The Painting Queen: Ian Universal On Telesma Resurrection Poster

I am honored and excited to announce that one of my images was selected to adorn a poster, and promotional postcard for the band Telesma! The image above will be on the celebration concert poster called 'Resurrection' for the upcoming July 20th show. The band is raising awareness and funds for band member Ian Hesford. The postcard and poster were designed by the lovely and resplendent female vocalist of Telesma, Joanne Juskus.

This concert is now possible because of the astonishing story surrounding the multifaceted and vibrant musician Ian Hesford, who suffered a near fatal heart attack onstage on April 20th. The band is calling the 'Rams Head Live' concert in Baltimore 'Resurrection,' because Ian Hesford took a short voyage into the cosmic beyond, and returned again to bless us with his music, and kind spirit. It is an incredibly remarkable story of love, music, and manifesting the Spirit of life. Also a miracle that night, is that two members of the Telesma audience were trained in CPR! While one was dressed in a top hat, and the other in face paint, they jumped up on stage to revive Ian. His heart stopped for a full hour, but between the swift action of the audience members, and the EMT's who worked at resuscitating Ian for 90 minutes, his life was spared. The medical staff at Mercy hospital call his recovery miraculous. You can read a wonderful article about those people, and that night's events here in this City Paper article written by Matt Kelly.

After news of what happened to Ian Hesford was realized, the entire band, friends, and music community, surrounded Ian with constant love and light, infusing the situation with amazing compassion! It is a testament to the beautiful soul and nature of the members of the band Telesma, who stayed by Ian's side while he was in the hospital. They posted daily updates about how Ian was responding, along with their own personal thoughts and feelings. Telesma is a remarkable family of love. Everything now involves helping their band mate, along with celebrating his return to this world. They live the inspiration that is found in their unique music. And If you loved Telesma before, you really become heart connected to them after witnessing their real life response of love and caring for Ian.

That is why it means so much to me to have a small part in this awe-inspiring outpouring of love, and celebration of life! It is truly astonishing that Ian will be back up on the same stage, just three exact months later, playing all of his varied indigenous instruments! With all the fabulous artists and professional photographers who take part in the Telesma community, I am so grateful to be chosen to express this admirable concert event. It is my hope that the image I call 'Ian Universal' will help bring some attention to a very worthy cause, and an evening of phenomenal musical communication. You can also go to this link to make a donation to a trust fund that has been set up for Ian's medical expenses, called "Painted Talisman Of Miracles." The July 20th evening 'Resurrection' concert will also have silent auction items that you can bid on with all proceeds going to Ian's medical fund.

If you are not yet acquainted with Telesma music, get your mind, body, and soul, ready for some transcendence! They are an extraordinary and infectious band, capable of soothing your Spirit, and moving your body with their compelling primitive/futuristic tribal techno rhythms. You can read more about Telesma and their new CD "Action In Inaction" in this post by Ben, and my original post about experiencing Telesma for the first time here. Their new CD is a rare creation, because from the beginning to the end of this musical journey, they have your attention. Definitely something you will play over and over! Ben's post is from the viewpoint of a fellow musician that understands on many levels what Telesma is expressing.

Ian Hesford and Ben Sherman at a Benefit for Ian at Cafe Nola

Being with Telesma live is the ultimate, because you will "feel" their musical vibrations, and those of the crowd as well. It all comes together in that divine space where you could be resurrected too!

To give you an idea of my thought process while working on my image of Ian Hesford, I used this original image from a photo I had taken at one of Telesma's events. I had worked up this one that I called 'Ian - The World Emerges.' While I thought it had appeal, I could not get past the feeling that it needed something. So "it happened" just as I submitted this first idea to Joanne. I pushed the button to 'send' on my computer, then turned my head and saw that Ben was looking at photos of the Universe on his computer screen. In that instant I knew, that Ian needed to be emerging from the Universe itself. So I wrote a note to Joanne that I was going to be sending her another image. I worked up about 10 versions till I was satisfied with the arrangement below. That image is the one Telesma used on the facebook event page for the concert. When I looked at the image again, I then thought to myself I need to Telesma-ize this image... and there is the final result, in the image at the top of this post, and on the poster.

That quick moment of clarity, in knowing that Ian needed to be projecting from the Universe, is one of those fun moments when you feel connected to the Source of all creativity, which leads you to the answer...and you say...yes! Finally my image fit the theme of the trip Ian took perfectly, so I named it "Ian Universal," because he had been there and back again.