When I was 17, I had purple hair. It really bothered people. Karen was
22 and had flame red hair that she hid under a blond wig when she went
on job interviews. Flame red hair bothered potential employers. It
didn't matter that I managed to get into art school despite being a
high school drop out or that Karen was going to one of the best law
schools. It didn't matter that we didn't drink or do drugs. It didn't
matter that we were kind and generous and good. It just bothered
people that we dyed our hair and expressed ourselves in a way that made
us colorful or appear
different. One day, our beloved Nana asked me for
the millionth time why I
needed to have purple hair and I laughed and
simply said
because I am art. I wanted to make my point very clear so I
hand-painted my response on a t-shirt so people wouldn't have to ask
why, why, why? I painted many shirts and sold them to make extra money
while I was in
college. One day, Nana smiled at me in my hand-painted
shirt and said
you should add an S and an M before the A-R-T. I knew
she got it then. I knew she got me.
For the last 23 years, in my career as an artist and in my life as me,
our trademarked I AM ART slogan has been our mantra and our truth. I
always relied on the art of my life to inspire me and it never failed
me. This belief fueled my art and Karen's writing and we were so happy
to share what worked for us over the years in our books
Visual
Chronicles and Journal Revolution. We are still thrilled to know our
books had such an impact on so many lives.
After the books came out, Karen continued to save the world with her
bad ass lawyering skills and I continued to be an artist and
photographer, and of course we kept journaling together on the side--
in the same way so many other people incorporate journaling in their
own lives.
Almost 2 years ago, we started working on a massive
art project
focusing on another topic we are passionate about. Of course, our
mantra
I AM ART was the basis of this project as well. And when I say
we, I mean we had a lot of help. And when I say almost 2 years ago, I
mean because we are
us, every time we start something,
something else
happens.