Projects At Work

Holy Empathy: “tell the world”

 

Through THE COMMISSIONS PROJECT, the beauty and justice initiative of Natalie Salminen Fine Art, One Million Thumbprints has commissioned the painting, Holy Empathy: “tell the world.”

One Million Thumbprints is an organization committed to seeking the end to violence against women and girls in conflict zones. Fueled by the story of Esperance, the Congolese woman who used her thumbprint as her signature with the request to “tell the world” her story, the heart and mission of One Million Thumbprints was born.

With thumbprint in hand, how does a story like Esperance’s and millions of other women and young girls’ stories come to light? Through empathy. “The only virtue muscular enough to meet the complexity of this moment. The brave, audacious power of empathy can save the world, and us,” says Belinda Bauman, founder of OMT and author of Brave Souls: Experiencing the Audacious Power of Empathy. And she’s right.

Believing that art “opens our souls to flourishing, and spiritual disciplines keep them open,” OMT desires that this work of art would awaken hearts and minds to empathy, the spiritual discipline most needed for our time. “Empathy is a spiritual discipline we pursue within our power so we can do something beyond our power,” says Bauman. May you be reminded through this painting that just as thumbprints, ferns, and galaxies are signs of a pattern repeating for infinity, the fractal of infinite love is upon and within us, beckoning us to love others without measure or limit.

“You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it.” – John Updike

To support One Million Thumbprints and millions of women and young girls in conflict zones around the world, click here to purchase this print. This is creative advocacy for the common good.

Holy Empathy: “tell the world” asks us to listen. And act.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

N S Rude - Boundary Waters 36x48 (b), 2/15/18, 4:41 PM, 8C, 8460x10907 (71+236), 108%, Custom, 1/12 s, R91.2, G56.7, B69.4

 

Her Soliloquy: Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

 

This very special image champions and celebrates a national treasure and the crown jewel of northern Minnesota – the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

In a timely commission through my art + justice initiative, The Commissions Project – Bent Paddle Brewing Co. (an award winning Minnesota brewing company who knows a thing or two about the absolute importance of fresh water) commissioned me to create an encaustic painting that inspires us to protect and paddle on – in these very treasured, yet vulnerable waters.

This image is part of The Commissions Project – 50% of print proceeds go directly to Friends of the Boundary Waters! Friends of the BWCA advocate for the preservation, protection and enjoyment of this wilderness gem. Beauty will save the world!

To purchase this print and to support fresh water, wilderness treasure, and to gift our future generations, click  here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

 

Diamond Heart, Mined

 

As I began painting “Diamond Heart, Mined” I knew something incredible was about to unfold. It was a commission for a client who entrusted me with specific details from her life that she requested be incorporated into an encaustic painting. We created the image with the intent to visually remind and guide her back into the hope that she has in her future and the hope she has in God. I call these kinds of projects “commissions of an interior nature.” Personal, intimate and powerful, this kind of work is my absolute privilege to be a part of.

So here’s where the story gets reaaaallly good – You can change the world!

This image is part of The Commissions Project – 50% of print proceeds go directly to Africa New Life – and their “Food Is” campaign.  And now, this painting moves beyond a single wall and out into the world in the form of fine art prints. Your purchase makes an impact! A difference! It says to the people of Rwanda that they matter, that they are seen. That their hunger is real and those who can help, WILL.

“Food is courage. Food is an investment. Food is justice. Food is not a given. Food is a future.” The impact that Food is Rwanda is having on their country is undeniably extraordinary. Join with them in bringing hope, dignity and a bright future – through food. Change the world with art!! Isn’t that wonderful news? Putting good gifts to good use!

To purchase this print and to support justice and the future of Rwanda through nourishment, click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

Risked

 

The Story, a local church in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, commissioned me to create three modern day icons that reflected their values – Risked, Tabled and Rooted. Risked embodies the following statement: “That by embracing a holy insecurity, betting it all on God, fear is neutralized and in turn we become our true selves.”

When we take risks as people of faith, we dive into the gospel, knowing we will swim in grace as we lead lives of “holy insecurity” and “downward mobility.” Those who lose their lives for Christ’s sake will ultimately find the true lives they were created to live.

Proceeds go right back to the community of the Story, so that they can continue their work of integrating truth and beauty, creativity and compassion into everything they put their hearts and minds to, alongside their neighbors, right where they are rooted.

To purchase this print and to fuel creative communities of faith, click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

Tabled

 

The Story, a local church in Sarnia, Ontario, commissioned me to create three modern day icons that reflected their values – Rooted, Tabled and Risked. Tabled embodies the following statement: “That we are assured a place at God’s table and in turn our hope is to be referred to as Jesus was, drinking and eating, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”

The beauty of this image is that we are invited to this celebration and there is room for all of us! No one need be excluded. Accepting this invitation has nothing to do with our behavior. Jesus loved us long ago and loves us now…even in our current condition, which for most of us is quite broken. Our lives are messy and God knows every detail. Even still, he invites us to a glorious party because of his great love for us. So much to celebrate!

Proceeds go right back to the community of the Story, so that they can continue their work of integrating truth and beauty, creativity and compassion into everything they put their hearts and minds to, alongside their neighbors, right where they are rooted.

To purchase this print and to fuel creative communities of faith, click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

Rooted

 

The Story, a local church in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, commissioned me to create three modern day icons that reflected their values – Rooted, Tabled and Risked. Rooted embodies the following statement: “That God’s story (the alternative story to the empire that we find ourselves in) takes root in us and we in turn root wherever we find ourselves.”

So much of what happens in the kingdom of God is unseen. As people of faith, we can trust that all of our faith-work (our prayers, our “small things done with great love,” etc) are growing the kingdom of God and producing fruit that will last. We will reap 30, 60, 100 times what was sewn!

Proceeds go right back to the community of the Story, so that they can continue their work of integrating truth and beauty, creativity and compassion into everything they put their hearts and minds to, alongside their neighbors, right where they are rooted.

To purchase this print and to fuel creative communities of faith, click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

A Curated Softness

 

This painting was commissioned and created to bring hope and comfort to mothers who experience loss. Two songs guided this imagery – Like a Lake by Sara Groves and Climb this Mountain by Will Reagan and United Pursuit. The lyrics beautifully reference imagery of holding an open-handed posture as we move through life, climbing mountains, and staying open – like a lake.

Tenderly, this image emerged as a landscape that could bear witness to deep grief, encourage staying soft and open in the midst of heartbreak, as well as stir hope through the soft ease of the painting itself. Though the mountain looms, we will be always pursued. Text in the image reads, “Now I am going to allure her…” This word – allure – finds its root meaning in the word “open.” Much like the open waters of the lake we see painted. A Curated Softness was created to bring healing.

This image is part of The Commissions Project – 50% of the proceeds from each print go directly to WORLD RENEW, an organization “Compelled by God’s deep passion for justice & mercy, we join communities around the world to renew hope, reconcile lives, and restore creation.” Funds from this image will go specifically to their Maternal and Child Health program.

Beauty will save the world! Your purchase champions the cause of the marginalized, and those working for healing – art for the common good.

To purchase this print and support mothers and children in places of need, click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

Shipping Industry- Natalie Salminen Fine Art

Shipping Industry

So How Many Girls On Board

Human Trafficking

 

Let’s take a beautiful stand again human trafficking. Unfortunately the Great Lakes shipping industry plays a part in the illegal act of trafficking people for profit. We can stand together and ask our family, friends and neighbors to stop the demand. Partial proceeds from each sale of this print benefit Sol House of Duluth, Minnesota- a safe harbor and home for commercially exploited 15-20 year olds.

This fine art print communicates justice and beauty and hope through an original oil painting and haiku – an ancient form of Japanese poetry. Expressing a single feeling or impression while containing seventeen syllables in three unrhymed lines (of five, seven, and five syllables respectively), the art of haiku has been alluring poets and appreciators alike for hundreds of years.

To purchase this print and to support young women’s healing and freedom from trafficking, click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

Victory Garden_Natalie_Salminen_Rude

living without fear
to care for the refugee
victory garden

 

Victory Garden is from my Atmospheric Haiku series, a body of work that centers on matters of social injustice. Each image reflects a haiku written to direct and remind us of the beautiful, powerful work of justice we are invited to personally be a part of.

In the case of this encaustic painting, it is the justice of caring for the wander, the foreigner, and the stranger, the refugee, the immigrant. As a person of faith, I take this invitation very seriously and because of my Hope, this painting has led me and many others to great joy. We are nourished by the dreams, ideas, creativity, and culture that immigrants have planted within the figurative soil of the United States. Victory Garden – for everyone.

This image is part of The Commissions Project – 50% of the proceeds from each print go directly to Arrive Ministries, a refugee resettlement organization in Minnesota. Minnesota remains near the top among states for refugee resettlement in the U.S. Beauty will save the world! Your purchase champions the cause of the marginalized – art for the common good.

To purchase this print and to bring hope and justice to the “wander and stranger among us” click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

This Beautiful Mix

 

“This Beautiful Mix” was commissioned by a professor of nursing. She desired an image that would communicate her heart for the profession, as well communicate her philosophies of nursing. She gave me many influential quotes and ideas to contemplate as I entered into the creative process. My client believes nursing to be “this beautiful mix” of the arts and the sciences, and so, with the details and spirit of the image in mind, I was able to create an encaustic painting that communicated these ideals.

Wrapped around the central image of an anatomical heart and a red cross is text from Florence Nightingale’s famous pledge, composed in 1893. Snippets read, “devote myself,” “elevate the standard,” “hold in confidence,” and “with loyalty.” Mother Teresa’s simple yet powerful words are also highlighted, “Small things + great love.” Throughout the painting detailed imagery of holistic compassion, whole-family care, teamwork, medicine, anatomy, science, charts and graphs, the idea of loop-holes, social justice, familiar symbols of health care and raw perceptions are all stitched together to create a universal image which has the power to speak to nurses and and patients alike.

Partial proceeds from this commission go directly to Red Cross Canada, Helping the Most Vulnerable. Here is a small thing, done with great love.

To purchase this print and support nurses everywhere by joining their mission, click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”

 

 

Consider

 

“Consider the wild flowers, the fields, consider the ravens… they do not toil or worry, yet they are cared for and beautifully dressed. Would you like to rest? True rest is being offered to each one us. No worries. Just consider the exquisite beauty of the flowers and the carefree flight of the birds. They are a picture of provisions that goes above and beyond the ordinary. Everything about them is extraordinary. So let us consider surrender. Consider relinquishing every anxiety and fear to the One who knows all, and the One who provides nourishment, beauty and extravagance. Even to the humble grasses of the field.” Matthew 6 – Luke 12 – Matthew 11

This image is part of The Commissions Project – 50% of print proceeds go directly to Vancouver Resist Exploitation Embrace Dignity (REED). REED helps to resist exploitation by addressing the male demand for paid sex which currently causes millions of people globally to be trafficked and sexually exploited. Your purchase champions much – places that need justice and art for the common good.

To purchase this print and help resist sexual exploitation and trafficking, click here.

“The Commissions Project is an artistic opportunity to provide beauty, holistic justice and hope through artwork that is generative, purposeful and culturally inspiring.”