Artists for Japan

Thanks to all of the amazing volunteers, art contributors and generous folks out there who participated in a 2-day charity relief-fund raising event called, "Artists for Japan."  The art sale benefit was held at one of my favorite art venues, KOBO in Higo. The turnout was INCREDIBLE!!! I wasn't able to immediately drop by when the event kicked off, but I heard there was a line that stretched around the block.  Within the first two hours, we raised a little over $15,000, which was then matched to $25,000. By the end of today, the grand total was over a whopping $94,000!  Go Seattle! Because of compassionate and generous people, supporting the post-tsunami cause has become a reality rather than a possibility.  A big thanks to those who have contributed to this cause by any other means! 

As a follow up to the previous post, here's my finished, donated product:

 

On a side note, please check out my favorite local potter, Yuko Otaku, whom I had the fortunate chance of  befriending a year ago at the Fremont Sunday Market.  At that time, I had purchased one of her exquisite plant pots which contained a lovely vine that I named Sprout.  Sprout has now grown over a foot long and I love him...so much that I'm having a hard time pruning him.

Meet Sprout, my type of guy. Thank you, Yuko!

...and some snapshots at the event when the crowd died down later in the evening...

Post-tsnami contribution: sneak peak

When my colleagues and I received notice that our company would match 100% of any donations made towards the Red Cross's relief effort in Japan, we were relieved and grateful...but it still felt nowhere near enough. There is only a certain limit of effectiveness that can be achieved by outsiders when it comes to global-scale issues like poverty, environmental degradation, etc.  Most of the time, this comes in the form of monetary contributions...and it's not like any of us had a plethora of extra cash falling out of our pockets. Plus, where is this money really going?  How is it spent? Is it really effective as it seems?  How much of it is directed towards overhead fees? For this reason, I am a much stronger advocate in local, community-based efforts as a means of tackling different types of disparities on a more direct, longer lasting scale.  Even more influential is the impact one can have on an individual scale by just being instead of asserting one's presence as a "helper" (which is kind of scary).  It was no coincidental fate  that I was unexpectedly reunited with a good college friend, Miya on the 20th at the Wing Luke Museum.  It turned out that she was now working there and we shared a few laughs catching up on each other's lives.  I had originally visited the museum to explore the "CULTURAL CONFLUENCE: Urban People of Asian and Native American Heritages" exhibit but left with much more community empowerment than I ever anticipated.  It was through the Wind Luke Museum that I found about about "Artists for Japan,": a locally driven cause that I will further share in my next post because I literally have only one night to prepare the following contribution...and need all the time I can get.  In the meantime, here's a sneak peak of what's to come.

Wood-burning...