Tending Passion's Garden and Limited Release

Passion, love, delight, gardens! I'm a hopeless romantic and a visual troubadour. I'm also a realist. These two world collide inside my heart every moment of every day. I have an art piece that reflects the two spirits within me. It is called Tending Passion's Garden.  In the Chicago art world, it is my signature piece that opened gallery doors and walls for me. As I release it in an extreme limited edition one more time, I wanted to tell a story. 

The Story Behind the Art

When I created Tending Passion's Garden I wanted it to be something that was ethereal, but also tangible. A fantasy you could step into. I could do this through digital art/photoshop or I could make it organic. I opted for the organic. 

The bed in the garden has been done before and it will be again. But this came with a specific vision and collaboration with a store owner in a sleepy Chicago suburb. 

In conversation with friends and in public speaking events, I have often compared love to a garden. Gardens are these wonderful and beautiful manifestations of hard work that blossoms and gives not only beauty, but life itself. 

Tending a garden takes work. Anyone who has gardened knows that there is constant work and care. Sweat will be on the gardeners brows. Dirt will be under their nails. Predators who want the fruit of the garden without the work will have to be fended off. Weeds will threaten to choke the garden's growth and removing them will sometimes draw blood as tiny thorns get into their fingers. Storms will threaten to flood the garden and droughts will try to deny the garden needed nutrients from the soil. 

No flower smells sweeter, no fruit as delicious, as that from the garden you have tended. 

A garden tended by people in love is also the garden of life. There is passion in the bed. But there are also arguments, illnesses; and one day, one of the gardeners may pass away in it. In the garden of our love there will be weeds, storms, droughts, and other threats. But with some sweat on the brow, dirt under the nails, and care taken to the hard work, the fruit of love will be sweet and will give life. 

That is what I wanted to create, and that is what I created. 

The Passionate Caretakers

I am honored by the people that own this piece. There is a politician and government servant of decades in my area that has it in her home. She is a woman tending a garden with a man who loves her. The same can be said for the tall European fashion model who lives in Chicago that breathlessly bought it. Architects, interior decorators, and even a scientist! And others. 

Most of the passionate caretakers are near Chicago. But some are in Canada, the UK, Ireland, and France. 

The Limited Re-Release

As a visual artist, you should grow and create new pieces, visions and ideas. There are many pieces I created for gallery shows that are footnotes in my CV. This is a piece that is special because I still wish to tend the garden of love. This is a reflection of me. The people who have bought it were kindred spirits. I love that shared connection. To know there is a living room, bedroom, or office that has Passion's Garden and is looked upon daily makes me happy.

Bringing it back one more time, I wanted to up the value without changing the piece. So I created 2 limited editions. 

One is a museum quality matte print with just the right amount of linen in the paper to add texture without losing the detail. The other is a museum quality canvas print that, like it's paper counterpart, has a texture to it that enhances the piece while not diminishing the beauty. 

There are only 3 of each for sale. You can go to my zine store page to purchase them. 5 of each are produced in this series, but only 3 will be sold.

What About the Unsold Ones?

Two will go to charity auctions yet to be determined and the other two will become gifts to two special people I've yet to meet who may appreciate this piece and not be able to afford fine art. 

Art, especially the art of the troubadour, need to be accessible to the commons. It is that space that other troubadours rise to give us beauty. It is a garden I tend to with the best of my ability. 

I Need Your Help!

I need two charity auctions and two special people who should have a free copy of these pieces. Please go to my Let's Connect tab and tell me to whom you think the two matte prints and two canvasses that are not for sale should go.