hope is a good thing

Tomorrow is my birthday, and because of that, I feel hope in my heart. Some people dread their birthdays, but I love them. I always think of my dad, who was fond of saying, "It beats the alternative." Did I mention he lived to be almost 88? Anyway, I know there is a collective feeling of dread floating around today, but I'm committed to doing my damnedest to stay positive and spread light; trying to make a positive impact when I can, where I can, in a way that feels right and good and authentic. I guess you could say it's my goal for the year (or for the next four years), but it's kind of been an ongoing goal of mine for a while now...want to help? Well, here's an opportunity:

My first Brushstrokes With Impact (tm) "Paint-a-Thon" of 2017 is coming right up- and it's called SOUPER BOWL II! For those of you keeping track, it will be my fourteenth event of this nature. Thanks to the kind support of Morton Real Estate (R), on Saturday, January 28th, I will be setting up my easel at 25 Stanwood Street (right next to Believe Fitness Center) and painting from roughly 9:30am-5:30pm. At the end of the day, the completed painting will be raffled off, and 50% of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program's "Backpack Program". Raffle tickets can be purchased in person or online (here's the link: https://www.paypal.me/BrushstrokesByMaria) for $5 each or 3 for $10. I will also have a “pop-up” show of my art at 25 Stanwood Street and 10% of all my art sales (excluding magnets) from this show will be donated to MCHPP's "Backpack Program". Here's a link to the Facebook event page (it's public, so please feel free to share it with friends, family, and anyone else who you think might be interested): https://www.facebook.com/events/231544660631395/.

Speaking of feeling hope in your heart, something interesting happened yesterday: I got a text from my dear friend Erica, saying that her aunt used a photo of my painting, "Keep It In Your Heart," in a Facebook post to encourage someone in their healing process. I've never met Erica's Aunt Judy before, and I haven't shown that painting in years! Isn't that wild? I'm going to take that as a good sign...and with that, I will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite films, The Shawshank Redemption: "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

what a coincidence!