THE CHANGING WOMAN PROJECT

Changing Woman is an art project that aims to empower women and raise awareness about women's issues and rights. Artist Patricia Ariel is creating twenty-one art portraits of women with stories to tell about how being a woman has impacted their lives, in hopes of transforming these women in role models for others. This site was created to feature all the twenty-one works created for the project, along with their creative process, and everything else related to the project.

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Progress in the portrait of Damara.

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Cassie

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Throwing some color on the portrait of Cassandra.

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Another portrait in the making. :)This is the preliminary sketch for the portrait of beautiful Cassie Reed, whom you will know a bit more soon.

The eye makeup is her "war paint", and it is part of her daily looks.

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at last, an update

I had a few people inquiring about the status of the project in the last weeks, a couple of them, sponsors that, much fairly, wanted to know where their money went and when finally they were going to see their perks.

I released the fundraising on early 2013. The plans were to spend the second semester and first semester of 2014 working on the portraits. The second semester of 2014 would be dedicated to put things together - movie, zine, book, show. By now I should be taking care of my sponsors, sending them books, artworks, prints, and everything else I promised in exchange of their generosity.

That is, IF I had raised all the money I needed to make everything come to fruition. That was clearly stated on the campaign description. The timeframe was subject to change depending on how much funding I would be able to raise. Through my major fundraiser, the Indie Gogo campaign, I collected only 5% of the total budget, estimated in $29,000. Added to a few other ways to raise funds, after all the fees, the value collected for the project did not get to $1,500. Chin up - that would be enough to buy supplies and start working without worrying about the utilities bill for one month.

In all my planning, I confess I made a mistake. I imagined myself immersed in the Changing Woman project for over one year, painting, interviewing women, drawing a zine, shooting, photographing, designing a book, putting a show together, dealing with printers, packing and shipping stuff, and all the myriad of things in between, alone. Within. Eighteen. Months. Not mentioning keeping life outside all that going. Because it exists, and it is a single mother’s life that often times has to struggle to have rent paid in time.

Call me crazy. I know I am. The good type of crazy, though.

I know I can do all these things, with a bit of help here and there. I was just not fair to myself, or maybe not realistic enough, as I quickly found out. Starting by defining a style for the stars of the show, the art portraits. Split between other artistic projects, commissions, shows, etc, took me months to finally define the creative process. For the non-artists that think we just have to press a button to make stuff, think again.  I would say that time has been a positive force, though. Honing a technique, maturing ideas (and ideals), knowing until where I can go, meeting people with the potential to contribute positively to the work - all these things can only make the end result better and more beautiful.

To the ones who have contributed to the project and wish to see results, I have only one more request: just a little more patience. The wheels might not be turning at the speed we all wished for, but they are steadily moving. Don’t forget the person who drives the car is passionate about the arts and helping people, just like you. That is all I live for and there’s nobody in this world more eager to accomplish my goal.

Also, I promise I will be updating this space more often so you can have a better idea of how things are unfolding. Don’t be afraid of connecting and don’t lose hope if sometimes I take too long to write a response. That usually means there’s a lot going on.

And last but not least, for all that you do, a heartfelt THANK YOU.

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So, after several months and 6 attempts, I finally got to finish the first portrait of the project! Since the first experience the work evolved to a more simple and illustrative style and a smaller format, and yesterday I decided to follow a bit of the energy of my Animal Spirits works and incorporate a power animal to each portrait - Angela gained a raven. Now I am letting the portrait rest to see if there's more to be added. I hope to be able to start the second one next week. :))

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Yesterday's progress: adding some coloring to the face's shading and work some more on the acrylic splatters, enhancing the color. I thought I was going to be able to finally present the completed piece. It is almost good enough as is, but I need a little more time to ponder if there's more to be added. I am also coming to the conclusion that following the face tattoos exactly as the tribes wore them is a little limiting, so it is better to make use of my artistic license and decorate away. And I will fortunately be able to show the finished artwork next week! What a journey that has been, and this is just the beginning!

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What a relief - I think i finally got there! So many attempts to end up with something so simple, a graphite drawing with watercolor acrylic splatters. I also gave Angela an Inuit face tattoo.  Little more treatment on the background and we're finally ready for the next portraits! so glad!

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Portrait of Angela, 3rd version. I feel like i am close to something. Of all the versions, this one feels more comfortable, maybe because I am more at ease with a more illustrative approach. We'll see. Anything is possible.

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Although I am happy with the face, the background is killing me. Could not find a satisfactory solution so far. I am afraid I will have to start over since the paper can only bear so much paint. Decisions, decisions... I need to move beyond this first portrait, there's so much yet to be done...

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There are many types of warriors.

I actually sensed how tribal body painting can bring power. And I knew I am in the right track.

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More progress on the portrait of Angela. I am enjoying the expressionist approach! Next week I will apply some decorative, tribal details, and i expect to have the portrait done. With the completion of the first portrait, almost one year after I started raising funds for the work I will finally feel like I am totally "into" the project. :)

Of all the stories I received last year (not a big lot,) four made the cut. I will be soon announcing a new "call for models", with guidelines for the reference photo and for the text. Please read this first if you are considering being a "Changing Woman", and stay tuned for the announcement.

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Coming back...

It's been a few months after my last update to the project. It was still the Summer of last year, when I started drawing Angela, my first Changing Woman. Between that Summer and January, I've been through some financial struggle that made me go slow with the project for a while. I simply could not afford the hours I would be working for no pay. Since I did not reach my fundraising goal, I knew this would eventually happen.

It does not mean the project was exactly put on hold, though. It's been on my mind at all times, being brainstormed, and polished. It is a commitment and a passion. I've been maturing many of my ideas, and trying to make them simpler in order to ease their viability. Besides, it is only natural that artistic projects evolve and mature with time. Starting by the style the portraits will be made. Although I love the concept I initially created, working in perfectly naturalistic rendered portraits full of symbolic elements can be too time consuming -- and a bit straining. I decided I wanted something that would carry more of my own energy, so I am still studying ways to give more movement and incorporate more gestural marks. The tribal association will still be there, after all it is all part of the idea to link these women to times when the Feminine was revered, before religion and culture relentlessly worked to "tame" us and "put us in our places".

And then, there's the movie. Not only parts of the visual creative process will be incorporated, but also an exploration of different artistic possibilities for the theme. The idea of transforming the stories in monologues and playing them seems very exciting. I've came to the conclusion that the wisest thing I could do is to leave for a professional the job of editing and putting the film together. But that will bring more costs, that I will hopefully be able to cover in the future.

But I have an exciting thing going on in the next few months. I am putting together a show displaying only the illustrations that will be used for the art zine, and I think I have already found the perfect place to host them, with percentage of the sales going for good causes. I will tell more as soon as things become more concrete. :)

So let the wheels move forward, because there are lots to be done!

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"Coffee For Art" was a success! During the 24 hours of fundraising, I got to draw for about 12. During all the process I talked with visitors, answered questions, and received lots of positive energy. In certain moments it felt like a party: people were exchanging information, art links, and having a good time talking to each other. It was very energizing and fun. The project also got to collect almost $200 in donations, no doubt a very positive result! I will soon be posting photos of the process here, so you can finally meet Angela, our first Changing Woman!

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In a couple weeks I will be finally starting the very first Changing Woman portrait! It has been such a ride, and it has not even started. There is still so much to do, so much to understand. I have the sweetest plans and enough ADD to get my life significantly messy sometimes, so it has also been an intense exercise on organization and creating structure. It is scary and it is exciting and it has occupied a lot of my head lately.

I have defined a date to start the de facto work, and this date is August 1st. The thing is that I decided to turn this moment into a celebration, and you are invited. I will take that day to do nothing else but draw and paint - excepting, of course, sleeping and taking care of some other basic needs. I will turn on my webcam at noon PT of that day and let people watch my working process whenever I am working. There will be moments of pure “domestic bliss”, a blonde little elf peaking at the camera, possible sounds of crows and seagulls (the seagulls are specially crazy at this time of the year), underground music, eventual city sounds (like noisy trucks that sometimes stop by the alley, exactly under my window), but try not to be distracted by these little sweet details because there will be an artist in full exercise of her sacred labor. I will be tweeting and I will be posting pictures to Instagram for all the 24 hours that the event lasts.

Simultaneously (and this is a VERY important part of this virtual event), consider donating $2 dollars (that's right, TWO. DOLLARS.) to contribute to the current Changing Woman fundraising campaign. This is a regular cup of coffee at Starbucks. With 2,000 fans and counting on Facebook, I thought that, if each one of them donated me a “cup of coffee”, I would easily surpass my goal! How cool that would be?

And this is why I am calling this event Coffee for art. It would be like buying me a cup of coffee. Except that that money will go into keeping my project going for the next months, so I can make enough art to lift the spirits of a lot of women that have been battered, exploited, neglected, discriminated. And give more hope to others that depend on a shelter to rebuild their lives.

The broadcasting will happen via justin.tv, on my (under construction) channel http://justin.tv/patriciaariel but I believe I can embed the video on other places. My plan is to create a page specifically for this special fundraising. This page will be powered by PayPal. US sponsors that wish to have their much deserved tax deductions can donate right at the USA Projects page (http://usaprojects.org/projects/changing-woman), but keep in mind that I won't get one penny of your contribution in case I do not reach the $2,500 goal - this money goes to the Matching Funds system of USA Projects to benefit unsuccessful projects.

Of course you always can consider donating more than a cup of coffee (because, hey, there are some cool prizes to win - I will be giving perks to donations from $25). But even if you cannot donate the coffee or the bigger bucks, you are welcome to peek into what my life is about most of the time and enjoy my art making process, and even chat in real time, ask questions, etc.

See you there!

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Spread the Love. Receive ART.

The Changing Woman project fundraising at USA Projects needs to reach a minimum goal of $2,500 USD so we can receive all the collected funds. We need to reach out to a maximum number of people in order to spread the word and collect donations.

With this purpose, I am giving away an Art Package containing an original piece of mixed media art ("Natura #3”) and a 4,6" x 6,5" hardcover journal featuring my work “Duality". The contest will run until August 13th at 7:00pm PT. On the 14th, prior to the end of the campaign, the winner will be announced.

To enter to win this beautiful prize just follow these rules:

1. Like and share the Changing Woman campaign athttp://www.usaprojects.org/project/changing_woman

2. Share this banner

3. Leave a simple comment below the giveaway banner, on the Changing Woman Facebook page’s timeline to be assigned a number

4. To have more chances to win, just share the campaign outside Facebook. You can share it in your blog, in your social networks like Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, or any other. Then leave another comment with a link to the page where you shared the campaign. Another number will be assigned to you. The more you share, the more chances to win.

Thank you for all that you do! And GOOD LUCK!

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All ready!

All ready to start the Changing Woman portraits series! This is the first batch of supplies purchased with the collaboration of generous funders that believed in this idea. I also have a camera to start documenting the process, all to be included in the final video. I am a huge mix of excitement and gratitude right now! Thank you to all the ones who supported the project in our first fundraising through IndieGogo!

The project will continue raising funds until its initial goal of $29,000 USD is met. To collaborate, please visit our page on USA Projects and pledge. With a minimum contribution of $25 you are already entitled to exclusive perks, and all donations are tax-deductible.