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  'Glow from Within'
MariCA
Artist MariCA ~ MariCA was one of my first students. She came to me desperately wanting to express herself BUT....
You can't imagine how often I hear this...BUT I HAVE NO NATURAL TALENT !! AND even LESS imagination, she added...
I could hear her intelligence and desire and her IM's and emails and her frustration but action to keep going and keep trying.
She says that I changed her life however, I think SHE was ready for a change and so desired to be an artist. SHE had RAW talent and an enormous imagination. Two things she was wrong about.
She isn't wrong about much else. She chose the medium of the computer program to do her work in, which is even more difficult for many.
Once MariCA became focused on her feelings and her art - they came together in a most beautiful and unexpected way. Hope that you enjoy her work.
 'Sharpei Pup' 'Pup' S. Rivera/2001
Artist Stephen Rivera - Steve spent time in prison for minor drug offenses and probation violations. Our system has this horrid idea that prison will stop drug abuse. Fact is abusers are afflicted with a disease not unlike diabetes or cancer or AIDS - and just as deadly. That is two reasons why this is no laughing matter. 1/ A Man or Woman is wrongly imprisoned and 2/ they are NOT given treatment for their disease as defined by the AMA in the 1970's.
In spite of this, Steve sent letters by snailmail home to his wife and kids as often as he could. This caused his wife, Michelle, to have a very large collection of work by Steve. He calls his work 'EnvelopArt'. He also does work on 'hankies' that he sent home to her.
You may find Steve in our WordCorner as well.
 'Dream Guide'
Artist Rocco - Rocco is a late-bloomer as a professional artist but has always been 'drawn' to art (no pun intended). He remembers being with friends afterschool and they would all draw pictures while doing some innocent partying. It is something that has sustained him through a very difficult life. The loss of his mother in his arms at 7. Living in the Italian section of Portland, Maine, known as Munjoy Hill - he had an active lifestyle. He lived up on the hill with his father and grandmother. Some of his brothers and sisters chose to live with an aunt. Rocco always thought his place was with his father and his grandmother. Perhaps because he was the oldest. At 17 he enlisted and did a tour and made it back to work as a lineman for the phone co. for almost 20 yrs.
He married a woman with 2 daughters. He had a son (below:) with her and is much more able to focus on his artwork and sportscard collecting. I find Roc's work to be very compelling with a primitive element to it. I like it very much. We hope you enjoy it too.
 'Roll of the Die'
Artist r.Tripaldi,Jr - Son of Rocco (above), Rocky is 22 and has found his vein of gold in the 3-D world. He uses basic acrylic polymer clay and a simple oven for a kiln. Roc is also very talented in writing.
Learn more about Rocky as featured at the site
Please check out his site as an 'Extendo-Poet'.
 'Build Me A Home'
Betsy A Foster;Fine Artist - Growing up in NY State in the US Betsy enjoyed crafts of many kinds. In highschool she found her liking to be in the field of art. When going to college she could think of nothing she would like better than to be an artist. Naivete played it's part, but it is good, in the long run, that it did. She went to a small college in NH where she married someone from the town where the college was at. She received her BA in painting with a minor in Psychology. She then married this man and was pregnant with his child while working on her BFA at this college. He was a little over a year old when she graduated and now he will be a sr. in highschool in the fall. Time flies.
Her marriage and son kept her busy and she found little time to do any of her own work. After a year or so, she decided to begin what became a lucrative sign business, for a time. Sign Language Sign Co was owned and operated first by Bets and then her ex-husband decided to help as well. This business enabled them to purchase their first home and subsequently 2 more children were born.
As the marriage deteriorated, Betsy was diagnosed with many things. She was threatened that she would lose everything that she cared about and she did. These threats were carried out to such an extent that NOT having a nervous breakdown would be a strange way to react!!!
Now on the road of recovery and seeing her children frequently, she lavishes in her advocacy work on the computer and doing her OWN artwork at home. 'Although I haven't sold much, the freedom I bought myself - I wouldn't it trade it for the world', she says. 'I may have lost alot, but I wouldn't expect an animal to be treated the way I was treated,' she continues, 'and opening someones eyes to help them know it is not their fault and they don't have to go around carrying all that burden, is a gift that far surpasses anything I can ever imagine. To know that you have made such an impact on someones' life that you may have changed the direction of that person's life and ultimately the way their life played out. THAT is ALMOST as good as a hug from my kids. :)' she smiles. Her work has come a long ways and she has produced in excess of 200 pieces at LEAST over the past 4 years or so. She is now trying to learn how to get this all online and to do this gallery with others.
Thanks so much.
MORE TO COME...
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