Naked Idealism

To inspire others and promote the concepts of Naked Idealism, I’ve created several designs that I hope you enjoy! Products include T-shirts, cloth shopping bags and bumper/bicycle stickers.

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The Rain Barrel People are illustrative characters from the book Naked Idealism, and were inspired by one of my first creations using some of the techniques outlined in the book: a rainwater storage and irrigation system to support our urban garden.

The Rain Barrel People provide some youthful lightheartedness amidst discussion of very serious topics, for an audience that sometimes takes ourselves, our lives and our world a bit too seriously. They also help to organize some of the book’s concepts and symbolize the following:

• A rain barrel may provide life sustaining, growth inducing water only after it has filled. Much of Naked Idealism is about “filling our own cups” so that we may overflow with life energy and inspiration for others. As I mention in the book, this also has an irony because water once nearly took my life.
• Wearing only barrels, the Rain Barrel People represent the nakedness or authenticity we seek to attain.
• The multiple skin tones of the Rain Barrel People symbolize a vital component of sustainability: acceptance of diversity in race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, spiritual beliefs, physical ability, and so on.
• Because rain barrels help to conserve water, they represent environmental awareness, another component of sustainability.
• The hose connecting the barrels illustrates that the three aspects of existence discussed in the book feed into one another: being naked, doing things naked, and having (relating) nakedly. In many of the illustrations the hose is circular, showing that the process of mastering them can be cyclical. We rarely fully “complete” one stage, and must sometimes move back and forth between them. Additionally, this connection illustrates that we are all interconnected and interdependent.