This week’s blog posts are all by Amanda Jolley. Last week saw Michelle Belto introducing our collaborative series; this week Amanda! Enjoy and savor the uniqueness of each~

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So I have something very important to share with you before I talk about unity. I changed my hair color, again. So for those of you going to Encausticamp that have not met me yet, my hair is blond, not red.

Now that I have that off my chest, I have something most wonderful to share. Encausticamp is one of the most inclusive, encouraging experiences I have ever found. Each year, the instructors have been working on collaborative projects to raise scholarship funds for the next year of Encausticamp. Beyond that, the participants also so generously give to one another, in time, friendship, encouragement, sharing of supplies, support. I have a particular fondness for Encausticamp because of the inclusiveness. I believe that the heart of the leadership (Trish) is always revealed in the fruit, and Encausticamp bears an abundance of fruit.

As Trish has announced, 2015 is the last opportunity to join in the magical retreat called Encausticamp. We instructors still want our collaborative efforts to go for the artistic and creative good, so we have each selected a cause that our hearts have deemed worthy. Mine is very, very personal.

Let me tell you a story about a little girl whose heart has always been bursting with compassion for the outcast. This little girl grew up not realizing her own potential and the beauty of her own heart. Along the path of life, art poured in and her heart awoke to who she truly was. She began serving a particular segment of women each week through a local organization. The women were the outcasts, the truly marginalized, often homeless, prostituted, and abused. Later she established her own outreach in which she takes art to the women and has groups meet in her studio. Okay, I have to stop speaking in third person. I am that little girl. Art saved me and so I take it to those who need the greatest healing. My space, Studio Joy, has become a safe haven for ‘my girls’ to express places in their hearts that need healing. All the projects promote joy and appreciation, and they honor and validate the wounded places of the heart. I have self funded these endeavors with an occasional donation from other artists such as fellow Encausticamper, Joan Tucker. My dream is to expand the projects we do past the limited supplies I have on hand, to really be able to dig into some mess and fun. And that is where any funds raised in the collaborative exhibit from my pieces will be spent, on my precious girls. The organizations that I currently serve are KCRM Women’s Center and The Justice Project.

(This week we made little accordion journals to record the treasures of each day.)

And with that comes the big reveal, the mutual mind state of my offering to the collaborative exhibit.

These panels represent the generosity found in the whole of Encausticamp, the unity and connectedness of our hearts and minds.