
One of Heart to Heart with Art’s greatest joys is to use art as a vehicle in making heart to heart connections. For our HeArt Connection- Your Artistic Dream Brought to Fruition project, individuals set on completing an art project, close to their heart, contacted us to help fulfill their dream. Heart to Heart with Art provided the resources and our team helped bring their artistic vision to life. We were delighted to work alongside each person. During this amazing process, we learned about their lives, struggles and their dreams. Our hearts were deeply touched while working with each individual on their unique projects. When they saw the final product for the first time, watching their facial expression, the hugs given and their feedback on the impact the finishing of their project had on their lives, was priceless and worth every second spent.
Pictures books for Sally Dutra: Little Arvin and Andy the Snake making dreams come true
Brian and Sally Dutra are a husband and wife writing team with a combined background of improvisational comedy, illustration and screenwriting. Their love of children has inspired the birth of Andy the Snake Bakes a Cake and No! I Don’t Want a Baby Sister. Both books help children cope with change. Little Arvin struggles with mixed emotions on the advent of a new baby sister. He experiences growth when he realizes his new baby sister looks at him like he is the most special person in the room.
Andy the Snake Bakes a Cake is a story of empowerment. Andy is a can-do snake who is willing to learn anything to achieve his goals. He defies all obstacles when it comes to learning. He’s a snake with a bright, optimistic attitude that won’t give up.
Unfortunately, health issues made it difficult for Sally to finalize her illustrations and turned to Heart to Heart with Art for help to complete her dream project.
We are thrilled that both of the Dutra’s heartwarming books are complete! Her books: “No, I Don’t Want a Baby Sister! My Story by Little Arvin” and “Andy the Snake Bakes a Cake by Andy Sidewinder” will be able for purchase on our website. Keep posted for updates.
Mary’s Angels
Mary is a gifted social worker who didn’t consider herself to be an artist at the time we met. We believe everyone has creative juices flowing through their veins and some people just need a little encouragement to see and feel it.
When we met Mary, she was creating the coolest angel collages from magazine images. Some of her angels were themed around body issues and different emotions, while others were made for aesthetic beauty. She had so many, but didn’t know what to do with them.
We wanted to help Mary share her creations with the world and show her that she is in fact a “real” artist. We helped frame her work and show it at one of our Heart to Heart with Art exhibitions in the Red Rocks Gallery.
Watching Mary’s face see her angels up in public for the first time brought on the waterworks for this precious moment. Using art as a vehicle for heart to heart connection is what we as an organization are all about.
Cookbook: 90 FOR 90 Gwen Burns Shares Her Passion, Recipes, and Legacy in the Kitchen
Gwen shared her love for her friends and family through her many talents in the kitchen. It was her dream to have all of her recipes written down and her culinary prowess presented in a book to offer as a legacy for her family. At age 89, this cumbersome project was overwhelming for her, she didn’t know where to start, nor did she have the computer skills to achieve her goals. Heart to Heart with Art organized her recipes and family photos, took pictures of her baking, and created the book for her to give her family on her 90th birthday.
Memory Book for Gwen: The House That Love Built: Remembering Richey Lane
As you can imagine after 65 years in her home, Gwen had difficulty letting go of her precious memories to enter an assisted living facility. Heart to Heart with Art helped Gwen encapsulate those stories and remembrances in book form. We photographed each of the rooms and captured the little knickknacks that held numerous precious memories for her, so that she had a little piece of home, at her touch, as she ventured into her new chapter of life.
I WANT YOU TO KNOW…
Working with the Female Empowerment Club at Wilsonville High School in Wilsonville, Oregon.
This exhibition, I WANT YOU TO KNOW, is Heart to Heart with Art’s way to thank the Female Empowerment Club at Wilsonville High School for their hard work and passion for empowering girls locally and abroad. Heart to Heart with Art is proud to be working on this project in partnership with Wilsonville High School’s dynamic English teacher Dr. Julie K. Guertin and club presidents Natalie Opager and Anna Sweetland.
We knew that this bright group of teens had valuable information that needed to be seen AND heard. The participants were very brave and courageous to share their personal stories and Heart to Heart with Art thanks them for their efforts.
We have loved our time working with this group of students and are lucky to have brought our journalistic photographer, Katherine Kimball to come and talk to the class about her passion as a photographer and the challenges of being a woman in a heavily dominated male profession. The club was left inspired and empowered by Katherine’s words.
The Female Empowerment Club at Wilsonville High School was started in 2017 by two Seniors, Kate Opager and Sierra Bishop. The club was started with the intent of holding fundraisers to support the organization Girl Up, which funds the education of girls in other countries. As the club grew, they expanded their local initiative and added a self-defense training night and female hygiene drive for the homeless shelters in the Tualatin and Wilsonville area. They meet weekly to discuss topics in the media and finding ways to empower each other, teens and children in the community. Anna Sweetland remarked, these thirty students are “passionate on making others, especially women, feel loved and respected.”
Heart to Heart with Art would like to thank the following people who helped to make this project a success:
Dr. Julie K. Guertin
Anna Sweetland
Katherine Kimball, Katharine Kimball Photography
Kristal Passy, Studio Northwest
Madeleine Philbrook, Moment Videography
Elle, Maddy, Peyton, Coltin, and the rest of the amazing Wilsonville High School
Female Empowerment Club
Bonnie and Charlie Combs
The Cerimon House
Dianna Fontes