Ever Donate Your Art?

Dragonfly Dreams

Gordon Gekko was wrong ... giving is good. Earlier this month, a Twitter pal of mine held a charity benefit to pay for a family member's medical treatments and I wanted to help. (You can read about it here.) When I heard it included a silent auction, a loving voice in my head whispered, "Why not donate one of my paintings?" Just as suddenly, the image of the above painting popped into my head.


This particular painting, "Dragonfly Dreams," was promised to three different buyers; but stuff happens and the sale fell through each time. That convinced me it wanted to be out in the world, or at least out of my apartment. So I figured, I'd give it away and hope it would go to a loving home.


Life really surprises me sometimes and this turned out to be one of those times. A woman who already owns more of my paintings than anyone else - bid on it and won! 

 Kim holding her new work of art

I met Ms. Kim Fritz late last year at a local cafe and showed her a few pieces she had expressed interest in. She ended up buying my "Purple Birds" painting. I had a set of four flower paintings on vinyl which I hadn't yet delivered to the buyer and she liked them so much -- she commissioned a set for herself! She also bought a few of my handmade cards. 

Purple Birds: 8x10" acrylic on wood

The above are the original set of four, reverse acrylic paintings on vinyl, stapled to a stretched canvas, as taught by the wonderful artist, Chris Cozen. These were 4x4", but Kim wanted 8x8", so I landed my first commission. I showed the process on an earlier blog post here.

I don't recall which card she purchased or I'd show you that as well. Kim liked it so much, she had it framed. With the addition of her new piece from the silent auction, she now owns a total of seven pieces. Looks like I have my first collector! 

I know a lot of artists are asked to donate their work, so I'm wondering what stories you might have to share about your experience with giving. It must be awkward to get bombarded with requests, but this felt really good and I hope I'll be in a position to do it again someday. 

Feel free to leave a comment or send an email to my new address: NinaRuthie66@gmail.com.  Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage Fish: 8x10" on hard wood, canvas-type, box; acrylic paint, vintage collage papers, Shapie poster paint pens. For sale: $75.00

 (I wasn't able to get a scan that showed the luminosity of the interference paints at the bottom of the piece. It's quite vibrant.)

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