Worlds of Cool Art!

July 10, 2009 in Activism, Families, Having Fun, News, StoryPeople, art, healing | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

 

The art is in & the bidding is under way! Our “Worlds of Good” silent auction to benefit local food pantries has garnered some fascinating contributions, as you can see above.  (Sorry, but a couple of those pictures were taken through the front window of the studio.  I didn’t want to move, or break, anything.)  In the upper left you see Karen Haas Misseldine’s ceramic “The World on a Platter” with Kathy Erickson’s ceramic hemisphere hanging in the background.  The upper right photo features the one & only StoryPeople “Imagining World” Globe.  Jeremiah Johnson’s “World in Bloom” globe sits in front of David Kamm’s “Balanced Diet” sculpture in the lower left & the lower right photo shows “Peas on Earth (in 2D & 3D)” by Maxxximum Madcap.

If you want to see all the pieces (there are many others which are not pictured here), please stop on in to the StoryPeople Studio at 113 E. Water Street in downtown Decorah, Iowa.  We have bidding sheets sitting on tables right inside our front entry, but please feel free to chat with The Crew or even take a tour of the Studio if you like.  Also, if you don’t live near Decorah but still want to place a bid on any of these Worldly Creations, (the auction ends August 7th) just give us a call at 1-866-564-4552 & ask for Karen or Juli.  They know what’s going on.  Well, they say they do anyway…

Graduation Animation – Whee! It Rhymes!

June 30, 2009 in Having Fun, Sports, Tips for Living Well, animation, humor | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

I’m so happy to sneak back in here between Brian’s blogs and twitters to introduce our little series of cartoons celebrating graduates and, well, anyone else who’s heading into the future. I reckon that’s most of us.

Graduates can be forgiven for thinking it’s all about them, what with all those diplomas and caps confusing the issue.

Well, the rest of us have been waiting a long time for them – not postponing any fun or adventure – no, no, no. Just waiting. Waiting for new members of the club, players at the table, voices in the choir, chefs in the kitchen, ideas and talents in the mix. New ingredients always make things interesting.

We call it change. It is THE best game on the planet. Of course, it can be scary, but it’s also invigorating and exciting and guaranteed to push open the borders of our minds (the very borders that’ll snap shut just as quickly, so we like to send the nimble young ‘uns in first. Ha!)

Welcome, graduates! Let’s start playing!!

And to start us off, one of my personal favorite stories: Air Juggling.

A Storied Proposal

June 27, 2009 in Affirmations, Families, Having Fun, Love, life | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Megan, Jesse, & a couple StoryPeopleWhy do these two look so happy?  And why are they standing next to two wooden figures?  Figures with words printed on them?

Leave it to Jesse.  He got the idea he wanted to propose (sorry, we mean Propose, we’re talking the Real Thing darnit!) to Megan right out in front of the StoryPeople Studios.  He came in all calm and polite one day (he was neither married nor engaged yet) and talked to a few of the Crew here and a plan was hatched…

Now, I could go on and tell you the whole story, but there’s no need.  We’ve just sent out the third edition of our idea of a monthly newsletter.  Except sometimes it’s not monthly and it’s definitely not a Newsletter.  It’s formally called an “eNote” and we would like to invite you to read the whole story of Jesse and Megan and The Proposal there, in case you didn’t receive the email.  You can also sign up to get our “eNotes” if you’re interested.

It’s “Wedding Season” to be sure, which we’ve explained on the homepage of our website.  (A very convincing explanation involving knives and then spilling over into towel sets and creativity… really, you just have to check it out for yourself.)

We wish all the best for Megan and Jesse, and thank them for letting us partake in their special moment.

Changing The Entire Globe!

June 18, 2009 in Activism, News, StoryPeople, Travel, art, life | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

(UPDATE: June 22, 2009 – I am told that we will have over twenty works of art on display (and for sale) before this is over, some of them being 2-D “globe inspired” pieces, AND that we will be extending the silent auction through August 7th so we can coordinate the exciting conclusion with a “First Fridays” studio reception in downtown Decorah, IA.)

We’re starting to get REALLY excited.  Pretty soon we’ll be displaying 10 new globes in the front window of StoryPeople Graphics.  Ten local artists are creating artworks out of globes and we’re going to be holding a four-week silent auction (ending July 27th) to sell these fascinating new designs of the world!  So far, there’s one on display and it’s so cool we can’t wait to see what all the other artists come up with.  We’re expecting to have all these alternative interpretations of Earth on display by the end of June, so stop by and take a look if you’re in the area (downtown Decorah, Iowa).  If not, we’ll try to get some pics up here, so check back. All proceeds will be donated to local food pantries, but the fun we’ll share with everyone! Oh yeah, we’re accepting food donations as well, so come on in and you can place any donated food items in our shopping cart! While you’re at it, please feel free to leave some cookies for The Crew as well… ;-) Thanks everybody!

Worlds of Good Poster

“In my dream, the angel shrugged & said, if we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination & then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand.” (Imagining World by Brian Andreas)

The Nischan Legacy

May 21, 2009 in Activism, Affirmations, Families, Peoplestories, children, healing | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

There are a lot of great people out there taking on some difficult challenges. Sometimes they write to tell us how a particular story of Brian’s has touched them.  We’re hoping to start sharing some of their stories here on our PeopleStories blog.  (It was one of our original intentions, it just took us a while to get around to it.)  So, thanks to Jennifer (and the NYN Foundation) who recently sent us this email… we look forward to hearing from more of you.

Dear StoryPeople,

I am writing on behalf of my friend, Tammy Nischan, who runs a nonprofit foundation created in honor of her son Nick who battled brain cancer for almost 7 years before he died in November at the age of 13.  The Nicholas Yancy Nischan Foundation can be found on the web and is an umbrella foundation with several ministries.  It focuses on helping families whose children have been diagnosed with life-threatening diseases.  “Legacy” spoke to me and I shared it with Tammy who was awed by these powerful words.  They speak of our mission with the Foundation and we wanted you to know how special we think it is. The NYN Foundation has been very successful and has helped at least 15 families already (with gas cards, food and cash for food, travel expenses for treatments, gifts for the children, special baskets of items, and sometimes just cash for household expenses when parents are not able to work because of appointments, treatments or hospitalization, etc.)…and we are just getting started.  Please know that your special print will always hang in our homes in memory of Nick and as a symbol of our vision for the NYN ministry.  I think several of our board members will want to order prints when we show them at our next meeting in August.  Just wanted you to know how special we think it is.  I have 3 of your prints already hanging in my home and hope to add Legacy very soon.  Thank you for creating a print that seems to be made especially for us!

Sincerely,
Jennifer Malone      malone11@windstream.net
Secretary
Nicholas Yancy Nischan Foundation

NYN Foundation www.nicholasyancynischanfoundation.blogspot.com
www.tammynischan.blogspot.com
www.nick7-11.zoomshare.com

“I promise you not a moment will be lost as long as I have heart & voice to speak & we will walk together again with a thousand others & a thousand more & on & on until there is no one among us who does not know the truth: there is no future without Love.” (Legacy by Brian Andreas)

StoryTweeple

  • remembering hanging upside down in a ride at the fair, letting go of control, with no idea of being 40 years old in sight. 13 hours ago
  • Older doesn't always mean wiser, my grandfather once said. Sometimes it just means older. - @brianandreas 13 hours ago
  • I can only imagine what organizing this video must have been like. Hope there's a behind-the-scenes out there: http://bit.ly/HZmJw 1 day ago