Tegan James Art | Trail of Art

a nationwide project where a trail of purple heart stickers (and other art) is used to share peace and love

It all started when…

How far back do we want to take this? Childhood heart scribbles? Graffiti hearts on bathroom stalls circa 2000?
Or we can skip to 2012 when I got sober and fell in love with painting? Or skip again to 2018 when I first painted the purple heart design on a T-shirt for the “Scarecrows on Main” event in Metuchen, New Jersey!

So, how did we go from a painted T-shirt design for a small town event to a nationwide project of sharing purple heart stickers (and other art) to promote peace, love and art?

It’s a long story, and here’s the semi-short of it for now …

In February 2024 (yes, just 3 months ago as of the time of this post being typed) our landlord in NJ decided to sell the unit we were living in and not renew our lease. My husband and I both had our hearts set on moving to the West Coast, and we took the opportunity when it was gifted to us in this unique wrapping.

I had barely gotten the question out and my husband was already saying yes. “What do you think about a cross-county road trip and moving to … “ - it didn’t matter where I was going to say, he’d heard enough.

As an artist, I knew this was also an opportunity to share my art in a positive way, as we made our trek across the United States.

We left purple heart stickers in every state: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and finally here in Arizona. I took photos and tagged each post with these hashtags: #trailofart #trailofhearts #trailofpurplehearts #purpleheartstickers #makelovenotwar #peaceandloveforpresident #teganjamesart

New Mexico was a little more extra (see video below)… I had also hung a 5’ blind contour portrait painting on canvas of Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, at a rest stop in Moriarty (I promised a co-worker I would!). I don’t know what happened to it after we left. Maybe it’s still there? Maybe it fell down and blew away? Maybe the cleanup crew trashed it? Or maybe you have it hanging in your home! Let me know if you’ve seen her! #inthenameofart #inthenameoflove

That’s the really super, short, quick version. There’s definitely more to it, but it’s still a bit sensitive and I’ll share all that when I feel ready (there’s a whole book in the making, also tbd at a later time).

Want some purple heart stickers to share? If you want to be a part of this nationwide project and help share the Love, share peace and happiness, smiles, good vibes, art, and purple hearts as a visual reminder to just be a good person, just be LOVE … grab some Tegan James Art Purple Heart Stickers here:

FREE Purple Heart Stickers
to these States I Haven’t Yet Covered!:
(Message me with a mailing address!)

• ALABAMA

• ALASKA

• ARKANSAS

• CALIFORNIA

• COLORADO

• GEORGIA

• HAWAII

• IDAHO

• IOWA

• KANSAS

• KENTUCKY

• LOUISIANA

• MAINE

• MARYLAND

• MICHIGAN

• MINNESOTA 

• MISSISSIPPI

• MONTANA

• NEBRASKA

• NEVADA

• NEW HAMPSHIRE

• NORTH DAKOTA

• OREGON

• SOUTH DAKOTA

• TENNESSEE

• UTAH

• VERMONT

• VIRGINIA

• WISCONSIN

• WYOMING

Do you use your art to share peace, love, and good vibes? I’d love to hear about it! Use the email link below to send your story (and pics!). If you give me the okay, I may share about in future blog postings!

Much Love,

~ Tegan Moss James