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A group of friends and employees met to compile a list of words that exemplified qualifications for a relationship to be healthy as well as a list of unhealthy signs. Cleone Lyvonne, a former therapist, headed up this team which included Bob Reed, publisher, Gay Holland, artist, Colin Ingram; writer/editor; and Jane Clark, office assistant.

After the lists were for the most part agreed upon, Gay drew the art print design.  Then the team met several times with much discussion about the words and the placement of the words. This was a very lively, passionate, and exciting process. 

The goal was to have words with a high level of shared interpretations and easily understood by people from high school age all the way up.  Some words that came up as possibilities have been what we called “contaminated” by modern usage or could be misconstrued to mean too many different things to various people and were eliminated.

No list is perfect.  The goal of the art print wasn’t to have the most perfect list, but a list that would steer people in the right direction and be a catalyst for people to have discussions about their viewpoints.  We want people to think, to feel, to ponder, to set higher goals for themselves, to express their needs and desires, and to believe that relationships can be beautiful and healthy - including the ones they are in themselves.

There are three steps on the bridge on the art print that are hidden from view.  This is where people viewing the print may imagine their chosen important additional words.

The art in the print was purposely created to be gender-free, sexual orientation-free, racial-free, and age-free - universal in its appeal and application.  Students in high school or college, adults of all ages, even children and seniors can appreciate this educational piece of art.  Homosexuals and heterosexuals, people from all cultures may benefit from the message.

After the composition in design and words were finalized, Gay used colored pencils and watercolor paints to turn the black and white drawing into this exquisite work of art.  She created the floral border on one canvas and the fantasy nature scene on another canvas.  This process took countless hours.  The finite detail in her work is exemplary of why she has won awards for her illustrations in several books.

The next stage was to take it to a computer graphic designer, John Menke of Oregon Coast Printing.  First, he took pictures of each layer, scanned them, and made files in his computer. Many hours of tedious and complicated work followed.  The complexity and skill needed for this task was more than can be adequately described. Assisted by Cleone Lyvonne and Grant Prescott, the task was multifold: 

1. to size both the border and the center art to perfection,
2. to create the background layer, the layer for the title of the art print,
3. to put all of the words in that weren’t in the original art work,
4. to “marry” the multiple layers into one flat layer,
5. to print out a galley copy,
6. to make corrections and adjustments, and finally…
7. to make a CD of the final image for mass production.

 

Making copies of the art print, designing a web site, marketing this fine product… the story goes on ad infinitum.   As with any project of this magnitude in creative energy and altruistic purpose, it is important that as many people as possible have the opportunity to benefit from its educational, motivational, and inspiration aspects as well as enjoy its exquisite beauty.