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On Friday I got an email from St. Stephen's Church that puts on the St. Stephen's Art Show in Miami calling for help in boarding up the church to get ready for Hurricane Irma. For some reason this really hit me since I obviously couldn't do anything from Minnesota but I really wished I could help all the artists that are going to be or have already been effected by the terrible hurricanes this year.  I had planned to donate to the artist relief funds but when I thought about how I was going to be having perfect weather for this weekend's art fair I thought I would do my best to share that positive weather karma.  

I decided to donate 25% of my sales from my show in Northfield MN to artists hit by the hurricanes.  I'm happy to say I had a record breaking show for this little show.  I plan to donate half to the fund Connie mentioned last week: Jerry's Artarama's fund: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c054faaa629a3f49-jerrys

I would like to donate the other half to a fund in Florida.  If anyone knows of any please let me know.

I hope that everyone is safe down there and that everyone gets the help they need to recover fully from these devastating storms.  I've only been doing Florida shows the last few years but I feel like I already know and love the area.  I also know that as an artist it is hard enough to do what we do and having this kind of destruction take over your life has got to be immensely challenging.  I am glad there are good organizations out there helping our artists.  Thank you so much to the people doing this amazing work!

And know we are all thinking of you all down there!

Hey everyone! I've recently started using my art for "good" and have created a children's book titled "What Makes You Special?" featuring my original paintings as illustrations and my original story.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1645616499/what-makes-you-special-childrens-book-by-britt-hal

It all started last fall when I created a painting of a narwhal. My husband told me it looked like it could be in a kid's book. I sorta brushed off the idea, but then at my fall art shows I also had a couple patrons tell me it looked like it could be in a kids book. Since this recurring theme kept presenting itself to me,I thought maybe I should think about it. So I started researching arctic animals, because there aren't a lot of animals where narwhals live, and realized all the animals were a bit like "misfits" of the animal kingdom. And so a story was born!

The hero of the story is Little Narwhal, who realizes that he is unlike the other arctic whales with his long tooth. Despite his papa trying to tell him how special he is, he has to see for himself and embarks on an adventure to see what makes other animals special. My book revolves around arctic animals – most of which many children will have never seen (narwhals, puffins, belugas, killer whales, moose, arctic foxes, harp seals, polar bears and musk oxen). Each animal offers something “strange” about themselves, but then also why that makes them special. At the end, Little Narwhal realizes that our differences make us who we are, and we should be proud to be ourselves!

Why is this important? I am increasingly concerned with the amount of bullying children are enduring and how cruel society can be to those who do not conform to its standards. If even one child reads this book and feels encouraged that he or she does not need to change who they are, then this book has been a success.

I am almost finished with all the artwork, will then have them professionally photographed, and will then be sending the book off to the printers! I'm estimating having everything to the printer by beginning of April. So I have started a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the printing and shipping costs and other things like ISBNs and ebook conversion.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1645616499/what-makes-you-special-childrens-book-by-britt-hal

Rewards tiers start at just $10 (to be listed on my website as a supporter) and goes up to $650 (for the original cover art painting). You can pre-order one of the books for just $25 backing pledge.

The kickstarter page has tons of information about the quality of the book, excerpts from the book, some of the images, etc etc. So I wont hash it all out here. You can check out the page to read all of that if you're interested. But I hope that you will find it in your heart to help me get this book into the hands of kids who need to hear they are special just how they are. Even if its just $10. It all adds up!

Thanks so much!!! Oh, and feel free to share the Kickstarter link on your social media pages! The more people that see it the better! THANKS!

Here's a little inspiration during these dark winter days, or for when you are wondering why you are doing what you are doing, from Casey Sheppard's, Case of the Nomads.