Hello everyone! This is a piece I created called "Into the Ocean" and I based this off the song "Into the Ocean" by Blue October. The song is wonderful but what really caught me was the particular background story behind the song. The song writer and singer of the band, Justin Furstenfield throughout his younger years dealt with some major battles regarding drug abuse and depression. And I remember reading an article one time about the story behind this song. While contemplating suicide at one point Justin remembered an old fable he had once heard. It was about a man that went out to sea after suffering some tragedy in his life and jumped off his boat to give himself up to the sea. Upon hitting the water the man realized everything he was leaving behind and all the love and sacrifices that were made for him. So he had a change of heart and decided that after all he wanted to live and not just survive but live life to its fullest. So after this revelation and not being able to get to his boat he swam back from the sea. Now some of my facts could be off about the whole story I honestly cannot remember every detail but that was the jest of it. I always felt that it was such a compelling story and I tried to represent that in my piece. No matter the storms and waves that continue to pound on us and the blackness that engulfs us. We are powerful and strong enough to overcome, we shape our own destiny and are resilient enough to not just endure but to rise up.

Thank you all for allowing me to share!
~Nate Lonnen

Well it is finally here we have created a blog! We are trying something unique with allowing our artists to showcase pieces they have done and the meanings/stories behind the artwork. We have heard a lot of feedback that people want to hear the stories of the artists so we figured this would be a great way to do that. Please feel free to provide constructive comments and spark up conversations with our artists. Hope you all enjoy!