DEAR FaceBook and Family

by RainafazzAF

​Hey everyone. I’ve hesitantly posted about the new ventures and undertakings in web3 that are becoming part of my life as this isn’t the best platform for it, but at the same time, I’ve always shared what’s going on in our family and personal lives in bits to keep people up to date and in the know. 

Art, in multiple formats, used to absolutely run my young and early adult life, from dance, musicals, pottery, drawing, wood working, sculpting, knitting, and writing. I’ve always incorporated art into my lessons and created posters to promote projects, books, and tease upcoming units. 

But it wasn’t until about a year ago this February when I started learning about what NFTs were, that this whole new world of creators and collaborators would open up to me. I haven’t really had a vision, goal, or purpose to create a new art series or collection until recently. 

In this past year, I have onboarded myself to so many new things and learned/am learning to use emerging technology that will be mainstream in the future, nothing new to my teaching life. It’s all about the journey, moving forward, and learning together. The friendships and business connections I’ve made in this time are something I would not change for anything. 

I bought an iPad last year and enjoyed seeing a handful of my artistic students draw on various programs. Procreate has been such a powerful drawing program to learn, and I’ve both been frustrated with and love the transference of skills from my favorite artistic medium of Prismacolor pencils and markers to get the same effect  digitally. Still using “pencils” with my Apple Pencil has been a big learning curve that I am beginning to be satisfied with. Drawing realistic, digital versions of Ellie and Stephen’s childhood stuffed animals felt great. But taking it another step to dive into AI generative art (that’s a bit of a skill I am VERY basic in compared to what’s being created) and reworking those two things together was fun and a learning experience. 

Two women, JoJo and Cee Cee, who I’ve gotten to work quite closely with on many events and projects, created a web3 business called CJMetaEvents several months ago. They invited me to create a themed 1-3 piece series around the topic of “Love In Color” and what that meant to me. It took me several weeks to decide on what that would look like, and it just popped up easily as I watched Ellie take her pink stuffed dog, Cupcake, everywhere with her. To bed, on the couch, to Scotland and back, to Aunti Danni’s for the weekend. It made me think about my childhood. Lord, that ratty pink blanket I cuddled and kept warm with until I was her age made me feel so safe and happy. I wish I still had it. My MIL texted a picture of Stephen’s best childhood friend quite easily. I was so happy she still had George. So, this theme manifested into Love In Cuddles. I plan to extend this series to other’s favorite stuffed animals. Want yours or your child’s loved stuffed animal done? Give me a shout. I plan to print and hang these pieces at home.  

CJMetaEvents had a soft opening of the gallery this afternoon and all three of us from my team, The Diner Studio, created and submitted artwork. I loved walking through the virtual gallery to experience all the interpretations of this theme.  It takes me back to my days at Michigan State when my classes had lessons in the gallery, learning how to look at, critique, and talk about the work. 

I’ll invite all of you to the grand opening in a few weeks. I would be quite pleased to onboard any of you interested to have a look, but feel intimidated by this platform. It’s actually pretty easy and kind of fun. And, the international world of individuals coming together feels good to be immersed in again. It doesn’t feel too dissimilar from summers at Camp Copneconic, making lifelong friends and gaining a life partner.  🥰

Join the gallery space throughout the month of February:
https://www.spatial.io/s/Love-In-Color-CJ-Meta-Events-637ba7494297a900015113d0?share=4948412012590093590

Website: https://www.thediner.rocks/blog/love-in-color-exhibit-by-cjmetaevents