Hello all, Rich here – taking the reigns of blogging duties and all things web from my wife so she can get some long needed rest and relaxation. In the midst of this rest, she is still sketching out new ideas and working on new paintings so we’re not expecting any significant down period. We are going through a pretty challenging chapter of our lives but we are not allowing this to stunt the development and growth of our business. And as she said, I’m picking up where she’s leaving off for the time being. It is our responsibility to our loyal customers, friends and most importantly to our overall mission.

With the birth of Ecopatterns, we took on the responsibility of utilizing art and social media to raise and spread awareness about animals most folks won’t know are endangered, and to back it up with factual information. This may seem like a modest responsibility to shoulder, but we feel it is critical for the future of the planet. We feel it would be particularly sad if elephants, giraffes and even little monkeys are spoken of in the same vein as dinosaurs a few generations from now. We have an opportunity to prevent this from happening especially if the threats are coming from things we have the power to control. So I wanted to extend a big thanks to everyone who has supported our mission thus far and those that continually encourage and help us spread the good word. Without you guys, we’d accomplish so little, and for that we are incredibly grateful. We look forward to keeping up the fight.

I like breathing clean air. We all do. Now that Earth Day is running 40 years strong as of today, it is showing that recognition is global. Businesses are going green and growing more environmentally motivated. Despite all this, the state of the Earth is still in trouble. We’re losing trees and plantlife at alarming rates as well as losing wildlife to extinction. I started my business a little under 2 years ago to spread awareness and hope and I am pleased with the strides I’ve made. But you know what? We can do better. I am going to up the ante today.

In honor of Earth-Day, EcoPatterns is prepared to give away a free 8.5″ x 11″ art print of your choice to two lucky winners. How do you get one? Easy! Retweet this post and follow @ecopatterns on twitter using our nifty little button below. Later tonight we will choose 2 lucky winners randomly.