It has been a little over a month since my dear friend Uncle Johnny passed away. And it has been a little over a month as well since I reached out and asked for help in Piecing Together The Sky as my memorial for my sweet friend.
When I asked online for photos of the sky--I was unexpectedly blown away by the response.
I received a total of 326 photos from beautiful Souls all over the world--and almost everyone shared with me who they too kept locked in their heart as they took the photo. The stories were so touching and it really proved to me how very connected by love we all truly are.
As you can imagine, creating this video has been a humbling experience. I am very honored for the experience to hold each of these loved ones in my heart as I paint FEARLESS--and I especially am proud to have created something much bigger than just a video in honor of my sweet friend John. He would be so excited and digging this big time!!
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| Piecing Together The Sky. Acrylic on Canvas. |
But this memorial is not finished yet. It feels too small for something I'm calling Piecing Together The Sky....so I want to give more--I want to connect us together more--and I want to do it in a way that I know my friend Uncle Johnny would be proud of.
First, because I received such a huge amount of photos and stories--I was unable to honor everyone by including the name of the person(s) that were mentioned with the photo of the sky. I would like to give you that opportunity now so everyone can be seen and heard. So everyone can share the way they were touched and lives were changed by loved ones lost. (Just like I did in my post about Uncle Johnny HERE.)
So please, take the time to share a photo of the sky on your blog--and tell us who it is for and how they touched your life--how you remember them. It doesn't matter if you contributed a photo of the sky to my memorial video or not--everyone is welcomed to share in Piecing Together The Sky. And after you share on your blog, please come back here and add your hyperlink to the Mister Linky widget below. I feel like we're creating a larger and larger quilt of that magnificent sky!!!
Plus, every person that shares their blog post in the Mister Linky below by 8:00 PM PST this Friday, August 3rd will be entered to win a print of my sky painting that I created in the video above. I will be giving away one print to three lucky contributors in thank you for sharing on Monday, August 6th.
Here is where you can share your hyperlink:
Their mission, which is so in alignment to what my friend John believed in, is stated like this:
THE PLAYING FOR CHANGE FOUNDATION IS DEDICATED TO CONNECTING THE WORLD THROUGH MUSIC BY PROVIDING RESOURCES TO MUSICIANS AND THEIR COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD.
A decade ago a small group of documentary filmmakers set out with a dream to create a film rooted in the music of the streets. Not only has that dream been realized, it has blossomed into a global sensation called Playing For Change, a project including musicians of every level of renown, that has touched the lives of millions of people around the world.
While traveling the world filming and recording musicians, the crew became intimately involved with the music and people of each community they visited. Although many of these communities had limited resources and a modest standard of living, the people in them were full of generosity, warmth, and above all they were connected to each other by a common thread: music.
Out of these discoveries, the Playing For Change Foundation was born and made its mission to ensure that anyone with the desire to receive a music education would have the opportunity to do so. The Playing For Change Foundation is dedicated to the fundamental idea that peace and change are possible through the universal language of music.
Each person that lovingly donates by using the ChipIn Widget below by 8:00 pm PST this Friday, August 3rd will be entered to win my actual FEARLESS Painting I did in the Piecing Together The Sky video above.
A suggested donation is $15 but donation is warmly appreciated--and know that all the money will be donated to the Playing For Change Foundation in honor of John Kuegeler. (I will be choosing the winner randomly from the email addresses that are collected when you make your donation and announcing it Monday, August 6.)
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping my friend's spirit alive--and by helping to Piece Together The Sky for more than just ourselves....Thank you! Thank you!!
This one's for you Uncle Johnny!! I miss you big time my friend!!
Please use this widget to donate and thank you from the bottom of my heart....
21 comments:
(((This is beyond beautiful)))Thank you.
I am in tears. What a gorgeous piece you have put together. In celebrating Uncle Johnny and those who have lost loved ones you have not only helped to honor passing but you are also honoring life. You are celebrating the beautiful world we live in together - both souls who have gone on and those that remain. You created a space to let each of us truly *feel* the connection between one another. Thank you for sharing Uncle Johnny in the end and reminding us that when we are who we are and listen to our heart and do what we leave we become a ripple when we are gone - a ripple of love that others can carry in their heart just as you have done - that moves out and changes the world. All my love to you, to all who shared, to all who have gone before us. There is only love.
This is a beautiful painting! And beautiful video, and a beautiful thing you've done for your friend.
What a touching memorial for your uncle Johnny. I shared on facebook for the whole world to see. Thanks for the chance to win.
Hugs,
Carmen L
Thank you for inviting us to participate and for creating this heartfelt piece of love. We are all connected: We all love and lose loved ones. We all share the same earth and the same sky. And, as my husband and I have said so many times to our girls while we've been watching the Olympics, all of us around the world have so much more in common than not. Peace & healing & love to you and to all who look at the sky and remember a loved one.
Thanks for your huge love connections under this one amazing sky-scape! x
Oh Connie...lots of emotion in that girl. good job. My dad would have loved it. Peace my sister, and I will do the sky pic thing on my blog when I'm not so burned out.
Love.
Your video tribute truly captures the message that we are all connected . . . what a beautiful memorial for Uncle Johnny. I know he's looking down through your piece of the sky and smiling.
I'm so happy to be part of this, it makes my heart sing.
<3
I love this! Thank you for sharing everything with us :) It is beautiful
Connie this tribute is beyond beautiful. What a wonderful memory of your friend and for all of us who have lost a loved one. Your blog creates such a wonderful place for so many beautiful souls to come together in Love. I lost both my parents in the last 2 years. I look at the sk and talk to them every day. So, this video really touched a special part of me. Thank you for putting this together. You are beyond special to me.
What an amazing tribute - so powerful. Thank you also for using one of my photos of the sky...I now blogged about it and my dad whom I lost 5 years ago. Your posts are always so inspiring. I'm so glad I've found you and your blog.
Jill
I am thrilled to participate in your loving tribute and to share my own piece of this sky tribute on my blog. I am stunned by the beauty of your painting Connie. Thank you so much.
This is beautiful and soul touching and a powerful tribute to your Uncle Johnny and all our loved ones. Thank you. I watched with awe and tears and hope and love. xx
What a marvelous tribute to your uncle Johnny and to the dear departed loved ones of those of us who participated. From the music - to the inserted painting clips - to the words and, finally to the various skies themselves . . . it was a moving experience.
So happy to be a part of this Connie. Thank-you again!
I am so happy I read your blog this morning. I walked away from blogspot two years ago during a rough patch in life. I returned yesterday and what do I read this morning but your post. I was cleansing to write of our family's loss. Thank you.
Well, there you go! I've linked my post. I've never written about this before and it's a good time to do it. I love what you're doing for your friend, and that it benefits so many other people too. Thank you :)
Beautiful post. The video is gorgeous.
I am so blessed by this project Connie. I loved the idea, loved posting a pic, loved waiting for magic, blown away by your gift to the world, painted a photo I saw there,posted it on my blog and now feel connected to the sky and those that love it. Our love to Johnny, my grandma Meta and all those who live in clouds.
Thank you, Connie!
Even though I'm technically late, I just added a link pointing to my thoughts from a few weeks of vacationing.
It's funny how I took pictures of the sky just before finding out my uncle died, and then again two weeks ago, just before the phone call about one of my boyfriend's semi-distant relative.
It was a conscious act to take another picture when later that afternoon I noticed not even one, but two rainbows on the cloudy sky.
I was sad because of the death and even sadder because of the reminder of my uncle. He wasn't as lucky as to simply fall asleep and die of old age.
So the sky offering two rainbows? It filled me with hope.
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