Susan Kennedy Art

I love this friend's ideas. Not only is she building a business which promotes the integration of gratitude and appreciation into corporate culture, the items she uses in her baskets and gifts are always hand-made artisan items. It makes me so happy! I feel like sounding bells of alarm that American culture has got to not only embrace core values which will build up and not tear down BUT ALSO that we have got to support businesses and arts which have some intrinsic craftsmanship and value. If we keep buying the cheapest goods made at the cheapest factories, we will not only do ourselves out of jobs and markets, we will be supporting huge corporations which use their power in the market to pay the smallest wages and destroy local small businesses. If I sound like I'm preaching, I guess I am. I have the point of view of an artist who is competing with mass produced art. It's why I'm so excited about Fair Trade businesses, The Arts and Crafts Movement, Art, and businesses ...

This little photo never fails to make me laugh. When I was a teenager and was waiting on tables, some regular customer who used to pay me to do his mending (I'm too busy to mend these days : ) proudly brought me this masterpiece. I don't remember his name, wish I did...if you're out there, you with the holey shirts, send me a note, I'd like to give credit for one of the more bizarre landscape shot I've ever run across. I'll let you guys supply the imaginary events leading up to this remarkable scene. And yes, that is a pig charging the viewer with a pile of burning tires in the background. He escaped just in time, according to him (the photographer, not the pig). My brother-in-law Steve, also a photographer, titled this image "Apocalypse Sow."