Spring Clean Challenge!

It has been a long, dreary winter here in Ohio. 

But alas! The sun has started to make an appearance and the temperatures have begun to rise; birds are chirping a welcoming song and a fresh breeze is dancing all around...

Spring is finally here!

With the change in season comes a change in wardrobe. I started to move my Winter/Fall clothes to the back of the closet and move forward my Spring/Summer clothes. While doing this, I realized something: 
I have way too many clothes... and half of them I don't wear.

So why do I keep them???

This past Sunday, the homily Father gave was on how material items often get in the way of us focusing on the bigger picture of life. We can be distracted when we have more than what we need. Letting go of some of our earthly treasures can be a rewarding and eye opening experience.

I decided to start small and come up with this Challenge!!!

(also it is a perfect way to start off the Spring season)

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves do not break through nor steal:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

-Matthew 6:19-21

"What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"

-Matthew 12:26

I am very fortunate to have so many great articles of clothing, but why not keep what I really need and give the rest to someone who could really use them? From this challenge, I was able to donate 62 items of clothing.

I challenge all of you to participate and share your experience!!! 

(NOTE: Feel free to customize this challenge to a different number of items you keep or different categories if the above does not apply to you. Everyone is different and unique in their situation. The above was based on what I personally had and what I felt I could keep and give up.)

"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

2 Corinthians 9:7

Restoring Stories

Photographs 
are a special moment frozen in time.

Photos are mementos that we take with us all throughout our lives. They hold a remembrance of moments that cannot be recreated. We pass them down to future generations, retelling memories that hold importance in our hearts. Sometimes, a photo is all we have left of a person, place or time. One photographic piece can hold so much history!

Restorations are are a rewarding art form that not only help retell a story, but reopens the imagination. As a graphic artist, nothing excites me greater than a client coming in with a new restoration project and a unique story to accompany it.

Working on a clients photo is a very intimate job. A person is in-trusting you with their memory recreation. Your job is to focus on the story and use your skills to bring that story back to life. 


"Thats what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. 
We instill hope again and again and again." 
-Walt Disney

When going into a restoration, the storytelling questions that need to be asked are: What is the importance of the photo? Who is in the photo? What is their relationship with the client? Where was the photo taken? When was the photo taken? etc. 
Let the client tell you the base of what you need in order to go into the creation. This will help you be in the right frame of mind.

The other set of questions that need to be asked are the technical questions: What would they like seen done? What kind of color scheme (if they want a black and white in color) they would like? Are there are any points of interest that need to be brought up? Are there are scratches, bends or parts of the picture missing they would like taken out or recreated? etc.

Once you get all the verbal details figured out, the fun begins and your imagination can take some creative control! 

You must put personal touches in every corner. The more attention to detail you put in, the more rewarding the creation experience will be for you and the happier your client will be.  

If anyone has a picture they would like restored, please feel free to contact me via email or at the studio!

ABBYabstract@aol.com

330-633-2291