Round 3 of Old & New Project came to a close today. It’s been another fantastic set of contributions from artists all over the globe.

Like any good parent, I don’t like to choose favorites among my offspring, but there were a handful in this round (all contributed by female artists by the way) that impacted me for one reason or another.

1. Gideon Meets the Lord by Ciara Panacchia (above)

This piece, though simple, has tons of emotion wrapped up in it without feeling melodramatic. That’s an extremely difficult thing to pull off for an illustrator, so the way Ciara does it here is truly impressive.

Another reason this image resonates so strongly with me personally is because I have a boy named Gideon in my family, and he—like his namesake—is up against all odds, yet consistently inspiring each of us with his capacity to do great things.

Sales from Ciara’s piece go to charity. Buy Now

2. Jonah Thrown Overboard by Melanie Matthews

One of my early reservations about the Turning Points theme was that we’d be including more popular Bible stories than past rounds. Both Jim and I have always been drawn to and enjoy sharing more obscure passages with many who may have never realized they were contained in the Bible. So when it came to perhaps the most illustrated passage ever from the Old Testament, I couldn’t help but be a little nervous we’d be publishing more of the same old thing.

While writing the familiar story of Jonah, I tried to focus on what may have been his greatest Turning Point (he had several), and it seemed to me the moment he confesses his flight and volunteers to be thrown overboard is pretty critical to the whole tale.

When Melanie Matthews delivered this piece (all the way from Australia, no less), my fears were relieved. She somehow managed to demonstrate one of the most visually exploited stories in all history in a fresh, new and fabulous way. The look of relief on Jonah’s face as he watches the sun break through the clouds and the storm subside, totally unaware of the gaping jaws below is totally priceless, and should go down as one of the great “Jonah and the Big Fish” illustrations ever.

Sales from Melanie’s piece go to charity. Buy Now

3. A Man of Unclean Lips by Sophia Foster-Dimino

Every once in a while, I’m so excited about one of our contributing artist’s agreeing to be part of the project, they can’t possibly live up to my expectations. After discovering Sophia this past year when her Bram Stoker “doodle” was featured on Google’s home page, I secretly thought there was no way she was going to create something as awesome as I hoped she would… but she did.

I honestly had to stop to catch my breath after seeing this for the first time, but what makes it even more fabulous is Sophia’s thoughts on her design process—which demonstrates so beautifully exactly why  including athiests among all the other variety of faith backgrounds contributing art to Old & New Project has been so important to Jim and I since the beginning.

Sales from Sophia’s piece go to charity. Buy Now

4. Samson by Alexandra Beguez

I have to admit, I faced a bit of a dilemma when Alexandra delivered this piece. The story I’d written on Samson was specifically about his spirit breaking in prison and reaching out to God in his first moment of real weakness. There was no mention of the lion carcass or honeycomb at all.

But this design was so awesome!

It was so good, in fact, I edited my story a bit to include a few phrases hinting at this lion-and-honey episode. I can’t say exactly what it is about Alexandra’s piece that moves me, but I love Samson as a “regular guy,” as opposed to the stereotypical Schwarzenegger-type, and her use of high-contrast reversed color is totally unique and surprising.

Sales from Alexandra’s piece go to charity. Buy Now

4. Saved by a Harlot by Julie Frey

Rahab’s is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible. Not only does it beg the provocative question, “what exactly were those spies doing in her house?” but I feel prostitutes are easily the most misunderstood and misrepresented biblical characters  (particularly in the western church).

I was really excited to see how Julie handled Rahab’s story. She focused on the woman’s redemption in the scarlet cord, but made sure to include the more scandalous but important facts surrounding the story (however appropriately left in the shadows).

Sales from Julie’s piece go to charity. Buy Now

Continuing what is apparently a tradition now… Here are some more fun superhero valentine cards for you to download.

Downloadable Superhero Valentines

• Captain America Valentine PDF
• Hulk Valentine PDF
• Storm Valentine PDF
• Hawkeye Valentine PDF

You can still download Superman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man and the Dynamic Duo valentines from last year. Check it out!

A few editorial illustrations I’ve done recently, including an illustration on making connections at the holiday office party; the recent “Right to Work” vote that passed in Michigan; and one humorous illustration for Thanksgiving & pumpkin pie.

Check out my Illustration Portfolio

Here are a few of my favorite albums from the past year. Listen for yourself in my “2012 Favorite Albums” playlist on Spotify.

2012 Albums I Anticipated

• Andrew Bird – Break it Yourself / Hands of Glory
• Animal Collective – Centipede Hz
• The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
• Beach House – Bloom
• Feist – Metals
• Grizzly Bear – Shields
• Japandroids – Celebration Rock
• Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur
• Mumford & Sons – Babel
• Passion Pit – Gossamer
• Regina Spektor – What we Saw from the Cheap Seats
• Sigur Ros – Valtari
• Sleigh Bells – Reign of Terror

2012 Albums that Surprised Me

• Alex Winston – King Con

• Bill Ryder-Jones – If…

• Diiv – Oshin
• Fang Island – Major
• First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
• Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE
• Lightships – Electric Cables
• The Menzingers – On the Impossible Past
• Miike Snow – Happy to You
• Norah Jones – Little Broken Hearts
• Of Monsters and Men – My Head is an Animal
• Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
• Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
• Twin Shadow – Confess

Strong Odors on Spotify

Strong Odors: Music-inspired Art

• Inspired by Music - limited edition giclee
• Entertain Us – original painting
• Subterranean Homesick Blues – giclee
• Just Like Heaven – original painting
• Bon Iver - giclee or iPhone case
• The Beatles
• Forever Young - original painting on barn wood
• Yellow – original painting on barn wood
• Dylan’s Song for Woody - giclee
• Bjork

On January 1, Lisa Congdon began an incredibly ambitious project. She set out to post a new hand-lettered illustration every single day for the year.

I suck at anything that has to be done every single day. Honestly I don’t even brush my teeth every day.

But she did it! Today Lisa posted her 365th hand-lettered illustration.

Check out the entire project on her blog. Here are a handful of my favorites from the project.

 More Lisa Congdon

Follow Lisa on Twitter

Like Lisa Congdon Art on Facebook

Read my Odorifous interview with Lisa

Purchase illustration prints on her Etsy shop

Lisa Congdon Fine Art originals available for purchase

I am part of a family that has had to face mental health head-on in a variety of ways.

When it’s come to our son—diagnosed with ASD in 2005—we have not had the luxury of denial, and we could not do our child the disservice of attributing his struggles to personality, quirkiness or behavioral problems.

He needed our help.

And two parents aren’t enough. He’s needed a whole community of adults around him offering whatever pieces of themselves that might ease some of his frustrations, bridge gaps of communication and provide opportunities for him to work within his strengths so that he might further develop in those challenging areas.

how many more must kill before we make difficult changes to how we approach mental illness.

We’re among the lucky… our boy is sweet and gentle, and although he has difficulty controlling his emotions when easily frustrated, he has never suffered from angry or violent compulsions. But for many desperate families that is sadly not the case, and they need our help.

Even though Autism is not a mental illness, but rather a neurodevelopmental disorder; we still fall within the mental health community thoroughly enough to see first hand how this system is failing. I live in a world where my son does not have access to therapies that could help, because insurance companies (including Medicaid) do not cover them. Even in a home with educated and informed parents, my child is handicapped by a system built for the well-being of executives rather than helpless kids.

How many more troubled young people must we watch destroy others before we relinquish some rights for the sake of our kids?

As much support as we’ve received from our immediate community, we’ve seen equal parts lacking from the greater community of our nation. Many children like mine cannot receive the help they need to thrive or maybe even survive in this society. A handful through decades of suffering eventually find that disparate condition compelling them to kill… some perhaps who could’ve been saved through better resources as children.

Right now many are asking how many more must die before we as a nation make difficult changes to how we approach guns.

I am asking how many more must kill before we make difficult changes to how we approach mental illness.

Our children need help. No number of armed guards or metal detectors or confiscated weapons can save them until we first find a way to rescue them.

Our nation must make mental health care resources readily available to all children.

How to Save our Kids

• Parents, you can no longer ignore your child’s compulsiveness, social anxiety, rage, speech challenges, behavioral quirks. Investigate the issue. Talk to an expert just in case your child is suffering from something deeper than a bad temper.
• Teachers, you have a responsibility to intervene in those cases when parents are uninformed and undereducated about the signs of mental illness, social and learning disabilities.
• Administrators, you must stand behind your teachers. You must make those tough phone calls to specialists and parents and you must not skimp on your special ed budget.
• Pediatricians, you must overcome the fear of your peers and offer parents some options. Have the courage to admit you might not know what’s going on. Connect with area resources that can step in to offer children the expertise you lack.

But most of all… our nation must make mental health care resources readily available to all children.

Where to Start with Mental Health

Find local resources for you or your family via NAMI

Know the warning signs of common mental health disorders

Believing that a child’s anger is “just a phase” that he or she will eventually outgrow is to deny what could be a serious problem. Before uncontrollable angry behavior escalates to a point of no return, parents can confront it and get the professional help they need. —Psychology Today

If you haven’t already, read Liza Long’s painfully transparent article about her own son’s rage disorder and mental illness in America, “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother.”