’ had some shopping to do and I wanted to stay downtown to attend a 350 meeting at the Central Library.


There was a really big turn out for this event – many of the same people were there from that morning and a large number of others. We listened, watched and learned a lot about climate change and how it’s affecting our planet. We shared some of our own stories about actions we had taken and many people left feeling inspired. Of course, one final group photograph was taken… which later appeared in the premier edition of Ecovox!

I was able to hand out lots of my peace Stik-ers to all the children – old and young – and I had several conversations with a number of interesting people.


I decided to enjoy some more of the fall colours, so I walked home from the library. My walk took me past a farmer’s market, an outdoor play area for children, a couple of bridges and lots of homes getting ready for Halloween. I think that it is a wonder of Nature to herald in the change of seasons with such a variety of textures and colours. While I write this I’m looking out my window at the bare trees and snow covered ground remembering with fondness the pallet of colours that warmed our hearts just a few months ago.

Stay warm and think happy thoughts!

Jim

Peacebus Art Competition – Cont’d

The students and I have learned how to have lots of fun over the last month.


It was the third day of school and on our drive home I wanted to fill the bus with the voices of the children singing. I began with a song that I figured several of them would already know – The Moose Song! It was a bit of a flop!! Only a few students joined in and they mostly spoke the words instead of singing them. When the song was over I concluded that these students just didn’t like singing. This didn’t upset me at all, I just figured that we would have fun doing different activities, is all.


The weather last week, was quite depressing. The clouds continuously obstructed the sun and wet, sloppy rain and snow pelted down from the skies. On Thursday, the sun finally burst through the thinning clouds, the temperatures reached a super high of minus two degrees and I was in a great mood. I had been receiving so many glorious artworks from the children during our first ‘peace-art’ competition. I had to celebrate these occasions with a song.


I was getting ready for another almost solo performance when my great mood increased to fantabulous!!! Without any encouragement the entire bus broke into song. I sang a line and the children repeated each line with loud, happy voices. Hmmmm… these children did like to sing, after all! Maybe we just needed to get to know each other a bit more, first.


After the first song was finished, many of the students asked me to sing another one!!! Of course, we did. I introduced them to a song that I had written especially for the journey home from school. Even though this was a new song for them, they all joined in as if they had known this song their whole lives. I couldn’t stop smiling!!!


The next day, we were just leaving the schoolyard when I heard one of the students shout out, “Hey Mr. Jim! We want to sing another song!!!” And so, we did!!! Singing silly songs has become quite an event on The Peacebus and this has made me very happy! I’ll start the ride home with two songs and then the students start to make up their own songs, as we continue through the subdivisions.


One of their songs told the story about a pickle and all of its adventures through the day until, sadly… it gets eaten up! Another song that one of the students made up had to do with the building of the yummiest pizza in the world… and then it got eaten up, too!!! I was beginning to notice that all their songs had to do with food. I figured that by the end of the day they were all a little hungry and they couldn’t wait to get home to eat something!!!


Last Friday was the last day that the students could hand in their ‘peace-art’ for the competition. I was being overwhelmed with creativity. On the way to school, many students handed in their artwork as they boarded the bus. In the afternoon, many more came running to the bus waving their drawings in the air for me to see. During the ride home I could hear many conversations about who the students thought would win the competition. I told them that they would have to wait until next week (this week) to hear my announcement of the winners.


On Monday morning the students boarded the bus, sat down, and then immediately asked me who had won the competition. It was obviously the only thing on their minds!!! I told each student that they would have to wait a few more days because I was still working on the prizes that I would be handing out. As more and more students got onto the bus, asking the same question, I started to sense an uprising of discontent cuz the students wanted to know who the winners were…NOW!


Then a chant started and soon everyone joined in, “Tell us the winners! Tell us the winners! Tell us the winners!” LOL!!!! I felt undersieged! I couldn’t stop laughing!


I was working on a very special prize for all of the students who participated. Yes – the students would soon find out that everyone was going to be a winner!!! I was trying to make a poster using all of the artwork that was handed in. I wanted to make a collage with these artworks to create a peace symbol. I was having no success. I’m still teaching myself how to use the graphic programs that I do use, but I was running into problems all the time. I was hoping to find solutions over the next few days… but I knew the students just couldn’t wait that long.


I had to resort to plan B. Last semester I had created – successfully – a simple peace poster using just one graphic created by a former student. Since I still had this image on file, I decided that I had to go with this. My new students hadn’t seen this poster before, so I knew that they would enjoy it as a prize… and they did!!!!


I made a special trip to the copy centre that I use and soon I had my hands full of peace posters for my students. When I returned to the school, that afternoon, the students were very excited that I had the prizes ready to hand out. Before we left the school, I showed them what the prize was. They thought the poster was great! I told them that they would be given their poster when they were getting off the bus – I knew that the posters would sustain a bit of damage if I handed them out at the beginning of the ride.


Since I was unable to create a poster using their artwork, I felt a little personal disappointment. To compensate for my lack of ability – using the graphic program – I still wanted to do something with their art, so I created a new batch of peace stickers. I really liked Matt’s drawing of the rabbit spray painting the peace graffiti, so I used his image. I’ll be handing out these stickers to all the students on the bus, in just a few hours from now. I’m sure that they will all be extra surprised with this simple gift!!!

Jim

First Peace-Art Competition On The Peacebus

In a few previous blogs I’ve mentioned that my bus routes have recently changed. I’m now driving a different group of students to a different elementary school.


I can remember how excited all the students were when I first pulled up to their bus stops. They were all surprised to see that they had a new bus driver and once they entered The Peacebus their eyes grew large and filled with wonder as they saw all the peace-art that is decorating the inside roof of the bus.


Once we arrived at the school, I took a moment to introduce myself as “Mr. Jim”, go over some of the bus rules (concerning eating and drinking) and I asked if they liked the way I decorated my bus. They all smiled and said that they thought my bus was cool! I told them that in a few weeks I would be giving them a chance to add their peace-art to the bus, as well.


I didn’t want to rush right into any new art projects until the students and I had a while to get to know each other a little bit, first.


After a short period of time, one of the students asked when they could start creating artwork for the bus. I told them that I was in the process of organizing a fun art competition and that it would begin in the next week. Well, it seems that the students just couldn’t wait. The frosted winter windows became their canvases each morning. By the time I had reached the school almost all the windows were covered in peace symbols, heart-peace symbols, stars and happy faces. These students were showing me that they were ready to create some real art!!!!


It didn’t take much effort to get this first competition in motion. One day I simply asked if they were ready to create some peace-art for the bus. They all hooted and hollered that they were ready. I told them that I wanted them to follow just two simple rules. 1) The drawing had to be created on either a white sheet of paper or a coloured one – no lined paper (that they use to take notes in school) and 2) They had to fill the entire page – I didn’t want them to simply draw a peace symbol on a piece of paper and say that it was art. I wanted them to create an environment for their peace symbols. “You can draw a garden full of peace flowers. You can draw a landscape with a peace symbol for the sun. You can draw a huge peace symbol on the Earth and fill the rest of the page with stars and planets. Use your imagination and be as creative as you can be. Use lots of different colours, bright colours, peaceful colours and fill in the entire sheet of paper.”


The very next day, I received the first entry for this competition and the artwork has been flowing in at a steady pace, ever since. The easiest way for me to get even more artwork from the students was to tell them that they could enter this contest as many times as they wanted to. “The more you enter, the greater your chances are for winning!”


Okay! Okay! I’m a big, mean and ugly fibber!!!! My plan is, of course, to give each student who participates a prize… but they don’t know that – that’s why it’ll be a surprise. In the mean time, I’m getting a ton of artwork to share with the world. Matt is in grade 6 and he is an art machine… he’s already created seven different artworks for this competition!


When this peace-art was handed in to me, I couldn’t help but laugh and smile. “So, Camilo, what’s with the flying chicken-man?” Camilo told me that this chicken-man is a real person who lives in Mexico. He’s sort of a superhero cuz he helps many people. I told him that the chicken-man would be very honoured to know that he was in Camilo’s drawing. Camilo smiled at the complement!


Viveka took a different approach for creating her artwork. Instead of drawing a picture, she created a collage using photos that she had taken last summer. I asked her why she likes photography and she told me that she loves taking pictures of beautiful flowers. I asked her if she knew the names of the flowers that she had taken photos of. She knew about two of them and told me what she knew and then I told her the names of the other two flowers and told her why I thought they were beautiful. I told her that her layout and composition was done very well and then she confessed that her dad had helped to show her how to do it. I told her that it was great that she had asked her dad to help her. “ I’m very proud of you for learning so much about Nature and being able to share your ideas by creating artwork on your computer and I’m proud of you for being able to ask someone to help you.”


I’ve had so much artwork handed in that it will take me at least another blog to share it all with you. So, tune in for my next story to see more wonderful peace-arts by the students who ride The Peacebus and by that time I should have ‘the prize’ ready to share with you, as well.

Jim

The Sounds of Silence

With all the hustle and bustle that happens in our day to day lives, it's hard to notice all the simple and amazing things that continuously surround us. Simple things like, the shadow of a tree dancing in a slow breeze or amazing things like a wisp of cloud stretched out to defy the blues of clear sky.

I, like most, am guilty – to a certain degree – of this infraction, but I do my best to find small windows of opportunity where I can ‘unplug’ from the world to become an observer.


A couple of Saturdays ago, I woke to an empty house. Joanne had to work the morning shift at the animal hospital and I slept in. I thought of all the things that I had to do that day and then I decided that it was about time that I had ‘a day without me’ and then my schedule opened right up.

I didn’t turn my computer on to scan any children’s peace art. I didn’t call anyone or even answer the phone when it rang. I didn’t go to the library to check my emails. I didn’t even turn on the television or radio.


But I did go out to my backyard, brush off a patio chair and let a cup of tea warm my hands as I let the sunshine warm my face.

It was one of those rare winter days where the winds were almost non-existent, the sky was blue and the air was filled with silence. I felt the tea warming my body as I sat with eyes closed, facing the sun. My chest rose and fell with each fresh breath and I basked in my winter wonderland and let the troubles of the world pass me by.


When I have moments like this, where I separate myself the world to become a peaceful observer, I am always amazed by the amount of activity that occurs in a seemingly empty place. Every few minutes a short breeze would blow by to lift the lightest snows off of the laden tree branches. These bursts of dazzling crystals would cascade outwards from the trees like winter spirits performing pirouettes as they descended to the ground.

Two chickadees flew by, like fighter jets in a game of tag. They had flown just above my neighbour’s hedge and into my backyard just a few feet away from where I was sitting. I think I startled them more than they had startled me. They were so close that I could actually hear their wind beneath their wings as they zoomed by.

My backyard was an amusement park for my senses. Mother Nature always puts on a spectacular show!!!


Something caught my attention, from just two yards away, and I lifted my head to get a clearer view. With brown wings spread out a small hawk lifted into the sky, coming towards me. It seemed like I could make out individual feathers of dark patterns separated with forks of white as it flew over my head. I turned to watch it continue on its course and the hawk bent its head so that one of its eyes could peer right at me. I smiled in wonder!


After about an hour and a half I became inspired to capture some of these snowy images with my camera. The high puffs of snow that were perched on top of some dead flowers seemed to defy gravity. The shadows of the surrounding trees as they fell across my backyard intrigued my visual senses with all of the contrasting tones of white. The flow of the snow as it had been formed with the winds, on top of my back hedge was full of so much texture and movement.

I think that I could have spent the rest of the day, just wandering around my backyard with my camera in hand, but soon this special time was over.

Joanne came home and I greeted her. She asked why I was looking so peaceful and relaxed. I told her that for over two hours I had done absolutely nothing. “I just sat in our backyard and watched and listened and was amazed!”

My condition was contagious and soon Jo’ and I both settled into the rest of this quiet day. I spent a short time enjoying a book while Joanne stared out the window enjoying a warm hot chocolate. We puttered around doing a few household chores and then it was time to take Koly for a romp through the snow.


The television stayed off, throughout most of the evening, as I spun a few vinyl discs on my record player. After dinner I decided that I had been lazy enough all day long and that it was time for me to do something. I got out a pencil and began to layout my design for a wall mural that I want to paint in our living room.

Ahhhhh! But that’s another story….

Jim

Cards Of Hope

As we all know, the citizens of Haiti have recently been devastated by a massive earthquake which took close to 200 000 lives. The survivors are suffering greatly as food, water and shelter are slowly being brought in to this country. The world watches on with desperate eyes as medical teams and rescue workers struggle on, trying to bring relief to those who can be reached.


This tragic event has touched each of us, in some way, and a world full of ‘THANKS!’ is on each of our lips as we praise the efforts of those able to help.

Last night, Joanne and I joined millions of other individuals from across North America to unite in collective thoughts of hope for the survivors of this tragedy. We don’t often spend our evenings glued to the television set, but this was an evening that warranted this seemingly insignificant act.


It seems hard to believe that thinking about something can actually have an impact on a global event – or any event for that matter, but I believe this to be true. We humans are composed of Earthly matter and universal energies and whenever we think about anything or do anything we are sending the energies of our minds and muscle outwards into this world. As individuals the energies that we are continuously sending out – twenty four hours a day (even while we are dreaming) – most times loose themselves in the chaos of all the other energies that are ebbing and flowing across the surface of this planet.


When small groups of individuals gather to dedicate themselves to a particular matter, these energies converge and unite into stronger wave patterns. When an entire world is dedicated towards one train of thought and one uniting purpose then patterns of energies begin to emerge in empowering ways.

I’ve always wondered if one day humans will actually be able to see and recognize these energy manifestations.


Music is a very enlightening energy producer and celebrities from around the world packed the three hour telethon that we watched, last night on CBC. In between performances news reporters took us on many journeys through Haiti – through the devastated cities and countryside. They showed the horrors that survivors will be dealing with for many weeks to come and they showed the strength and compassion that is extending its heart and hands in efforts to bring relief.


Every performance was filled with strength for hope for the people of Haiti. Gordon Downie, from The Tragically Hip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGnAGbTdWhA) could be seen wiping a tear away after the emotional performance of ‘Fiddler’s Green’. Bruce Springsteen was calling to the world for support with every sobering note he plucked on his guitar. Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ which was accompanied by a choir, sent chills of confusion and sorrow through me as I felt the song begin with its haunting tones. As this song continued bursts of hope and light radiated from the stage to fill all viewers hearts with strength and love. I’m not much of Coldplay or Justin Timberlake fan, but I became one… if even for a few minutes! Stevie Wonder twisted his fingers all over his piano to bring an empowering medley to life. This performance ended with a breathtaking rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B07qowh0YQ) and Stevie’s vocals cracked something inside my eye as I felt a small wet drop spilling over my bottom lid.


The evening ended with two supergroup performances. The Edge, Bono, Jay Z and Rihanna (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTa8aGvU9CE) were brought together to unite people from different musical genres in a celebration of love. I thought that it was great that Bono did not steal centre stage – as his soul was designed (LOL!) – but seemed to be there to let the other performers shine while he contributed in a more supporting role… except for a few hoots and hollers he managed to sneak in nearing the end of the song!!!!

Dave Matthews and Neil Young brought this evening to an end in a spectacular way. You could see these two musicians churning their talents together as their guitars sang to each other, feeding one another and feeding from each other (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk6OcXb-W2E).


It is really spiritually satisfying to witness a world uniting for such a worthy cause. I sat in silence with Joanne after this show and thought about the world’s future… as events such as this one will become more frequent and undoubtedly more devastating as global weather patterns become more extreme over the coming decades (and centuries). My thoughts of the future do not revolve around the human spirit as it deals with these crisis after they have occurred, but more to the idea that we will need to unite in new ways to create preventative actions as a way of preparing ourselves for the unexpected.


So… ‘Cards Of Hope’…

Michele Johnson is a friend of mine and an elementary school teacher. We attended a small friends gathering, last summer, and shared with each other many stories about our work with children, the environment and art. Two months later she shared with me her story about ‘Cards Of Hope’.


Michele told me that the students and parents of her school are continuously being asked to participate in fund raising efforts for a variety of causes. She wanted to create a small event that would allow her students to make a positive effect in the world that focussed on individual efforts instead of donations of money. “If the students simply donate a dollar or two to an effort they quickly forget about it, but if the students spend time thinking about a cause and work towards helping as they can, then they become more attached to the cause and then it becomes a part of them.”


Michele agreed that there are always people in need, somewhere in the world, and so she asked her students to create colourful cards with inspirational messages that would be sent to wherever they are needed most.

Though this artwork is several months old and these cards have already been sent to different parts of the world, I thought that it would be appropriate to share these artworks throughout this blog.


I want to inspire people to realize the value of our thoughts and how considerate concentration can make a difference. For those of us who are able to create positive change I want to inspire you to realize that simple and thoughtful actions can really make a world of difference.

Jim

About The Prizes

Well… I’ve had a few other people enter my art give-away, since my last story. I’ve already reached the twenty winners, but I’ve decided to share some of my artwork with these folks anyway!!!

The last three people who will soon be receiving a small package full of peace Stik-ers and a few other items are…

Sam B. – British Columbia
Toby B. – Barrie, Ontario
Rowan L. – South Africa

Congratulations to all 23 winners!!!

I thought that it would be appropriate to share the stories that tell about the why the artworks ‘New Horizons’ and ‘Sol Storm’ were created, since I’ve been sharing these images in my last few blogs.


The story for ‘New Horizons’ is a very short one! Way back in 1996 I began to create artful images. Most of the artworks that I created used geometric lines, grids or patterns as a part of their design. This is because of my architectural background – instead of using straight lines to draw walls, windows and doors I had adapted to use many straight lines to create textures for skies, trees or rivers.

About a year later I decided that I had enough artwork to put on a small display at a downtown London market. It was a few weeks before christmas and I thought that I might interest a few people in purchasing my artwork for gifts. Indeed, I did sell a few – which made me very happy.

I had many delightful conversations with a variety of people, during this time. Then there was a time when one man came to look at my art and he seemed to be studying each peace, very closely. He turned and looked at me and said, “This art isn’t bad… considering nothing is free-hand!” and then he turned and walked away. I looked at all my artworks on display and noticed that he was right. I did have many ‘free-hand’ art creations, but none were on display.

Quite simply, I took his remark and decided that I should create some more images that did not use geometry in their design.

As it was soon to be New Years, I was inspired to create an image that gave the viewer a sense of distant space – a far off horizon with expanses of the Earth ascending to a foreground where the viewer was contemplating their journey into the future. As each New Year approaches we should take a moment to contemplate our tasks and aspirations for this time, to set goals and create priorities as we seek our own ‘new horizons’!!!


The story of ‘Sol Storm’ takes us a few years into the future, to the time when Joanne and I were living in Nova Scotia (2002-04) – when we were working on the fourth art peace for my project “Canada: Glorious To Be” - .

Soon after our arrival to Nova Scotia I had joined a local artisans group. I participated in many of their art events and this allowed me to share my artwork with the community.

It was a year later and this art group was having a meeting to discuss their annual ‘Art Fair’. I must have blinked and suddenly everyone was looking at me to see if I would accept the task of creating the artwork that was to be used in advertising for this exhibition. I’m not sure why I was selected – I guess a lot can happen in a blink – but I accepted the job.

For the next week or so, my mind was a blank slate. I had many other projects on the go and they were taking most of my attention.


A few days later, a most delightful astrological occurrence happened. Our sun went through a three-day explosive volley, which showered the Earth with fireworks of intense colour. For each of these three nights I found myself sitting on my back porch for hours watching these displays of light. I’m wondering if many of you – now reading this – are remembering this time and your own experiences.

Well… this experience inspired me. I had heard on the radio that scientist were saying a sun storm of this magnitude may not occur again for many many years. I felt that I should capture this event in colourful inks and ‘Sol Storm’ was born!


I took the image to a local printing shop to make the flyers for the upcoming ‘Art Fair’. We lightened the image significantly so that the black text that was added could be read very clearly. You’ll notice on the flyer the announcement “Special Musical Slideshow Presentation”. This was an event that I had asked to do, to share my story about the Temagami forestland and how this experience had shown me that I was to be an artist.


At 2:00pm I shared my story, using a prerecorded musical selection along with many slides that I had photographed while in the Temagami region. If you look really closely at this picture (almost right in the center) you will see the mini-print ‘New Horizons’ on display.


Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I always talk about the Temagami forestland. It is very important to me. My experiences from my journey to this region were filled with magic and I tried very hard to use my photographic skills to capture these feelings. In this photo, just a small cropping of pine tree branches is in focus in the foreground. The rest of the photo is blurred, but just to the perfect amount, where the essence of light and shadows creates a feeling of spiritual energy that lives in this forest.

I’ve often thought about creating a painting based on this photo, but as of yet that hasn’t happened… maybe one day!

Jim

And The Winners Are…

Last Friday, I thought that I’d have a bit of fun with this blog and with my facebook friends – I had an art give-away. I thought that this would be a great way to kick of the New Year. I had created a total of twenty prizes that I would award to the first twenty participants. All anyone had to do was simply send me an email with their mailing address so that I could mail the prizes to them.

I thought that for sure, I would receive about forty or even fifty emails and I was a little surprised when, the next day, I had only received nine. The very first email was simply a quick note with no address attached. This person told me that she was a big fan of all the artwork that I post on facebook and that she thought my art give-away was a really great idea. She continued by saying that she did not send me her address because she thought that for sure, that she would be about the 500th entry! All these ‘for sure’s made me laugh.

I replied to her and told her that she was in fact, the first entry! She replied to my reply with a few laughs and her mailing address. There were two other similar stories within these nine entries.

To help further this ambition I had made a comment about these responses in my ‘status’ on facebook – to encourage others to participate. I wrote something like, “Peaceman Jim Kogelheide thinks it’s funny that so many friends think that everyone else is entering his give-away, so they aren’t entering… when in reality very few are actually entering! There are still 11 prizes up for grabs.”

This helped me find the last winners…

New Horizons is a mini-print and only 30 have ever been made. When I created them in 1998 I had also numbered and signed each one. Through the years, I had lost track of the remaining prints – I have about fifteen left – so when I found them I thought that these would make nice gifts. They are very small… but once a matte and a frame has been placed around it they look rather nice.

Five of these prints will soon be traveling around the world to find new homes!!! The first five winners are:

Kate G. – England
Carla J. – Manitoba
Deseree R. – California
Debby C.– Florida
Rob C. – right here in London, Ontario

Rob and I have met a few times and once we worked on a community arts project together. He thought that my art give-away was a great idea and he wanted to do something nice for me, in return. Rob asked me to send him a photograph of someone in my life so that he could draw a portrait for me. I told him that I have many portraits of my wife, already – ones that I’ve created over the years – so I asked him to draw me a funky peaceflower!! I’ll be sure to share his art creation once I receive it. Thanks Rob! That really made my day!!!


Sol Storm is an ink painting that I created while I was living in Nova Scotia. I have used this design to make prints and stickers over the last several years. This series however, was made at a slightly different size than normal and only ten were created. Each of these ten were numbered and signed.

Five of these prints will be travelling to the following people:

Julie P. – Gibraltar
Anne E. – Montana
Esha M. – Vancouver
Jennie F. – Connecticut
Tim Lane – again, from London, Ontario

Last Friday, when I created this art give-away, I made an announcement about it to the high school students who ride The Peacebus. When I had pulled up to the last stop, Tim told me that he had visited my website, linked to my blog, read the story and then emailed his entry to me… using only his cel phone!!!


Each of these ten winners will also be receiving a copy of the premier edition of Ecovox magazine!


To add a personal touch, on page 7, I wrote a personal message to each of these ten winners, “When moving a mountain, begin with the small rocks!!” and then I signed each magazine.

The mountain refers to the enormity of all the environmental, social, religious and political problems facing our world today. There are soooo many problems that are threatening humanities continued existence on the Earth and if we are to survive as a species we must move and transform these ‘mountains’. When people become aware of these issues it is often so overwhelming to think that solutions can be found. We do not need to give up, before we’ve even begun. We need to start small, with solutions that are easily accomplished – the ‘small rocks’. As we become more educated through these smaller efforts we build strength of mind and will to then begin to tackle the larger problems.

Now… I would have loved to have been able to give all twenty winners one of my prints and a copy of Ecovox magazine, but I didn’t want to overstep my small budget.


So… the last ten winners (I included these items in all twenty prizes) will be receiving
sixteen of my peace Stik-ers…


and two newspaper articles that talk about my environmental ambitions to raise awareness about the clear-cutting of the Temagami forestland – an ambition that dates back to 1996. It was this experience that guided me to become conscious of my creative abilities.


Since my peace Stik-ers are all black & white images, I decided to add a little splash of colour into these packages. I made a quick trip to my local copy centre to print some more sticker designs that were created over the last four months (inspired by the elementary students of The Peacebus!)

The last (but certainly not least) ten winners are…

Grace W. – Nevada
Angie W. – Dundalk, Ontario
Zeineb A. – Tunisie
Kim L. – South Africa
Dyhana L. – Florida
Mike Y. – California
Annie B. – England
Hal – British Columbia
Alex K. – Ajax, Ontario
Tara M. – New South Whales


I always have a lot of fun when I do things like this. It makes me feel really great to be able to reach out around the world and share in people’s lives.


I enjoy the time I spend designing my stickers and going to the copy centre. I’ll listen to an LP (yes – I listen to old vinyl records) while I cut the sticker sheets, sign the magazines and address the envelopes.


I enjoy decorating the envelopes with my peace Stik-ers, thinking about all the people that will see my artwork as each package moves from place to place.

And… the thing I like most is thinking about all the smiles that will shine on each face when my package arrives at their mailbox!

Thanks to all of those who participated in my art give-away! Thanks to everyone else for enjoying this story!!!

Jim