Thursday, October 29, 2009

Calling All Art! I’m Having a Giveaway!


Are you an artist? Do you doodle to get your feelings onto paper? Maybe you draw in the margins of your notebook in class. Maybe you paint murals. Maybe you’re just trying to find an outlet for your emotions. Whatever the case, if you’d like your artwork displayed on my blog, here’s what you can do:


If you’ve created some form of art, whether it be a sketch, a painting, a sculpture, etc. and you’d like to share it with the eating disorder recovery community via my blog, I’d love to help you show it. Send me a picture of your artwork via email (arielle.becker@gmail.com) with a few sentences about what your art represents or what you are trying to portray with it.

I’ll post one piece of artwork per week, including your name and your words about the piece, along with my own thoughts. (I don’t consider myself an art critic by any means, but I am an artist and I am in the ED recovery world!) I’ll also add a photo of your piece (along with your name of course) to my sidebar so that throughout the month it can be easily viewed even as my posts continue.


So, if you participate, you get a post about your art AND your art displayed on my sidebar for a month. Everyone wins. :) BUT, by the end of November, I’m going to choose one person who will get 4 Love Your Body postcards, from the Love Your Body campaign AND this awesome water bottle from NEDA. (It says "Be kind to your body.")

The awesome thing about the postcards is that they have original artwork on each of them, so if you like art that symbolizes eating disorder recovery and/or loving your body, this is pretty cool. Have a look:

You can save 'em, send 'em, or tack them up as art.


(Sorry I'm not giving away much, guys, but I promise this won't be my last Giveaway.)


The stipulations:


* Make sure in your email to me you list your name as you wish it to be displayed. That means if you’d like to be credited with your full name, give me your full name. If you’d like to be credited with a username only, please specify that and list the username. If you’d like to be credited with just your first name, again, specify that and tell me what it is. If you’d like to be recognized as anonymous, just let me know.



* Make sure your art represents RECOVERY, not just an eating disorder. I don’t want to post ANYTHING on this site that could be mistaken for pro-ana or be seen as a representation of someone wallowing in the disease. That means NO art depicting ultra-thin bodies, skeletons, bones, or anything that shows self-injury, blood, etc. I fully understand that art often shows the pain the artist is experiencing, and I’m all for art therapy, but that’s for you personally, to be for your eyes and not the eyes of all readers. My readers are extremely important to me, and so is their safety and well-being. I don’t want anyone coming to this site and feeling triggered or unsafe in any way.



* So that means the goal is to show RECOVERY... a transformation, a change, growing self-love. Show HOPE. That doesn’t mean you it has to be all rainbows and daisies, people...and that doesn't mean it can’t depict a struggle, because we all know recovery can be a struggle, but please make sure that struggle is headed in the right direction. :)


See, guys, it’s a challenge. :) And that (along with me wanting to see your great art and share it with everyone!) is really the purpose here.


So, hit me with your art, past or present, and get ready for Show and Tell!

5 comments:

ghost girl said...

YAY! this is awesome! So glad you put the stipulation, too bc I really want to send something but I have heard that my art can be triggering, and like you said, that is okay for personal stuff but NOT for a Recovery site. So..hmmm this is a challenge to be proactive. I can't wait to see all the different stuff you get in. Great Idea!
-s

Arielle Bair, MSW, LSW said...

S (ghostgirl)-

I can't wait to see all the stuff I get either! Definitely send yours. (You can send more than one if you'd like...I really want this chance to show people's stuff.) I would love to see anything you create!

luapimoan said...

Wow! This is a really great idea. Can't wait to see the artwork.

Arielle Bair, MSW, LSW said...

luapimoan - Glad you like the idea! Join the fun, why dontcha? :) I want to see everything... from pencil sketches on lined paper to doodles on a notepad to paintings to drawings done with crayon! Any expression of your artistic self will do!

Anonymous said...

Great idea!
I've sent you an e-mail...

J.