Americana, When Good Projects Morph.

Shortly after embarking on the Americana series, a large 48" x 48" canvas is only partially completed.  I began working on smaller pieces ranging from 12" x 12" to 20" x 24" and exploring the symbolism and the reoccurring themes.  It turns out, for me, Unity is at the core.  This comes at a time when America has become more polarized politically and socially than I ever recall.  Maybe it is the unfiltered wilds of social and mainstream media where we receive a barrage of messages condemning and ostracizing any group.  Everyone asserting 

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their point of view is the truth, one religious sect, race, creed, orientation, age group against the other, or so it feels.  The more I considered each new piece the more I wanted to impart a sense of unity.  A sense of unity is why we or our fore fathers & mothers came to the United States of America and never left.  We unite in our dreams of freedom, in opportunities and out of oppression.      

How do we build unity and come together?  How do we begin meeting in the middle, embracing our differences, respectfully disagreeing and caring for one another?  Queue the eye rolling and groans,,.if only the deed were as easy as the words...but they are.  Each of us can infuse our world with more compassion and understanding for others and ourselves.  We can make a choice to not have a temper tantrum and yell or honk, we can choose our words to be lifting without putting others down, we can find the joy in a mundane task, we can make eye contact and a head nod or smile and let others know we see them, we are together, we are united.