Half the Sky Art-A-Thon

Hi, everyone! Exciting news! My friend Melanie and I are partnering to raise money for The Half the Sky Foundation, which benefits children living in welfare institutions across China. Melanie and her husband adopted their sweet daughter Lucy from China last Fall. Half the Sky is an organization that's close to their hearts because of how the organization benefits children such as Lucy in the first years of the childrens' lives. I've created two works of art to contribute to Half the Sky’s second annual art-a-thon, "Art from the Heart." You can make a donation here and visit the Art-A-Thon's website here.

Fellow artists and illustrators, please consider participating! This is a great way to get some exposure while supporting a fantastic cause for children. To everyone else, please consider donating to this wonderful cause...you'll have a chance to win my artwork, pictured below!!

And here's me in action, creating my two pieces of art to benefit Half the Sky! One piece will go to Half the Sky to be displayed in the Art-A-Thon show in California. The other will be raffled...by donating to Half the Sky on the donation page set up by Melanie, you will have a chance to win the second piece of artwork! This year's theme is "Red Thread," which references a Chinese proverb that states that “An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.” I chose to take a more conceptual approach to this idea, using actual red thread to embroider sections of each watercolor, showing that to adopted children, home is truly "where the heart is," a place they're destined to be with their families.





Sketch phase...



Inking with a Micron pen...



My medium of choice...





Painting (my favorite step)!



This was a first for me...I wanted to use actual red thread for both pieces to emphasize the theme of the show and concept of the artwork. I brought out my trusty sewing machine, a spool of bright red thread....and....



Voilà! Both pieces, finished and matted. Each piece measures about 5" x 7" (8" x 10" matted).

Again, don't forget to visit the Half the Sky Art-A-Thon website to contribute! You can visit Melanie's blog and learn more about Lucy's inspiring story here.