New York

A week ago I found this amazing opportunity on Facebook.  (This is what digital networking sites are all about, right?) New York is looking for artists.  Check this out:

What did you think?  I am so excited about this!  What an opportunity; my art displayed on a billboard sized screen in Time Square!!! (Not to mention the $10,000 to the grand prize winner!  Oh, how nice that would be...)  World, here we come!

I have been loosing sleep trying to find ways to get people to "collect me" on this website.  I thought about my friend, who gave things away for free, and decided to run a contest:  I will give away another of my beautiful 20x30 ThinWraps (with the options meticulously placed in the video above) to the person who gets the most people to "collect me" by re-posting it on their Facebook page!  (Please get your friends to confirm they did it on your post so I can keep track!)  The website:

Melonie Packer: Click "Collect Me" to help me win $10,000 and a show in the most immense exhibition of art in New York City : Art Takes Times Square.  (You'll need to sign in with FB.  You'll know you did it right when you see your name with my art above it!)

On a side note:  I really feel grateful to live in such a world where all of this is possible!  I am humbled at the help I have received so far and for the opportunity provided.  I really want to do philanthropy... (I'm sure many others would if they could as well!)  This is the time and season where it is more possible than ever to have a huge impact on a person, people or society.  I am thankful for our forefathers who laid the groundwork for this to happen.  This is for them!

(check out my work at http://www.meloniepacker.com)

Zanden's Plea for $2,000,000

Okay, in order to "get" this next video, you have to be familiar with Craig Rowin on YouTube. This is Zanden's attempt to help our cause. He saw Rowin and said, "Maybe we can ask for $2,000,000!" Hey, it worked for Craig!



Wasn't he great?! (Did you watch Rowin first???? }:I)

We have many small thinkers in our circle of friends and family (by no fault of their own) who are crytical of our ambitions. A friend once told me that there are ducks and there are eagles... I am definitely an eagle and I am not afraid to shoot for the stars!

Our family has a goal, for those of you who don't know, to bring David home and become philanthropists. We are passionate about being able to help people in a BIG way someday. So you ducks can keep being cynical. Maybe we'll make it, maybe we wont but here's for courage!

(check out my work at http://www.meloniepacker.com)

The Complete Book on Video!

(check out my work at http://www.meloniepacker.com)

Joy Found in the Simple Things

This is a lovely tribute to my new book, a sneak peek!
Joy Found in the Simple Things  Enjoy!

It took only minutes to out this together... I love technology!
Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.

Seasoned

I remember the first thrill I got from the seedling of a thought, "Maybe I can do this; maybe I can be an artist!"

Van Gogh said that he would dream at night about painting, then get up and paint his dream.  I dreamed about
painting to.  I longed to to be an illustrator, sculptor or painter.  The problem lied with when I got up, I could not paint my dream!

I spent many years in frustration.  Yes, I had turned a waterfall purple and that was cool... but was it real art?  Could I do it again?

"Seasoned" was my first piece of art that I considered to have real potential.  It was late winter of 2009, the kids had gone to bed and, David, to play basketball with the ward.  I had nothing to do!

For several years (about 4) I had been taking pictures of ordinary yet, to me, beautiful things.  I sat down at the computer and began to browse the images... there was something there, I knew it!  I stopped on a photo of a simple fall leaf on the sparkling white snow.  I loved the contrast of the orange on the brilliant white.  I loved the delicate, yet intricate, features of that fallen leaf.  It was more than what it seamed.  It had lived it's life, it was "seasoned" and it had a story to tell!

I remembered the waterfall and contemplated... "I wonder" 4 hours whizzed by; David came home, stinky and wet.  I will never forget how he stopped in his tracks and admired that piece of art I had just made in awe!  Only hours before, he had walked by the same leaf without a second thought.  This is the effect I wanted to have on people.  This was art!

View "Seasoned"at:
http://www.meloniepacker.com/Photography/My-Gallery/11642051_hxp3F#!i=790035976&k=FuzYz

(check out my work at http://www.meloniepacker.com)

We've Gone Digital!

...Well I suppose, since it is digital art I'm doing, you probably think I've gone bananas!

"Oh no", you say, "It has come; the moment we've all been afraid of! After all, haven't many great artists gone mad?  Picasso, Francisco Goya, Mark Ruthko and, our favorite, Vincent Van Gogh?"


What I mean is that my new book, Joy Found in the Simple Things, has been made available for download on the Kindle!  
http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Found-Simple-Things-ebook/dp/B006YG7UYI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1326910788&sr=1-1

The process was a long one for us.  We had to make and remake... Because the file is mostly pictures, we ran into several problems and had to reformat, and then rebuild, the entire book.  Actually, I'm surprised we haven't gone bananas!

The key for me has been David.  Many times it is nice to have someone to lean on.  If you don't want to end up like Van Gogh and his fellows, you'd better hope you're not alone in this world!

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.

Vincent Van Gogh

Read more:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/vincent_van_gogh.html#ixzz1jpt5dvcj

(check out my work at http://www.meloniepacker.com)

Happy Day

After a long wait, and many excruciating hours of work, I got to open up my first package of published copies of Joy Found in the Simple Things!  That is a great feeling! 

A little history: The idea for this book came in December of 2008.  I worked as diligently as I could, with 3 kids, up until May of this year; taking pictures in places ranging from Denver to San Diego and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.  Weeding through thousands of photos, I worked on the best of them creating 45 pieces of art that would make up the soul of the book.  In May I began compiling (and recompiling) the book, writing the heart, designing the cover...  In July we submitted to a publisher and in October we became our own!

It turned out to be a beautiful book, thanks to all those who helped, and I have been so excited to share it!  We gave away 5 copies the first day we got it and sold 6.  I'd say that's a pretty good start!  I feel relieved to have it done, almost the way you feel after a long labor; but when you create something beautiful to add to this world you can't help but feel joy!

(check out my work at http://www.meloniepacker.com)