And the winners are...

To celebrate the second anniversary of Small PondArts, we decided to have a giveaway. We asked entrants to tell us about their proudest accomplishments over the last two years. I loved reading these entries;  they were so deeply personal and reminded me how each of us defines success in a completely unique way. I think it’s important to reflect upon our accomplishments and to celebrate them, and would like to extend a big “thank you” to everyone who entered for inspiring us with their personal reflections, and for everyone's kind words about our anniversary.

Look up... look way up... view from inside the silo

So without further ado, the winners as selected by random.org are…

First Prize Winner: CLINTON wins a custom oil portrait of himself or someone of his choosing by Milé Murtanovski

Second Prize Winner: ERIN JOHNSTON wins a Yeti puppet by yours truly, Krista Dalby

Third Prize: MICHELLE (Thunderpeep Designs) wins two CD's from our friend, Arlene Bishop: Snarky Girlpop and Begin Again.

Congratulations!  If you are one of these fine folks please contact us to make arrangements to receive your prize: info(at)smallpondarts.ca

If you would like to read the contest entries they can be seen here and here. Perhaps you'll even want to make a list of your own accomplishments, and discover that the built-in prize is a warm fuzzy feeling.

Two Year Anniversary Give-Away!

Today marks two years since Milé and I moved to Small Pond Arts.

Smooch!  Picture taken at the Big Splash

Time is a funny creature.  In some ways two years seems like a long time; we’ve accomplished so much, and I think Milé and I have both been deeply changed by our new life.  But two years isn’t really all that long; after all, it’s a measly 730 days.

Here’s some of the things that I did in the last 730 days:

• Moved from downtown Toronto to a farm

• Bought our first home

• Renovated and furnished this old house

• Started a small business 

• Learned to drive

• Learned to grow abundant glorious food in our garden

• Buried a time capsule

• Produced four community festivals

• Had my puppets in an art show

• Taught shadow puppetry to kids in 5 communities

• Sewed two giant silo banners (with help)

• Met a couple hundred new people, made a lot of new friends

• Wrote/directed/performed four puppet shows

• Helped make jam and pickles

• Traveled to Labrador, Northern Ontario, and drove to Arizona and back

• Was in local newspapers and magazines 24 times

• Started teaching myself to play the concertina.
• Made about 30 puppets

• Hosted a dinner party for 50+ people and threw some killer parties

• Made two mobiles – one of bones and one of sticks

• Led four community workshops
• Facilitated dozens of artists in residence... and fed them all

• Started a blog and wrote 34 posts.

Now I’m not trying to brag, but I feel like that’s a significant amount of stuff.  And honestly, I’ve been working pretty hard, but I haven’t been killing myself.  I could have done more.

Milé did a whole bunch of other stuff, too, like painting tons of paintings, having art shows, stiltwalking around Picton, and becoming one of the most famous mustachioed men in the County. 

A lot of people ask how we did all this. How did we make a life for ourselves that seems to most people like a crazy dream?

Well if you have a crazy dream, guess what?  You can actually do it.  Well, probably. But it’s not for the faint of heart. It takes fearlessness. Courage. Support of your friends and family. Hard work, obviously. And a little bit of foolishness. I've never really felt afraid that Small Pond wouldn’t work. You can't fear failure if you want to succeed.

I could be yours.

***CONTEST DETAILS***

Now it’s your turn.

We want to know what you’ve done in the last two years.  What are your accomplishments?  What are you most proud of?

Tell us in the comments section below by 7 PM March 15, 2012 and you could WIN one of these great prizes:

First Prize: A custom oil portrait of you or someone of your choosing by Milé Murtanovski

Second Prize: Yeti puppet (pictured above) by yours truly, Krista Dalby
Third Prize: Two CD's from our friend, Arlene Bishop: Snarky Girlpop and Begin Again.

One entry per person. We’ll post the winners here on March 15, 2012 by 8 PM, as selected by random.org

It's time to toot your own horn. Good luck!