on art, showing a bit more love and another giveaway

Earlier this week, a friend pointed me to the work of talented illustrator Eric Orchard.  I immediately fell in love with his work, and contacted him to see if I could commission him to do an illustration of Alex.  I sent him this photo as inspiration (with this photo to show what her hair really looks like), and twenty-four hours later, the image above appeared in my inbox.

Isn't it awesome?

Best $50 I ever spent: he sent me the high quality file, so I can't wait to have it printed and framed.  So if you've ever wondered what you (or your partner or kids) would look like as an illustration, I'd strongly recommend contacting Eric.  He's really great.

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Today's the last giveaway I'll be doing this month of The Beauty of Different, and I thought I'd make this interesting.  Eric got me thinking about art and being an artist -- his art is clearly illustration.  I think of my art of photoessaying -- I create art using words and images combined (and really don't like to do one without the other).  Alex is a wordsmith -- she loves creating elaborate stories, sometimes with illustrations, sometimes without.  Marcus is a painter, but he also builds bicycles from scratch -- that's definitely his art.  Oh, and cooking.  The man is a bloody Picasso in the kitchen, no lie.

So I was wondering:  what's your art?  Are you great at needlework?  Mechanics?  Cooking?  Painting?  Sculpture?  Creating peaceful environments?  Throwing a great party? Making rock gardens? Whittling? Dancing? Singing? Making music? Organizing closets? Etc. etc.?

Let me know by leaving a comment below telling me what your art is, wherever in the world you might be, and I'll pick a commenter at random to receive a signed copy of the book.  I can't wait to read all about your art.

Thanks, friends.  And happy Love Thursday, everyone.

Song:  My own two hands by Jack Johnson featuring Ben Harper