The Prints of Freedom portfolio began in 1999 with the creation of "Does The Banner Yet Wave" which is shown on the upper left of this page.  It was created when Michelle Finnegan sensed deep injustice in her country, her community and her life and while sitting alone in her room, she was trying to focus on what she could do in a constructive manner and realized she had a bag of paints and canvas.  Uninspired, she first painted one of the objects in her room, before free styling an inspiration that came to her: painting red stripes on a white canvas then painting her own palms and stamping them onto the canvas representing the American Flag, the bars of a jail cell and the hand prints people use for identification. If you work hard and withstand the often oppressive forces in the world, you contribute to what America will be in the future and can even become a "star."  The USA is based on a system of laws and too often there is so much injustice we stand up against...as time went on, and the USA became a nation at war and Michelle began travelling the country painting other people's hands and stamping them on canvas and turning their prints into works of art that are meant to embody who a person is and what a person does to celebrate their freedom.  Michelle wanted to inspire people to think more about what they do with their freedom because we are all given 24 hours in a day and whether we do something for profit or not, what we do creates and impact either in the physical world or on someone's heart.  Laws are meant to keep us all safe not oppress us and in a perfect world where we are all more mindful of our action, we would not need such complicated "laws" or "law enforcement".  We are all alive with the mission to love our neightbo as ourselves and we should work hard every day to be the best we can be but also to give back and help others around us.  Sadly we do not live in a perfect world though so we need law enforcement officers that can be trusted to discern the root of the crime and a military that is prepared to fight battles for the greater good.   That is why Michelle chose to match her Prints of Freedom paintings with various charitable organizations after she was asked to serve on several local and national boards.  Now proceeds from her limited edition prints help raise money and awareness for dozens of charitable causes including two charitable funds she established through EssetialArt.org in memory of military veterans.  What will YOU do with your Freedom?