Little Acorns Into Mighty Oaks

Awhile back, I mentioned that I was hard at work on a few pieces for a silent auction fundraiser for a friend of mine. Ken is a good friend from college, and he is a teacher in the theater department of the Rochester School of the Arts in my hometown of Rochester, NY. Ken is a fabulously talented artist and designer, and a gifted teacher. When we were in college, Ken was often responsible for beautiful lighting and scene design on stages I performed on, and I am thrilled to now have the chance to support his work with my art.

A little background on this worthy cause...

The theater department at SOTA was selected to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer, as part of the 2011 American High School Theater Festival. if you know anything about theater or about the Fringe Festival, you know this is a major honor. The school was chosen to be one of 75 schools to attend and perform at the festival, out of over 2,200 applicants.

If you've traveled overseas (or anywhere!), you know this is not an inexpensive undertaking. They have a goal to raise $125,000 to finance this trip for students and teachers, and represent their school and their district in Scotland. One of the fundraising efforts is a benefit concert this weekend in Rochester, and along with the concert, a silent auction. I created a necklace and earring set for the group to offer in their silent auction this Saturday.

'Little Acorns Into Mighty Oaks'

These pieces are entirely copper, with my own lampworked glass beads. I think I showed you the etched leaves in an unfinished state a while back, but here they are, looking MUCH better now!

I'm so incredibly proud of this work, I could just burst! I think these are my favorite of all the pieces I have done recently, and although I never repeat work, I might just have to make a pair of earrings like this for myself. The oak leaves are really fantastic, and now I have a million designs all clamoring for attention in my head. Oh, and can I just say how much I adore using my Lortone tumbler on finished work?? How did I ever get along without it? Everything comes out SO shiny and beautiful, and work-hardened (a blessing if you make copper earwires with 20ga!)!

But I digress....

So, if you happen to be in the Rochester, NY area on Saturday, and you want to hear some live music and support a fantastic cause, then you should go to the Go Plaid or Go Mad benefit concert and check out the silent auction. It looks to be a great time, and if I were going to be anywhere near NY this weekend, I'd totally go!

And if you CAN'T go to the benefit concert, you can still help out by making a donation to support the group. Go here to make your donation.

Thanks!

Which came first?

I like to make charitable donations to support organizations whose missions really make sense to me. Easter Seals Virginia is one of them. As a speech therapist, I know all about what great work they do in helping kids (and adults) with disabilities, running fantastic camps and other programs, and providing access to services that some people might have to do without. The local group runs an Easter event called Eggstravaganza, which consists of a black-tie party and silent auction. Easter Seals works with the gallery where I have taught, ArtWorks, to assemble egg-inspired art donations for the auction. I just finished a couple of pieces as a donation. There is a prize awarded for Best in Show, Best Expression of the Easter Seals Mission, and 1st through 4th places in each of Professional, Amateur and Student categories. Here is my donation to the cause:


"Which Came First?"
necklace, made with copper wire and glass beads

...and...


the companion bracelet. Again, made with copper wire and glass beads.

This is a new type of design for me, new components, new wireworking. I'm getting some pieces ready to put in Etsy that have a similar look. It's all about color and quirky unexpectedness. I think you'll like it!

Keep your fingers crossed for me....today is the egg art judging....Friday is the art show opening and winners announcement. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm really excited!!

Yesterday, I met with Ellie Coyne, the volunteer coordinator for the Thomas Palliative Care Unit at the VCU Medical Center here in Richmond. She had seen my work on a friend of mine (hi Cosette!) and liked it. Ellie asked Cosette if I could make glass butterflies for a fundraiser for the unit. I sent her some samples, which she liked, and yesterday, I took some more to show her. We refined the design and colors some more, and now I will make five pendants for the unit to sell at their next fundraiser in November. Ellie plans for these to be sort of iconic and representative of the unit, so we are sticking to a small palette of pinks and purples and some yellow, so that they will all look similar. Ellie's plan is to have me make the pendants periodically throughout the year, and eventually have a display set up on the unit so that families and loved ones of patients can purchase them to support the unit and have a remembrance of their loved one who passed on.

I'm working on a design for glass butterfly cabochons that can be turned into tie tacs or lapel pins for the gentlemen, as well. Can't let the ladies have all the glass goodies! ;)

I'm really excited about doing this, partially because hospice services are close to my heart (my mom and aunt are hospice nurses), but also because I am happy to be supporting a great group of people who make this stage of life easier on all involved. And hey, it doesn't hurt to have my work associated with such a prestigious hospital system, either.

I'll post some pictures of the butterflies as I complete them, so you all can see what I'm up to. I'll also let you know how you can purchase a butterfly to support the care unit, too, if you like, once we get going on the project.

Now, I'm off to order large amounts of pink and purple glass!