My Artwork/ Aunt Sadies Candles/ The Jimmy Fund

You have heard me say previously that one of my paintings had been chosen to be on the outside of an Aunt Sadies candle this Holiday Season. Well they are finally available for $20.00 plus shipping at The Jimmy Fund Store 100% of the proceeds go to raising money for patient care and cancer research. It was my honor to donate this image to such a good cause. It gives me pleasure in knowing that I can help out, even if it is in the smallest way. I have a very close friend who is currently battling cancer, it is an extremely difficult time in her life and the lives of her family, as they battle alongside with her, feeling helpless, but never, ever giving up hope that she will beat this awful disease. She is a very strong and determined woman with a heart of gold.There is not a question in my mind, I know she will beat it and as Christopher Reeve's said "Once you chose hope, anything is possible"

I wish this was a "scratch and sniff" then you could tell that scent of my candle is a brilliant and fitting Cranberry-Orange! I can just smell it now.

I've also been told that they will be carrying them in The Paper Store, but i'm not sure when.

Some Facts from the Jimmy Fund's Website:
Beating Cancer
Cancer doesn't discriminate. It can strike anyone and it affects us all. Man. Woman. Child. People aged 8 days to 80 years. Every day, 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease. But with your help, the Jimmy Fund is beating cancer.
How Your Support Helps
When you purchase holiday cards, e-packs, candles, and ornaments from Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund, you supply critical funds that enable the work of the brightest minds in science and the most talented clinicians to care for patients confronting cancer.
Your financial contributions have helped Dana-Farber rank as the number one cancer hospital in New England by U.S.News & World Report for 11 straight years. In 2010, Dana-Farber logged 142,169 adult and pediatric patient visits and infusions. Dana-Farber also offered 689 clinical trials that opened doors to new treatments for adult and pediatric patients.
Thanks to your support, Dana-Farber continues to make strides in the fight against cancer. In 2010, we:
Reached a milestone in cancer treatment with the FDA approval of Provenge®, a prostate cancer vaccine clinically tested at Dana-Farber and the first clinically proven therapeutic cancer vaccine
Opened the new Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, which will enable Dana-Farber to provide its trademark compassionate care to an increasing volume of patients and will connect our research and clinical programs more seamlessly than ever before
Expanded our efforts to make Dana-Farber's world-class patient care more accessible to patients living outside of Boston by partnering with South Shore Hospital, bringing our services closer to the 725,000 residents of southeastern Massachusetts
Received a 4-star rating—the highest ranking—from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent evaluator of non-profit organizations, for the ninth consecutive year for our ongoing commitment to maintaining a low cost-of-funds raised and being fiscally prudent
Every dollar raised through Holiday Greetings contributes to the financial resources necessary to accelerate Dana-Farber's pace of discovery, speed the application of scientific knowledge to help save lives, and expand the Institute's ability to provide its signature 50-50 balance between research and patient care.

creating art with your eyes

The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

Retrieved from ams vans blog.

An international team merged together in an collaborative effort to create a new way for artists to create art using only their eyes, and they succeeded by creating a very low cost solution that you can build yourself for less than $50 with free software and detailed video instructions.

The invention has been a lifesaver for artist Tony Quan, aka Tempt One, a legendary LA graffity writer, publisher and activist. He is now creating art again, something he has not been able to do ever since ALS left him completely paralyzed except for his eye movement.


“Art is a tool of empowerment and social change, and I consider myself blessed to be able to create and use my work to promote health reform, bring awareness about ALS and help others.”

The team has taken a projection device out into downtown Los angeles to display Quan’s art live as he drew it in his hospital room. The designs were visible from the freeway as drivers watched the creations take place.


The next step for this international dream team is to connect ALS patients together online to create eye art as well as build a network of software developers, hardware hackers, and urban projection artists.

This project was made possible by Members of Free Art and Technology (FAT), OpenFrameworks, the Graffiti Research Lab, the Ebeling Group communities, the Not Impossible Foundation, with additional support from Parsons Commucations Design & Technology.
Are you interested in creating an Eyewriter for someone? Learn how to build one yourself with the detailed 10 step process here.

learn more about the Eyewriter for disabled and paralyzed artists from their official website here.

Art Exhibit

I am very Lucky to work with a great group of talented artists. On March 24th our 5 man show will go up at Cedar Grove Gardens and will stay up until April 7th. An opening reception will be held Thursday Night march 24th from 6:30-8:30p.m. This is a great collaboration of Artists and friends and we welcome you all to share with us in the fun for a glass of wine and hors devours.
Above are a few samples of our work and below are short statements/bios from each of us. If you enjoy looking at this work, I hope to see you on opening nights. If you know a friend who may enjoy this, please share this link with them as well. We really appreciate it!

Janet Harrold-oil
Growing up in Boston was a constant inspiration for me.
I love to paint the brownstones in the South End especially in the
spring time when the dogwood are in bloom.
Every brush stroke I make on raw canvas is a stroke of love, I paint to raise money and awareness for Cerebral Palsy. To own a painting by me is to own part of my passion. I am doing something that I love to do for someone that I love. Proceeds from my paintings go directly to my granddaughters alternative therapies. To signify the cause, any recent work will have a green Cerebral Palsy awareness ribbon placed discretely in the painting.

June Alexandra- stained glass
As a stained glass artist and floral designer, I am always working with the play of color, light, texture and design. The dearest things in my life have been flowers, trees and the dogs I live with so, naturally, most of my art is concerned with these subjects. I spend part of each day in the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, MA communing with the trees, earth and sky and it is here that I find my inspiration. Nature has so much to teach

Mitchell Karas -oil and pastel
My paintings are based on my love for the natural world. They are my impressions of nature,beaches.marshes,gardens,forests,rivers and flowers. The images are a metaphor for my continuous struggle to find harmony and balance amidst the restless intensity of life. I am fortunate to be an artist because i can spend time exploring my feelings. I can look around and see the beauty in things and create more beauty from what i see.

Cat Thomson- oil
Painting has always been one of my favorite ways of expressing my inner world. It allows me to explore my emotions through the use of color and line, and I find it very freeing. Often, my paintings have been symbolic of events in my life, relationships or raw emotion. Recently, my works have focused on pieces of fiction, notably fairy tales, and their allegorical content.

Kristen Ahern- Photography

Emotion - that is my goal every time I pick up a camera and compose a shot.

It has taken me a long time to determine that photography is my life's love. After studying advertising and graphic design in college, I finally realized about 4 years ago that it was the art of photography that I needed to learn in order to start to speak to the world.
For me, a photograph is much more than a picture of something or someone. It is a visual representation of emotions, thoughts and moods. It is a way to speak without actually talking. Exploring a subject - whether a person or a thing - from all angles; revealing it's personality with light and color - this is always in my mind as I approach each subject.
Whether it's visually organizing a complicated scene to convey a message, or a simple, solitary subject emanating a mood, when I take a photograph that requires no words for explanation - I am in heaven.

Please feel free to leave us a comment
For more information on this exhibit you can contact:
Cedar Grove Gardens,
617-825-8582
911 Adams St.
Dorchester, Ma. 02124
or email me www.harrold.janet@gmail.com