Ashley Cecil

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24″ x 66″ oil on canvas, $2,000
SOLD
See all artwork available for sale.

Last year I read The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson, a motivating book that pushes the limits of conventional innovation by pairing unlikely elements together to create a unique intersection of entirely fresh products, ideas, businesses, and of course recipes. I love that so many great gadgets, theories, companies and so on have come from people previously thought of as outsiders of a particular field, but who moved forward with an original concept to take a quantum leap into something totally new.

I heard Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, speak extensively about this last week. He is a picturesque example of an innovator deaf to naysayers.  He tirelessly worked engineering products that would lead to success of Apple and transform the world of technology. He didn’t devote obscene hours out of obligation or outside expectation, but because he was passionate about is work and had a goal he believed in. Thank goodness people like Steve who don’t understand doubt about something maybe only they know is possible.

For those engaged in service, activism, the nonprofit sector, or philanthropy, there are endless possibilities for such unique combinations of talent and need. Doctors working in medically under served countries (doctorswithoutborders.org) and high school art students creating portraits for orphans without a family story (thememoryproject.org) are a few such examples.

Sail for Charity is another hybrid of passion and service. The nonprofit puts people crazy about sailing to work finding sponsors for their team’s races to then give to an annually selected charity. Their selection for ’07 is The Ellen MacArthur Trust, yet another organization utilizing a love for sailing to serve others; in this case children suffering from a serious illness. Personally, the thought of being on a sailboat makes me nauseous, but that’s exactly why I’m better off coming up with my own innovative forms of service, like “painting activism!”

24\" x 66\" oil on canvas, $2,000 SOLD See all artwork available for sale. Last year I read The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson, a motivating book that pushes the limits of conventional innovation by pairing unlikely elements together to create a unique intersection of entirely fresh products, ideas, businesses, and of course recipes. I love ...