June 9th - "On the Couch" with Just As I Am

As Rodney and I have been on this "Just As I Am" journey, we've done a lot of thinking and growing and learning. It's like our project has been a catalyst for us to put our focus on the human body and how it relates to our personhood--our whole being. We've seen people experience healing on very deep levels, people completely shift the way they see themselves, people change how they view others. It has exceeded our expectations. Rodney simply responded to a need for art that celebrates the beauty and dignity of who we are as people, with the hope that he could also help some of his clients who struggled with body image (sorry for the over-used term). It has done so much more.

On the 9th, we would like to share with a wider audience some of what we've learned from this project. We would love for more people to benefit from the message and the art in our book. (And to find more homes for the stacks of books in our studio!) And we think that hearing stories from people who have experienced transformation through the project will inspire and encourage people. We've planned the evening to feel like a talk show, complete with guest appearances by a musician and a comedian. It should be a fun night.

Here are the details:

Wednesday, June 9th
7:30-9:30 (doors open 7:00)
Gas Station Theatre (River near Osborne beside Subway)

A talk-show style event. Come be part of our live audience as we tape our version of Oprah/Ellen/The Hour...

Find out why 80+ Winnipeggers bared all for an art project and how it is changing lives and challenging perspectives.

Hear the story of why the project began, what it has led to, and where it's going.

Plus, expect some other guests providing entertainment and their own commentary on the potentials and effects of this project.

Tickets $10 at the door. Call 221-8413 (10-5) to reserve and make sure.

Body Image--Seeing Yourself with New Eyes

For starters, here is a little taste of opening night...

And now Sonya and I have a question to ask. How many women reading this have become so focused on certain parts of your bodies, that you have completely lost sight of your beauty? And men, have you forgotten that your true strength does not have anything to do with size?

Do you think of yourself as a:

- stubborn number on a weigh scale

- a collection of bulges, sags and dimples

- a lack of curves/muscles

- a size

You are not the sum of your parts. You are a whole person, uniquely and amazingly designed. Your body houses your spirit. It carries you through life. It expresses all of your emotions. It speaks your mind. It shows your love for others. It helps you transform the world.

Just As I Am is an art project currently showing at the cre8ery in the Exchange. It takes ordinary men and women of all shapes and sizes and shows the art in them.

Rodney had been at a loss for how to help our clients realize that they were not the only one with a certain body type. It wasn't until a friend of his challenged him with a story of his high school art class, that the idea came to him to create a gallery and book of images capturing the beauty and strength of real people.

This many-layered project touches on much more than body image, but it was one of the initial reasons the project came to be.

Here is what one of the participants had to say following opening night:

"I must say that I was struck nearly silent by the beautiful images hanging on those walls. Reading some of the descriptions that people wrote about themselves nearly brought me to tears in some cases. I noticed an energy in the room last night that was...what? Awe?....Reverence? Perhaps a mix of both, but it seemed almost like that hush that comes over you when you know you've entered a holy or sacred place. I believe that everyone that was there when I was there, was feeling the same things.

Rodney and Sonya, you have managed to do what should have been done a long time ago and that is to bring to light the beauty that is in every one of us. We are so bombarded with media images of thin, beautiful, "perfect" people that it's not hard to start comparing ourselves to the artificial photos we see, and soon enough we start to believe that because we don't look like them, we are ugly, fat, and not worthy of..well...anything.

I find it terribly sad that it has come to this, where we as humans have lost our ability to see our own greatness, our own beauty and our own perfection. Beauty is everywhere and your project has helped us to find that again. In the eyes of some of those photos I saw survival, healing, humour, and for some an awakening. It's like a weight has been lifted off of us. That weight of striving to be what society says is the perfect person. What we are discovering after this project, is that we are already perfect people. We are exactly what God meant us to be, in all our different sizes, colours, backgrounds and opinions. Everything about us is right where it's supposed to be, and who are we to argue that?

I feel privileged and blessed and grateful to have worked on this project with you. The changes I have seen and felt, and the emotions that your photos evoke, are something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I think if you ask any other participant, they will tell you the same. This has been life changing. You have changed our lives and for that we are all grateful. Thank you for showing us our own beauty and perfection. It was there all along.

Thank you, thank you, thank you."

With gratitude,

Laura (and Ella)

If accepting your body is something you struggle with, come out to the cre8ery at 125 adelaide st. and gain a new perspective.

Admission is $10. For more info, see www.justasiam.ca or the cre8ery's website.

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 12-5 pm, Monday and Thurs. 6-10 pm

(Show closes March 9th).

Joy, ache

It’s been a while since I stepped into the blogosphere and shared my heart with you all, the truth is the last few weeks as well as the last few months have been an emotional rollercoaster like I never imagined.

When I decided to do the Just As I Am project I did so out of a profound sense that a project like this was necessary and that nobody was doing it. I knew going in that the idea of nudity would be somewhat controversial but I also knew that nothing worth doing is ever easy, I just never really knew how hard it was going to get.

We set a date for this project to start almost exactly a year ago, my vision was simple, we will put out the idea that anyone who wants to come to my studio for a 10 min photo session can sign up and we will take a week off of work at the studio and put together this project. We would have an online gallery for the images and maybe a gallery would be interested in taking us on to put a show together. We made up some posters, sent out some press releases and went to work postering as many places as possible to get the word out about what we were doing, but would anybody come?? What if we took the week off and only had 1 person come? Would anybody in Winnipeg really say I believe in this as much as we did? So many questions. The next questions were just as valid, what would our families think of us for doing something they probably wouldn’t understand, and almost more importantly what would those who know our families think and how would they communicate that with the ones we love so much? Would I be ruining my career and reputation by being labelled as “that guy” that did the naked thing? How would this project affect my relationship with friends and family members, or more directly, would I lose friends over this? How would those in my church community react to this?

It’s a year later and I have a few answers. Firstly I have been able to walk with those of you who have been a part of this project as models. I have heard the pain you have felt as friends or family members looked at you with “the look” and made comments that made you hurt or cry; know that I too have felt your pain. I have also had the honour of hearing the other stories, the stories of how being a part of Just As I Am has brought healing to many of our participants, and how viewing it has brought healing to many of you who have taken the time to view this work; and my heart is filled with joy. As I stated at the beginning this has been a crazy ride for us, we have always been forced into asking ourselves over and over again how much we believe in this project. This has been a year of reading faces for me: I have seen the looks of disappointment in the faces of those I love and respect, I have seen the look of disgust in the faces of those who realize I’m “that guy”, I’ve seen the look of bewilderment in the faces of those who simply don’t get it. I have also seen the look of peace in the faces and eyes of those who finally feel “normal”, the look of victory in the faces of those who have faced their demons, and the look of healing in the faces of those who are on a new journey of self-acceptance.

Instead of this taking a week of our lives it has morphed into taking over about 5 working months away from my business. We have also had to make the decisions of how much we believe in this gallery and resulting book and in the end it has meant completely draining all of our bank accounts and signing over interest in our house and studio to the bank to produce this book. I have learnt again that God is my provider and that I’m incapable of taking care of my emotional and physical needs and in the end I feel a peace about being “all in” to a project that I’m proud to talk about.

As I got ready to go and hang the prints in the gallery I got an email that someone I’ve never heard of has sent a message to the Ellen D show telling her of the impact this project has had on her life and asking her to feature this project on her show, I’m deeply touched on a day like this to hear news like that. Thank you all for your support, I wish you all the very best in love, life, laughter and tears if need be, and I look forward to seeing you at the gallery this weekend.

Rodney

Just As I Am – Exhibition and Book Launch

Presented by Rodney and Sonya Braun of Eve Studios

Opening Reception: Friday, February 26, 7:30 to 11:00 pm,

at the cre8ery

125 Adelaide Street, 2nd floor

This exhibit and the book it inspired is a celebration; a celebration of our diversity and the different ways we look at ourselves and each other. It also celebrates the beauty to be discovered in accepting ourselves "Just As I Am".

Almost a year in the making, "Just As I Am" is a portrayal of over 80 individuals, who desired, for their own unique reasons, to honor their body, unclothed and unencumbered. For many it was an exhilarating act of acceptance and courage; a statement of being comfortable with who I am, just as I am.

Each participant in this amazing compilation is primarily self-posed. There are no contrivances, only the individuals themselves with Rodney’s skill and desire to capture the beauty and the spirit of each one. He, and all the participants in this powerful project, have been truly successful.

Share in the freedom, the courage and the unique beauty of "Just As I Am" Book Launch and Exhibition, Friday February 26, 7:30 to 11:00 pm at the cre8ery, 125 Adelaide Street.

Tickets $10.

Cash bar.

Tired and Excited

It has been a crazy couple of weeks which culminated in a couple of 15 hours days before finally getting our book off to the printers. Just As I Am should be delivered to the studio here in mid Feb with the gallery opening being on Feb 26^th. This has been a crazy month so far and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down, we have a birthday bash for Eve Studios on Tuesday the 19^th (We are turning 2) and then there is the valentines day rush followed closely by giving a lecture at the Manitoba Camera club and our book launch open to participants and their families only tentatively scheduled for Feb 11^th.

The past few weeks have been a time of trying to put onto paper the thoughts behind Just As I Am; I’m afraid I didn’t do it justice. The themes I always end up coming back to are this, 1. We are more similar than we are different. 2. God has made us each beautiful and each very unique and there is a great deal of beauty in our diversity. 3. We are so much more than what meets the eye; and if we can learn to see each other as the people we are as well as bodies we live in we will much the richer as people for it.

I’ll talk more soon,

Blessings.

Rodney

Just As I Am Project

Well it seems to me that the job of artists in society tends to be to shed light on issues that we face on a daily basis; and given the description that I just gave I would propose to you that Jerry and the cast of Seinfeld were in fact the artists of the century for the 20th century. I draw a lot of inspiration from the light-hearted jokesters in that they seemed to fearlessly bring into the open things that we all thought and were afraid to say while making us laugh about it. As I develop as an artist I have found that it is in fact very difficult to do what Jerry did, it is hard when you feel the judgment of those around you to stand up and do what it is that you think is right or to say what needs to be said.

Just over two years ago I received a phone call from a friend, one of the best and most influential friends I will ever have. Tim is an art teacher in a Christian school in BC and on this particular week he had taken his grade 10-12 art students on a trip to the local art gallery as he was prone to do a couple of times a year. Tim described the experience as they went through the upper floor of the gallery and saw some wonderfully inspiring “Christian” art, that is beautiful water colors and landscapes but then to his horror as they went down into the lower gallery they were hit straight on by a cartoon character in full frontal nudity doing something very derogatory. Tim decided it was too late to turn back and proceeded through the gallery with his students electing to spend some time with them afterwards discussing what they had seen and their thoughts on it.

“Why was there nobody who looked like me in there” was one girl’s response, “They were all perfect bodies.”
“Why are there no Christians doing nudes in art” asked another girl.
“I didn’t feel uplifted in any way from what I saw” stated another.

Art has the power to change our lives, as long as we as artists come at it not as “how can I shock the viewer” but rather “how can I open up my soul or the soul of my subject in such a way as to touch the soul of the viewer.” I have never had the pleasure of going to Europe, but those that I have talked to who have seen the David or the paintings within The Sistine Chapel both of which were created by Michelangelo say that seeing these works literally takes your breathe away. What is it about beauty and the body that is so inspiring??

David the Israelite king whose appearance Michelangelo was trying to capture said in Psalm 139 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,” I don’t know about most people, but growing up I didn’t feel wonderfully made; I was a skinny awkward kid who never felt comfortable in my own skin. The terms “Bone rack” and “beanpole” will probably haunt me all of my life, and now as an adult I feel as though most of the time I am a beanpole with a big lump in the middle where my thundering abs should be, my chest too small an undefined, shoulders too droopy and arms too spindly; again I feel more fearfully than wonderfully made.

For the past two years I have been thinking about the project of photographing art nudes of anyone who would come in to stand in front of my camera and be photographed “Just as they are” but as is often the case I have spent the last two years in fear of how a project like this would be viewed and so put off doing it. This past year has been a great and hard year for me as Sonya and I have been working on Eve Studios a studio which focuses on building self esteem in women through photography. I have been deeply hurt by the stories I have heard from some clients as they struggle through the question of “Am I beautiful”, and hearing the stories of hurt and pain that many of our clients have held on to for years and decades for some. On the flip side I have had a number of clients who have come in fully confident that they are beautiful and very comfortable with their appearance, and in these cases I have felt immense joy. I have seen incredible beauty in clients of all ages and shapes and can honestly say that they are Fearfully, Wonderfully and Beautifully made.

Just As I Am is a project where anyone from 18 – 118 can come and have 10 mins of photography time to bare their souls as well as their bodies and come to the place of saying this is me, Just As I Am. I ask only a few things of those who wish to be involved, Please bring ID that proves your age, please either write a sentence or two or come with a phrase or two that you feel describes who you are. I welcome men or women to come alone, but also encourage them co come as a couple if they want, or to come as a group; but if you want to be a part of touching the lives of others and in fact be touched with the beauty of who you are please sign up for a timeslot and be part of the healing process.

Rodney