I only imagined....

I could have only imagined this....me in Featuring magazine!!!

Featuring Magazine has now been published and is on its way from the Netherlands and out into the world!!!!

I hardly feel able to express you what all of this means to me.

This premier issue includes an article about my art series "Message from Swaziland" which was inspired by AIDS Walk Africa in Swaziland for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

The message continues!  It is being shared to the masses!   I am overjoyed and just so thrilled!
There is even a video on youtube with the magazine's "birth process"!

I could have only imagined all the ways art has affected my life...how it has helped me grow.  This is certainly one of the ways.

At one time it was only a dream to be able to paint and express myself. And here we are.

After returning home from Swaziland I needed to be able to share the message of the Swazi-people.
To tell the world that 33% of their population is infected with the HIV virus.
When I came home I knew I needed to do something to get that message out into the world.  And now that this has happened and continues to happen it  means other people will hear of this little country, Swaziland.  They will hear of the pandemic and, like me, they too might react.

As a mother I am so thrilled to think other mothers and children being affected by the HIC pandemic may be helped.

As an artist I am thrilled to see my artwork giving back to this cause and to the world.

As a woman I am incredily grateful for the blessings in my life and all the people who brought me to this place.

The Featuring Magazine is a collaboration of artists from around the world, 

with the publisher based in the Netherlands.

Featuring's website expresses their mission best,

"Creative people generally do not create in just one area. They are explorers. One day they dip their hands in ink and paint to find themselves the next day scrapbooking, taking photos or writing poetry.  Via the Internet, artists from all over the world inspire each other with their work, opening doors to even more creative possibilities and techniques. FEATURING wants to bring these creative worlds together on paper!"

I can't wait for my issue to arrive....

really, I feel like I need to pinch myself.

dreams do come true!!!

Full circle moment

Tessa caught me off guard yesterday while we were in the art studio.  I was working on a new piece specifically for a silent auction benefiting Seeds of Africa (whom work in Ethiopia!).  There she was....admiring the "Message from Swaziland" series.  The paintings are right at her level (because of the angle of my studio wall space), which really seems perfect now that I think about it.  

There she was looking into the eyes of the children that had touched me so deeply in Swaziland.  I can remember clearly while in Swaziland that when I looked into the eyes of those beautiful children that I was thinking of our daughter who was on her way to us.  I had so many questions...had she even been conceived?  Was her birth family living in similar circumstances to what I was seeing?  I thought about her and asked myself questions that were unanswered around every corner.  I looked into those eyes and wondered....  and now I have the answers.  full circle.  And here I was creating a new piece of art specifically with images of those very eyes I had looked into 2 years ago and at the same time our sweet girl was looking back with wonder and curiosity.  full circle moment.

Here is the piece 

 "See" 

It is loaded with symbols....the postage stamps are a literal symbol of sending you a message "postcard" from Africa.  "See Hope" is scratched in by the butterflies, which have fiddleheads painted on them....my favorite symbol of hope.  (As fiddleheads bloom early in the spring after the winter...I also named my website fiddlehead art for this reason).  Then "see us" is scratched into the boys forehead....and "see Africa" is scratched in next to the antique map of Africa. This piece is all acrylic and mixed media with paper, clay imprints (in the corner) and photo image transfers of the eyes.   

I am so incredibly grateful to be able to create art I love and be able to give back through it.  

Heres hoping it generates some $$$ for Seeds of Africa this weekend!  

heart beating....Live Auction

So, tonight I went to the Monroe Art Center Spring Fundraiser...it is a great event and I just love that our small community also embraces the arts.  This is the same art center where I just had my "Message from Swaziland" series exhibit for the month of April, which was fantastic!

Anyway, tonight I officially broke up the series of paintings by donating "Hope" to benefit both the Monroe Arts Center and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.  The MAC agreed that 33% of the auction price would go to EGPAF, as that is the intention of the series to have 33%, the percentage of people infected with HIV in Swaziland, to go back to the cause.

As the live auction approached I could feel my anxiety level increases, my nerves, my heart beating so strong.  Why you ask?

I think for many artists their work is an extension of themselves...a very personal one.  And in this case it is certainly that and more.  I am so emotionally connected to these works that almost felt like it was my heart being put up for auction....a piece of me....a piece of my soul that someone is putting their own value on.  yikes....that is heavy.  So, you see and hear people going $250....$275....$525.
I do understand that the value that this piece received in the auction isn't necessarily a reflection of my value...I get that.  But is it there....and I am relieved that it went for more than the value I had intially placed on it.  Yes, in part for my own ego...my art was valued by another, and I am human and therefore being validated feels good.  But more importantly it means $$ for a cause I care deeply for: preventing mother to child transmission of HIV.

Tonight as an artist, a mother, a citizen of the world, I felt fullfilled that my art was able to give back.  The message of the Swazi people came through my soul in "Message from Swaziland" and tonight that message was heard!
yahoo!

Message from Swaziland show

Lately I haven't been feeling like an "artist".  I have been immersed in full Mommy mode.  Adjusting, trying to stay afloat in the new normal, trying to be present.  I haven't been in my art studio for over a month- a long time for me.  So, to have an art show right now felt a little strange.  How was I going to be able to embrace that part of myself right now?   Would I be able to for the opening or would I have to "fake it til I make it".  Here, I have soooo long dreamt of a solo art show in an art gallery.  Really it has been a dream of mine.  And on top of it I was going to be able to show works I was both so proud of and wanted others to witness....and yet I was feeling disconnected from it.

I had applied for a solo show at the Monroe Arts Center about a year and a half ago. Our small community has a growing arts community within it and our Arts Center brings in all kinds of art and culture.  I am so grateful for their presence here!!  I have also been excited that I would be able to share these works with the very community that helped support my journey on AIDS Walk Africa in Swaziland!  April 1st my art exhibit "Message from Swaziland" opened at the Monroe Arts Center (showing the month of April).

To see all the works displayed so beautifully in the space was amazing.  It has been nearly a year and a half since I displayed the entire series together...and boy, is it powerful.  I was able to speak at the opening reception and really felt I was able to communicate what the series is truly about:  opening our hearts and mind to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Swaziland.

I walked away from the gallery that night feeling satisfied.  I was grateful to be supported by my family and friends.   I felt lucky to be born a woman in the USA.  I was hopeful that new people had heard the message...and proud that I had been able to share it.  I felt like an artist again!

Bearing Witness Art show!!!

I am sooo excited!  My piece from "Message from Swaziland" called "Do Not Turn Away" has been selected to show in Chicago's ARC Gallery show Bearing Witness:  Art As Social Action

What an honor...and really it is a dream come true to show in a gallery like this.  It just goes to show anything is possible if you open yourself up to the possibility!  I am over the mooooon!! There are 18 artists total and I am so excited to see their works and the issues that they are bearing witness to. 

I am so happy this piece was selected.  It is one of the most powerful pieces in the series and very meaningful to me.  She was the first mother I encountered in Swaziland and her eyes said to me "Do you see me, do you see this child?  Do you see what is happening here? Do not turn away from what you see here".  I do see and won't turn away.  And now more people will see!

Message from Swaziland Debut Show!

My art series "Message from Swaziland" debut at the Freeport, IL library gallery!  The works look amazing in the space.  I am very proud of the message they hope to inspire and hope the viewer will feel something when viewing them.  It is my hope that this will be the first of many shows for this series.  

My parents and Auntie Cheryl came into town for the debut.  This made me feel very special on this special night.  Many of my friends from Monroe drove down to Freeport to see the show which was wonderful to have their support.  It is a great venue for the work and I hope many will learn and feel inspired when in its presence! 

To see the series up close, go to my website www.jenniferrikkers.com

Barefoot in Swaziland...here is what we are going to do!

It feels a little strange to go to Swaziland and be exposed to the many, many needs there and then just return to life as usual. Like any major life experience, I am touched and changed by it all. I am now working on what to do with that feeling...so I started talking with my dear friend, Marcie about this after I returned.

While I was in Swaziland and after I returned, I have thought so much of the children I saw walking on those rough roads completely barefoot. The children I saw with shoes in dire need of repair, or with shoes on that were far, far too large....and then knowing the drawer full of shoes that we have has left me so uncomfortable. So, Marcie has helped in putting these feelings into action with this fantastic idea: to collect gently used children's shoes from our friends, family and the community and send them to Swaziland!!

I have yet to establish a contact person in Swaziland, but I doubt that will be an issue with the contacts with the EGPAF clinics! It is a wonderful thought that we might be able to touch lives in some concrete way. It is one way to continue contact with the region and in some small way it will make a difference in the life of a child. So, send those gently used shoes our way. ;)

The Swazi girls' message!

I wish my video was uploading, for some reason it is not....but instead, I will give you a taste of what it was like to visit some of the clinics and schools in Swaziland with more photos. We were always greeted so warmly. Here, the children's school day was over and they waited for us to arrive. I saw the traditional dress and couldn't wait for the performance. It was amazing to witness and even more amazing when the message was translated. This is not exact at all, but in general I was told that what the girls are singing is "Swazis are dying. HIV is killing us. We are the flowers of the community. We must make good choices". Even without a direct translation you can feel their desire to communicate the message and their hope. Enjoy a taste of the beauty of traditional Swaziland!

Building a playground in Swaziland~

On our last day of AIDS Walk Africa- We had the opportunity to help build a playground structure and a shelter area next to a clinic. These structures will be very important in helping mothers wait at the clinic, sometimes all day, to be seen. They will have an area out of the blistering summer sun to wait under the shelter and their children will have an area to exert all of their energy. This will likely hold a great impact in mother's staying to wait for their treatments and as a result will lead to more success in preventing and treating HIV/AIDS!

partially constructed playarea BEFORE

Mom, Casey and I all knew immediately that we would like to work together in the playarea. Like all mothers, I could really relate to the mothers needing a place for their kids to play! I also knew that the children would absolutely adore such a play area here in this part of the world where it is truly rare. So, we got right to building with 6 other walkers. The lead constructioner, Luciano, with his strong cultural beliefs had doubts about our ability as women to be helpful in this endeavor. Well, we all showed him as women that we are more than capable! My first task was to bolt the preconstructed slide to the pre-constructed structure. This had its issues with lack of power tools, but I got the job done. Then I worked on nailing all the steps up the playstructure to complete the stairs. As I did this I was tried very hard to make sure it was as exact as possible and used my own hand to measure the distance between steps!

At the same time Casey was working on nailing in the floor of the playarea, a very time consuming and tedious task! He did a great job! Mom took on the challenge of putting together an oil drum crawl through structure. She did great constructing it and bolting it all together. Later Mom and I crawled inside those very greasy oil drums and wiped them clean of the sand, oil and grime. It was quite a task, but I can know say I would let my own children crawl through..it is that clean. Casey, Mom and I all did alot of painting. The paint was very thin and they pigmented it themselves. Unfortunately, we didn't have primer to really make the paint stay in the elements, but alas, we did the best possible with the resources we had!

In the end it was a most amazing build. Our team has left behind a wonderful play area. But what was so magnificent about this day, was in the afternoon when the children who had been anxiously waiting for us to complete the project were able, at last, to climb up those stairs and slide down the slide, they swang on the swings with delight, they crawled through the oil drums and teetered on the teeter-totter as if flying.



At the end of the day, we met the King's brother and other chiefs of the area were present. The local chief also honored all the elders of the group....I call this part, "Mom's senior moment" where she was wrapped in the traditional batiq wrap in front of the entire group with the rest of the elders from our group. It was a wonderful way to honor elders....frankly, I think we should take that tradition back home.

During all of these formalities it was rather quiet, except for the wonderful noise of children laughing and playing on the play area. It was the most beautiful sound and sight!

Having had the opportunity to leave something behind in Swaziland, Africa gives me such joy. Every bit of work I put in to my fundraising and spreading the word about the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Swaziland has in the end giving me so more. Now THAT is a beautiful gift I never fully expected.

Journey of a Lifetime....AIDS Walk Africa

Sharing everything going on in my mind about my journey for AIDS Walk Africa in Swaziland is almost impossible. But I hope to give you bits and pieces as I go along. So, after reading this blog please go to http://www.pedaids.org/ to see the virtual walk posted by the EGPAF. They have an amazing day by day account of all the details of our walk.


Here, I would rather tell you about what it felt like for me to be apart of this journey. It really was one of those life experiences that becomes apart of your soul, which I think are the best kind. We (the staff and 19 walkers including, my Mom and cousin, Casey) witnessed so much over the course of walking the land of Swaziland in just a few days.

First, the beauty of this peaceful country is amazing and its people are incredibly welcoming and gentle. Then taking in their tradtional way of living in the rural areas wherewe walked to clinics and schools. Witnessing the children, my god, the children- with our own eyes and touch. And knowing with each time you made eye contact, smiled or touched a child that they are what this mission is truely about. Giving these beautiful children a chance at life free of HIV/AIDS!


This is a preschool (above) we stopped at to donate some clothing items, paper and coloring pencils. The teacher said her school needs a new roof. She also said that all of these children are orphaned by HIV/AIDS. In Swaziland, we didn't see orphanages, instead the children are raised by extended family in the community.

Going on this walk I prepared myself to feel a great deal of sadness, but found that while I had some moments of sadness (ex: witnessing a boy with shoes that were a men's size...but he wore them to school. Also, witnessing a boy with such severly bowed legs he could barely walk and knowing this could be corrected in the U.S.A. so easily) the sadness I felt was overpowered by the HOPE and JOY! The incredible hope that the people hold for their children to be able to live free of HIV. The hope was in their eyes, and smiles. The hope rang in their sweet voices as they sang and danced for us. The message of the children's dance was a brave one...to say out loud HIV is killing our people, we need to make good choices and keep ourselves healthy as we are the flowers of our community.





The children stay with you. I met a sweet little girl, named Tula, while walking. She was fasinated by my sunglassess and then proudly wore my sunglasses and carried my walking stick as we walked together. She reached out to hold my hand. As we walked those hills together hand in hand, I realized these are the hills her mother walked with her and that she will likely walk with her own children one day. The terrain will not change, but the plight of the people walking this terrain can! It is possible! There is hope for her...and for all these children. I felt the hope and know it is possible to eradicate HIV.

The cultural norms and taboos surrounding HIV/AIDS must continue to evolve and the Swazi-people realize that they must happen first with their youngest generation. This nation is being destroyed by HIV/AIDS and the challenges they face are enormous. Many Swazi-men do not want to know their HIV status and continue to take many wives and girlfriends. The women in the rural communities have very few resources and so many challenges (poverty, HIV stigma and status, clean water, basic needs).

These are a traditional Swazi -homesteads with the husband's sleeping quarters, the wife (or wives) have their own sleeping hut and a seperate kitchen. Swazi's prefer to have the main home round as to keep the "evil spirits" from hiding in corners.

The next time you take your car to a Dr's appointment and wait to see the Dr., think of this. As we walked the miles and miles through the hills you couldn't help but imagine yourself a Swazi-women: barefoot, pregnant, not feeling well from HIV/AIDS and carrying a child with her walking miles on very rugged terrain, and steep hills to get to the clinic for medical treatment for herself and her child (preventing mother to child transmission, prenatal care, her own HIV treatments. Below is a photo of some of the roads walked, a mother and baby waiting in the clinic, and an outside shot of the clinic where they provide soooo much to the community on limited resources. The EGPAF provides the support to help prevent mother to child transmission and treat HIV/AIDS.

The mothers often wait all day to be seen and will sometimes sleep on the grass outside until the next morning. The Swazi-women are no different than all mothers who deeply love their children and want their children to have a healthy start in life... to be born free of HIV. Like all mothers, they too want to be healthy and be able to raise their own children, but are fighting against many challenges to do so.

There were countless moments that have stayed with me. Some are the amazing walkers I met who really use their lives and are so inspiring! But for me what comes to mind first are the interactions with the children. We met so many. I liked to teach them to do a "high five". They would hesitate at first and then doing the high five brought a big smile and giggle. Sometimes we would do patty-cake too. Some of the girls love to dance and we twirled them, which they loved They especially loved to have us take their photograph with our digital camera and then be able to look at their own image.

I had heard ahead of time that the children will want to look at our camera's images and then the idea came to me to take that one step further. It was absolutely one of the most joyful moments of my life was being able to pull out my polaroid camera and take photos of the children and mothers. I was able to witness the pure wonder of a child as they looked in total awe at this photo developing right before their eyes. They clung onto their special photo as if it was gold. I was able to bring 80 photos for the polaroid and each time I took a photo I felt such joy in being able to give them something meaningful that they will treaure. And for me that is one of my greatest treasures.

I will have more to share with you soon!