An Abundant Life - Creative Forces

Last week I wrote about Love & Plenty, a new project that I'm developing to help with the current crisis and beyond as we rebuild our communities into the future. As I mentioned, it is at heart a project to help bring sustainable commerce and community back to our neighborhoods, by focusing on helping restaurants to get funding to provide meals for people in need and to rehire the staff that many have had to let go as a result of being shut down for only takeout and delivery. There are many pieces of this puzzle that are being put into place very carefully to insure that this project is not only helpful but sustainable, and one aspect I mentioned about it that is an important part is that I am also combining Artists, Designers and small businesses into the project, to help promote them and their work and products with a portion of sales being donated to help fund the restaurants to make meals for people in need. A part of that has to involve a larger online presence because of restrictions for public gatherings during this time, and the project needs to incorporate ways that Artists, Designers and small business owners can be introduced to new audiences and meet new people who could be potential customers or clients or who might want to help promote them in some way. This is not a project about asking people for donations of their work or time, though there are some people who have offered to do that as part of their contribution. This is a project about economic development and building sustainable community partnerships, and insuring that people who have worked all of their lives towards a goal have a venue where they can be featured and honored for their skill, hard work and talents.

During this time I have been consulting with professionals from different industries because there are aspects of this project that need input from people with a variety of specific skill sets and knowledge in order for it to be not only successful but sustainable. One person who I always talk to about projects that I am working on is the Artist, Designer, Photographer and Producer Eugene Galles. I have known him for many years and we have worked on many projects together and I have also consulted with him for his professional input on projects that I have been working on that he was not an active part of. He has a wide wealth of knowledge and insight and I rely on his valuable counsel. For many years he lived in New York City, and now he is living in Montecito, California. I have written about him in this blog a few times, as a collaborative Artist on some of my projects in the past; as an Artist, Designer, and Photographer; as an Interior Designer and specialist in midcentury furnishings and lifestyle; and as an inspiration, a mentor and someone I am honored to call a friend.

A few weeks ago he called to ask me if there were any Artists who I knew who would be interested in giving Artist talks via Zoom for the group of people in an Artists' Collective that he belongs to in California. There were several who I could think of who I thought would be interested because I had already been approaching some of the people I know about the Love & Plenty project, and they had told me that they would be open to participating in Artist talks via Zoom calls and other online promotional venues. The idea for that had come from conversations I had early on with him, and also with the Producer Pamela Lubell, and with the Web Designer and Filmmaker Eric Sanchez and his wife the Artist Dana Gambale who I mentioned last week had created the logo for Love & Plenty. Eric had also already offered to help with editing any videos that were created via Zoom, and when I asked him if he would be willing to work with me and Eugene to edit what we were creating, he agreed and suggested that we do a trial run with just the two of us to see what we came up with. I will include that here, and it is also available on YouTube on the Channel for Love & Plenty - Creative Forces that has been created for this part of the project. Eugene interviewed me about the Love & Plenty project, and not only does it give a good concise background about the project and the different parts of it, it shows another skill of Eugene's which I had not seen before now which is his great talent at being a host of a talk show, something that he had done a number of years ago professionally but that I had not had the pleasure to experience because it had been before we met.

Creative Forces is the name of this new video podcast, and we have already interviewed two Artists and have more waiting in the wings. As with everything about this project, I am taking time to make sure that it is working well and everyone is able to be shown in the best light. I have learned over the years that though I might want to rush ahead, there is a treasure to be found in taking things slowly and allowing them to develop in the best way. So for now, here is the video of the interview between Eugene and me about Love & Plenty. There will be more to come of the many Artists, Designers and small business owners involved in this project as well as some surprise guests from time to time. Stay Tuned!

Creative Forces

Episode One

Eugene Galles, Producer

Interview With Jannie Wolff

Founder, Good News Foundation

Blessings,

Jannie Susan