Rainbow Village Gala

(Photo: From Rainbow Village picasa web album.)

(Photo: Back view)

(Photo: Front view of bookcase)

I had the pleasure and great delight to work with Rainbow Village on their Gala event to help raise money for this wonderful organization.   The children of Rainbow Village all work on an art project together with a theme in mind which represents the organization and what it means to each child every year.

An unfinished bookcase in shape of a dollhouse was donated and used for this years gala project.  The children and I talked about the possibilities and the theme what does home mean to me was chosen.  Each child had to draw a house, a representative picture of what home meant to them and write a small essay expressing this as well. 

Unfinished pieces of furniture and dollhouse furniture was purchased and donated towards the art project. The children were divided into groups and each painted the dollhouse, doll house furniture and the older kids decorated the inside of the dollhouse with the drawings and essays and bright colorful scrapbook paper.

(Photo: unfinished doll house book case)

The kids and little babies hand prints were stamped on the roof top with their individual names hand painted on each palm which represented the roof shingles that shelter and protect a loving home.

The back of the house was painted in a whimsical style.  On October 22, 2011 this art project raised an overwhelming $8,900 dollars.

At a time when our economy has been at a historically all time low, how inspiring it is to see people gathering together for such a wonderful organization as Rainbow Village and raise the money that was raised that evening.  We are all affected by this economy there are real families hurting who are finding themselves displaced and organizations such as Rainbow Village fill the void to help get them back on their feet.  Anyone of us could easily be in the same position as nothing is guaranteed in this life. 

I'm honored that I was asked to play a small role in getting this project started for the kids and the families of Rainbow Village.  Continued success and growth to Rainbow Village.  Please click on the link to find out more about this wonderful organization and how you can help.

Catching Up

(Photo: From mhspatriots.ning.com)

Hi everyone,

It has been a while since my last post.  Have been very busy with moving my daughter and getting her settled in to her college dorm in September, doing charity work, recovering from reactions to flu shot oh my :(  and coping with diagnosis of arthritis of the spine which for an artist or anyone for that matter is a terrible thing to hear,  But I take it with a grain of salt and tackle things head on.  I will be starting new physical therapy this week so excited to get some relief.  It has been a busy and difficult three months. 

I didn't let it stop me however from getting some commissioned tiles completed for a client in Alabama for holiday gift giving.  I finished all 18 tiles with different themes and they are all varnished and just waiting for them to cure and put protective backings on them.  The tiles came from my stash of recycled  ceramic tiles.  I have so much of this tile left and can't wait to work on another great commission.  

Now that I have this project just about complete for my client.  I'm looking forward to throwing some fresh clay to create a nice thick slab and cut some hand tiles.  I'm thinking of creating  a Koi theme with the hand made tiles for accent pieces that would work nicely on a fireplace or back splash.

Having to spend so much time in bed recuperating from back pain gave me a lot of time to re-direct my energies on things I really love to paint and work on so I spent my time refining some designs that would look better on chairs and floor cloths as well as my hand painted fabrics.   I have some chairs that I will be able to use the fabrics on which need to be reupholstered and I can create a very nice collection with pillows as well from these painted fabrics.

what is everyone planning for Thanksgiving?  My daughter will be home for the holidays till January.  and we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with her at home as well as her birthday.  She is a Thanksgiving baby and I have so much to be grateful for. 

I wish all of you a safe and very Happy Thanksgiving and remember to keep it Green.