Gallery
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Pic-Ur-Pet Portraits
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I always knew my Mom was blessed with multiple talents. It was just a given - one of those things that gets so easily taken advantage of because a person "manages" to make it look so natural. Yet, behind the scenes, that's exactly what she has done her entire adult life - manage. Mom managed to work several jobs at a time to make ends meet. Mom managed to keep a roof over her kid's heads while the bills closed in around her. Mom managed to work three jobs a week without considering there was any other alternative. My mother, at least to me, took on the mantle of making a pleasurable passion (or several in her case) into a business fueled by necessity.
... a master musician fortunate enough to work dozens of piano bars across the Eastern seaboard.
... an incredibly gifted portrait and fine artist, creating images of loved ones throughout the country.
... an aspiring writer and poet, submitting pieces to hopefully gain exposure.
My mother still is all of these, yet at least to this ringside observer, I see that she never lost sight of the beautiful "little and big" things which make life worth living.
Yet, amidst all of this... my Mother was brewing something...
I hadn't really learned about "the Book" until a couple of years ago. Mom had come to me and asked my release on some photos of myself and family . She had mentioned that she had contacted an online publisher and was working on "putting it all together." Putting WHAT all together? Online publisher? My mother could barely use the keyboard on a computer let alone emailing and putting art files together!
Myself being a child of hers, thought... "Well this is just another wild idea that will eventually and sadly succumb to what NEEDED to be done." as it was simply that I now understood the road she walked in EXACTLY the same way.
But through all of the experiences, the pets, the lives, the deaths, the moves from here to there, the small successes, a few failures... came this... "The Book" as I've come to know it, truly is a compilation of A LIFE. Regardless of whether you've lived it, find her stories and rhymes funny, sad, or revealing. It is honest, passionate, and real. I’m sure my mother cannot believe the product she now holds in her hands... the final compilation of a journey in her lifetime.
GREAT SUCCESSES do not need to manifest in monetary wealth. If my Mom, or all of the other hopeful artists, musicians, or writers across the globe do not make one dime from their LIFE’S STORY, then so be it. It is the passing on of a legacy that matters more than anything.
I am personally so proud of this book and I am very grateful to the eyes that read this now, not for myself but for my Mother. Hopefully, from her experiences, she will not only transport, but be a shoulder for some reader out there to lean on. Mom... you did it... and all the while I, nor probably you, could have ever imagined it... and hey, that's me on the front cover!
Russell Cera is also a professional fine and graphic artist, musician, and writer... much like his Mom!
rceracreations@gmaiI.com