09/15/12

Ella Inspired

by Merrill Moore

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone visiting Africa and not being a ‘changed’ person forever. After returning from any significant vacation or trip, we all tend to get back to our busy lives and what had had such an impact on us becomes quite distant as the volume of our daily lives comes blaring back at us. Some of us feel impotent to really affect real change, especially in far away places. That is why on this glorious sunny Sunday morning (very rare in the North West) I am glued to my computer writing about an amazing woman who did just that. With little resources, an everyday person like you and I, has found a way to make an extraordinary difference. After becoming aware of the urgency of the situation in Africa, Aqua Yost created a group of paintings called the White Ella Project. Her goal is to raise at least one million dollars for children’s health and AIDS relief.

Aqua Maureen Yost grew up in a small town between Cleveland and Toledo Ohio. She studied at Ohio State University a few years before moving to Los Angeles where she has been living for the past 9 years. She is one of those amazing creative types who can do it all. She’s studied many disciplines of art her whole life. Dancing, Acting, Singing, Painting and Drawing.  “I started dancing when I was three and taught, as I grew older. I think all those forms of art contribute to my painting…. they’re all connected. I remember my art teacher talking to my parents about my work in the 7th grade. I’ve been painting consistently since college.”

After her ‘life changing’ trip to Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia Africa, Aqua knew she had to do something to help. With her creative background there was only one clear path. “I paint…. that’s just what I do, and, I LOVED the elephants. They had such an impact on me that I couldn’t help but paint them. Africa was stuck inside me. I’ve always been drawn to Africa, even before I went, but witnessing the hardships of its people made me want to do something NOW. I had this notion that I needed to wait until I was “established” before I did anything, because I thought that was the only way I could help. You go there and you see all these people that are truly living in poverty, it’s a HUGE awakening. And I thought why am I not doing something NOW? I have all the resources that I need. I have a job, I have a roof over my head, I have clean water to drink and bathe in, I have fresh organic food from the local grocery store, I have an education that is priceless and can provide everything I need, and I even have a little left over to go to the movies.”

Aqua found herself in a situation where she couldn’t afford to buy paint supplies AND eat so she had a choice to either eat fast food or go on a healthful fast. You can see her whirring up her meals in the blender when you watch the White Ella Project documentary. “The fasting was a huge motivation and it was a bit ironic to me that the people in Africa are dying of malnutrition, but not by choice. Here we are in America dying of malnutrition because we make unhealthy choices and most of the time we know it’s unhealthy. I painted everyday, all day because I knew that when these paintings were finished it would provide nourishment and healthcare. I’m not sure what others will learn from the fasting, I can only share my experience and possibly inspire others to help in anyway they can. We are so fortunate to have the life that we have here in the states and I would love to see everyone have a quality life. I do believe it is possible through education and “a little help from friends.” So I’d love to provide that to these people and in order to do that I need to earn MEGA money to make that happen.”

Currently the paintings are looking for a gallery to gain exposure. Los Angeles is a veritable land of opportunity and after watching the documentary I know it is just a matter of time before a gallery adopts The White Ella Project. These gorgeously edgy looking “Ellas” are bound for greatness and so is Aqua Yost.

For more information watch Aqua’s Documentary

You can reach Aqua on Facebook and on MySpace

09/15/12

The Wedding Sculptor – Elizabeth Bonura

Are you someone who is struggling with the idea of being an Artist?  Do you dream of taking your passion and making it your profession?  Well then read on – Elizabeth Bonura is the perfect example of someone who listened to her inner voice, lived independently of the ‘good opinions’ of others and stayed true to her childhood dream of being an artist.

The first time Elizabeth created something out of clay she was 11 years old, when her mother made her take a hand-built pottery class taught by her friend.  The instructor insisted she had a natural talent and encouraged her mother to support Elizabeth.

She truly did enjoy sculpting and when she was 13, she made Christmas gifts for everyone in her family out of her little sculpted creations.  Everyone loved them and remarked on how great of a job she did.  However there was one remark made by her Grandfather that stayed with her for many years, “Nice, but you’re not going to be an artist are you?  You don’t want to starve do you?”  This is the moment the negative internal self-talk began.

Elizabeth continued to sculpt, using this as a way to cope with the stresses of life.  She longed to become an artist, but with family encouraging her to study Computer Science and offering to pay for college tuition, she left the artist dream behind.  She became very successful in Computer Science, had a great job at IBM, but deep down wanted to be a working sculptor.

At her wedding, she used one of her sculptures she created before working at IBM as a table decoration near the cake.  The sculpture was of her and her husband.  The reaction to her work of art was brilliant, and she knew she was on to something.  After the wedding, she and her husband Jimmy brainstormed the idea of not letting life pass by without following her life-long dream of being an artist.  It seemed like a fantasy life – to be a stay-at-home mom and work from home as a sculptor!  To help put this fantasy into reality, Jimmy encouragingly bought Elizabeth the domain name ‘weddingsculptures.com’ as a Valentine’s Day gift.

Later that spring during the .com bust, Elizabeth was laid off from her job.  That very day she received a check for her first official sale of a cake topper!  She continued to work part-time as a sculptor from home.  Funny how she always feared of being a starving artist, but now the reality was they were not starving BECAUSE she was an artist.

She enjoyed making the wedding cake toppers, but really wanted to sculpt life-size busts.  Then she received a call from a woman named Chidi, who was looking for a sculptor to sculpt a life-size bust of her for wedding cake.  Elizabeth knew this was synchronicity in the making and gladly took on the job.  She sculpted a life size replica bust of the bride.  The sculpture was put on top a cake that resembled a dress, and everyone loved it including the bride.  This cake was the talk of the reception and many of the guests took snapshots of it with their cell phones.  It didn’t take long for these photographs to be posted all over the Internet.

Around this time, a sculpture job Elizabeth was planning on for a few months pay fell through and she began to stress about her work, money, the idea of getting a ‘real’ job, and keeping her sculpting as a hobby.  The thought of getting a job just did not sit well with Elizabeth, so she started to really review the thoughts she was having about her business.

Only a week later, photographs of the life-size cake were published on CNN.com.  Now Producers from Inside Edition are in discussions to film a segment on Elizabeth sculpting another life-size bust.  Also, The Rachael Ray and Conan O’Brien Shows are interested in her story for upcoming segments.

Elizabeth says her number one fan is her husband.  He has been extremely supportive from the beginning and she is very grateful for that.  She is also happy to be a living example for their son of following her inner voice and doing what she loves for a living.

Personally, as an artist, I am honored to know Elizabeth Bonura.  I have been working as an artist for 6 years and sometimes struggle with that internal, self-defeating talk.  She is the perfect example of the importance of listening to your instincts & holding your vision no matter what others may think, and that when a door closes, soon another one will open.  Just have faith in yourself.

Thank you Elizabeth for all your gifts you share with the world!

To learn more about Elizabeth and her art please visit her website at www.weddingsculptures.com

 

08/22/12

Welcome to The New Site for Thinking Outside the Frame!

Thank you for stopping by my new website for Thinking Outside the Frame.  This website was inspired by my book, “Thinking Outside the Frame: How Artists Make Actual Money in the Virtual World”.  I wanted to create a space where I could promote other artists in the world who put themselves out there and made their passion into their profession, and share ideas on how to better promote your art as well.

I just love it when I read about other artists who invest in themselves and  have the courage to go public with their creativity.  It seems like when I find them I can’t stop talking about them and I want the world to hear about them.  This is my intention with this website – to make it a platform for all kinds of creative people to come and learn from others.  For artists to communicate, share and be inspired by other artists.

So please, bookmark this page and come back often.  You’ll find yourself inspired, motivated and begin to ‘think outside the frame’ more in your life.

If you know of someone that ‘thinks outside the frame’ please leave me a comment or contact me.  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Whether you are a full-time artist, or a part-time dreamer, nothing is impossible when you’re – ‘Thinking Outside The Frame’