Forty Days of Art

I wrote earlier about my Lenten project, replacing time frittered away mindlessly with art projects: forty art projects, to be exact, one each day of lent. My restrictions for myself: each piece must be small, no larger than an envelope, and the subject could not be people. I am first and foremost a figure drawer, so this forced me outside my comfort zone to stretch my imagination.

As the project wrapped up, I decided to use the interest in my art to benefit charity, and held a charity fundraiser selling my art. The timing wasn't great - Saturday Easter weekend, after the Crescent City Classic - but I figured that was ok; a smaller turnout would be easier to manage and reduce squabbling over certain pieces! Which did still happen, but it wasn't too bad!

I served drinks and light snacks (it was a cocktail hour affair) and let people make a donation of their choice for the art they chose; what interested me the most was seeing what art sold and what didn't. Some pieces I knew would sell; either the art itself or the subject matter was universally appealing. Others got a lot of attention, but didn't sell - for example, the anatomical series below was much admired - but who really wants to decorate with bones?!

Overall, I think the event was so much fun; I love sneaking a peak into my friends' art preferences, which is one reason I love to go to art shows with people. And the fundraising went very well. I sold or gave away most of the art, but photos remain! Here are some of my favorite pieces: