Explaining the gift 5, originally uploaded by printtroll.
Mary Ellen was my high school art teacher. Even though she was only at my school for my senior year she inspired me in a way that I can only describe as life deciding. Who the hell knows what is important in life at 17 and she made me understand that life is about giving back, whether it is through art, music, theater, teaching it doesn’t matter. It is for this reason that I decided to give her the first of Tracie’s prints.
Tracie wants her prints to affect people, she makes them to give away to make people excited about life and art. I believe this is exactly what Mary Ellen did for me and what she does for all her students.
Mary Ellen’s excitement is obvious from these pictures and they do not even begin to express it. Our conversation after she received the gift turned to the idea of empathy and how the print is the embodiment of empathy.
After my telling her about the print and Tracie’s ideas on why she gives them away Mary went to her attic and found an empty frame. The one she found had symbols meaning graditude. It was an exciting afternoon that both me and Mary wanting to make work.
