the earth ink

Flying. Most everyone seems to appreciate that feeling of loftiness - no strings attached, no obligations to attend to: freedom. Part of the reason I volunteered in the Philippines earlier this year was to lay things aside: a slow-growing business, deadlines, the internet, even friends and family. Of course, we always take some of this with us wherever we go, but now and then, a significant break is warranted. On this particular break, I wanted to fly - to get away, to hop on airplanes around the world, to redistribute my efforts into something physical and tangible. The funny thing is, volunteering is hard work - laborious and exhausting, but so incredibly freeing. I recommend it. Volunteering in a post-disaster area means difficult living conditions, sweat, a little blood, and probably a few tears, too. With All Hands Volunteers on the Island of Leyte in the Philippines, difficult living meant that 50-60 people from around the world shared two toilets; lived in tents, or in ...

I recently found one of the first graphic design projects I did in school when I was learning how to use Adobe programs and integrate ideas and images together. For this project, we were assigned to juxtapose two images into one. I titled mine, made from two scanned magazine advertisements,  No Chimney for Santa. When I found this image in my archives, I immediately thought of the people in the Philippines who are in the midst of typhoon recovery during the Christmas season and I overlaid some text to capture this disaster. Last week I received confirmation that I was accepted into the All Hands Volunteer Project Leyte in the Philippines.   All Hands  is an organization that mobilizes volunteers to provide response to natural disasters. As a result, The Earth Ink will be on hiatus for a month while I volunteer my time on the Island of Leyte. In February and March, I will be recovering building materials, cleaning up properties, assisting with food distri...