Good afternoon friends, readers, fans, and welcome. Today I am featuring a blog by artist Jennifer Lynn. She has put together a GoFundMe project for an artist documentary hike she is embarking on later this year as a way to inspire others to never give up, know that you can change for the better and that you can accomplish everything you desire, you just have to start. For those of you who are new, I recently interviewed this wonderful artist a few months back. You can read the blog by clicking the link below.
Jennifer Lynn Artist Interview
THE GREAT BRUCE TRAIL END TO END ART SHOW & HIKE! This is more than just an artist camping along a trail… please read… #brucetrailartist PLEASE help us get the word out! SHARE THIS! All donators over $75 will be entered in a draw to receive a free 24″ x 36″ custom painting by Jennifer Lynn. (retail value $1250).
THE STORY:
How this started… Almost two years ago now I came close to dying. I had major DVTs in my left leg that just about took my leg and my life. When I finally went in for surgery, May 19th, 2016, I was moments away from losing both.
I struggled hard to come back from that, losing my home, my relationship, all of my savings, and almost my will to keep going. I could hardly walk 1km and I had gained 140 lbs from forcibly being inactive. I had to use a walker at 49 years old.
When I moved to Niagara and took in my beautiful surroundings, the power of the falls, the strength of the rapids, the effect and spiritual presence of the escarpment, the vast vineyards, and the sense of history and nature, my spirits began to lift. I began again with The Secret and then read the entire series by Lisa Nichols Abundance Now. I returned to meditation and positive affirmation methods. I returned to prayer and the guidance of the universe. I regained my attitude of gratitude. With a little help from friends I got my body in motion and started my long journey back to me.
I picked up my paint brushes again, I began to work more aggressively on being able to walk again, and I pledged to myself that I would be able to hike and cycle again by the summer of 2018. I went from the walker to a cane to now. occasionally needing a walking stick after being out and active for hours.
I began eating healthy again, I focused on doing the exercises I needed to get my leg moving, I went from slow walks, to fast walks to finally being able to join a gym and managed to take off 100lbs while doing so and relaunched my career as an artist.
This journey isn’t just about painting and hiking – this is about celebrating my return to health, nature, the arts and me. This journey is a celebration of life – not just my life – but motivating you to also celebrate your life. We welcome people to visit us along the way. Share our fire. Hear our stories. Hopefully we’ll help you spark your way back to your own trail.
Many people have been encouraging me to put what I’ve learned in a book or on a blog… Well this is the rest of the journey yet to be documented. So, please, help me get to the start line in Tobermory and the finish line in Queenston where I will create a documentary and a book to inspire others to do the same.
The Documentary will be my video journal of the hike, painting, eating, exploring the Bruce Trail. Of course, the documentary will also include the making of the book.
The Book will include images of the paintings, inspirational thoughts, trail recipes, exercise tips for those of us over 50, and everything else I can think of to inspire you to get in shape and chase your goals.
THE HIKE/THE PLAN
Following in the footsteps of the Group of Seven I will hike and paint another beautiful part of Canada – The Bruce Trail in Ontario Canada end to end. The trail begins in the Niagara Peninsula of Southern Ontario in Queenston, Ontario, on the Niagara River, not far from Niagara Falls and ends on the tip of Tobermory Ontario. We will be hiking down the trail – this means starting in Tobermory and working my way down to Queenston.
FIRSTS:
– THE FIRST ARTIST TO DO A PAINTING HIKE OF THE BRUCE TRAIL END TO END.
– THE FIRST SURVIVOR OF DVTS AND SEVERE NERVE DAMAGE TO HIKE THE BRUCE TRAIL END TO END
– THE FIRST WOMAN OVER 50 TO SOLO HIKE THE BRUCE TRAIL END TO END
The Bruce Trail is approximately 900km end to end. To hike, paint and camp, it will take about 3 months. I’m not out to break any records for speed – I’m out to capture the beauty of the trail end to end.
As each work of art is complete it will be sent to the Hub Gallery on Queen in Niagara Falls where a showing and private auction will be held when the entire trail is finished. 25% of the funds from the private auction will go toward funding the Hub Gallery in their efforts to support new artists and art programs.
When the hike is finished I will be cutting a documentary of my experience and marketing it to various networks. As well, the paintings and sketches will be made available in a book about the experience when the hike is complete and will be sold on Amazon.
The money I am raising here is to pay for equipment rental, camping costs, art supplies, supply runs and shipping, and other miscellaneous expenses while I’m doing the hike. After the hike it pays for editing equipment, book design, and marketing packages to send out to various networks to buy our documentary.
HIKE METHOD:
The hike will be 25 days on and 5 days off every month. The 5 days off is for interviews, sending off completed art, medical check, wash up, and general inventory replenishments as well as needed gear changes and to deal with any issues with video equipment etc…
I am setting up volunteers along the route to run supplies and such – if you would like to volunteer along your portion of the route please contact me.
With camping and painting we will cover approximately 15 km a day. Some days will be dedicated to painting and no KM will be covered. The next day would be a 25 to 30 KM hike. The website will have up to date progress.
I, Jennifer Lynn, am the primary for this project. I have been an artist for 36 years and I’m an intermediate hiker. I am a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and my work hangs in the Hub Gallery on Queen in Niagara Falls. I also have experience in book design, book editing and video editing and creation.
I am also a chef and nutritionist and look forward to how many things I can actually find edible on the trail.
More about what to expect…
During the hike I will be doing facebook live and youtube videos to keep our investors informed as I go. I’ll be blogging directly to my gallery page on Facebook.
Jennifer Lynn Gallery
I would love to be able to do this hike this SUMMER/FALL 2018 so that I can launch the documentary and book this year. However, I will plan the hike for as soon as 1/2 the money is raised provided we have the equipment we need. All money will be held in a CIBC savings account until enough is raised to get underway. Regular posts will be made to ensure all donators are aware of the current status.
I am also looking for brand name sponsors like Sail, Canadian Tire, Micheal’s, Home Hardware, Coleman, website and website designer sponsor, if anyone would like to help me out with that. No sponsor is too small! In fact, we encourage Ma&Pa shops to sponsor us!!! We need gear, clothing, tents, cellular chargers video equipment art supplies etc… again please send me a message if you’d like to sponsor me with gear or art supplies or anything else.
Note to large investors, gear and art supply sponsors – we will have a website launched just before the trip. Your logos will appear on the site on every page as well as our facebook page, youtube page and any other promotional venue we use.
PLEASE NOTE: I really want this to be a straight through – end to end hike. However, to keep everyone happy, when 1/2 the funds are raised, if all equipment is in place, I will go forward with the hike. PLEASE help me get the word out. SHARE THIS!
What volunteer we need right now…
Website
Webmaster
More about my work and my qualifications
More about The Bruce Trail
I want to thank Jennifer Lynn for sharing with us. This project is very important to her so I’m encouraging you all to pass this blog on to as many people as you can.
Stop by next week, as I will be announcing a major event that has been in the works for a long time.
Until Next Time,
Lynn
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Printed with Permission
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Lynn Lawler's Creative Artists' Blog 