A New Painting Submitted for the Twitter Art Exhibit 2014 in Orlando, Florida!

Hello everyone!
Voted of Florida's Best Artists, Robin Maria Pedrero is curating this 2014 Twitter Art Exhibit in Orlando to benefit The Center for Contemporary Dance, Special Needs Classes. This year I've been invited by Robin to participate in this year's Twitter Art Exhibit and each year since it's conception with Norway Artist and Founder, David Sandum. This is the fourth year and it's been fueling up each year... 

Here's the details if you live or planning to be in the Orlando area at the time of the show. Also, I've included the interesting young history of the Twitter Art Exhibits:

 WHEN
Thursday, March 20, 2014 | 6-9PM
Show runs March 20 - April 11, 2014

 WHERE
CityArts Factory, Magic Gallery | Orlando, Florida, USA

 The sale price will be $35 USD per card.

Twitter Art Exhibit: Orlando is an international exhibition of original postcard art benefiting The Center for Contemporary Dance, Special Needs Classes, a nonprofit (501)©3 organization dedicated to dance education and outreach. The Special Needs Classes include customized exercises that expand the student’s range of motion, creativity and social skills. Class work is further designed to enhance skills in memorization, problem solving and communication. Belinda Balleras, whose son takes classes every week, says: “He has a new sense of creative fulfillment and an additional pathway to productively express emotions.” 

Twitter Art Exhibit: Orlando is the fourth installment of an open international exhibition of handmade postcard art for charity, donated by hundreds of participating artists from around the globe.
While the first two exhibitions were held in Moss, Norway, the third installment held in Los Angeles marked the global launch for the concept by founder David Sandum, a Swedish-born artist who conceived Twitter Art Exhibit as a vehicle for doing good through social media and online community-building. The idea is simple: artists around the globe receive a call through Twitter social media to create original postcard-sized art, which they mail to a local curator, who then exhibits and sells them to benefit a local charity. 

Exciting stats: In its first year, Twitter Art Exhibit received postcards from over 260 artists in 24 countries, raising funds to buy 221 new children’s books for a struggling library in Moss, Norway. The second installment received entries by 360 artists in 32 countries, raising $4,000 USD for an abused women’s shelter, also in Moss. 

The 3^rd exhibition held in Los Angeles raised $7,000 for an organization mentoring underprivileged young adults in preparation for careers in the visual arts, attracting 502 artists from 35 countries, with a total of 726 postcard entries received.

Twitter Art Exhibit Organizing Board:
David Sandum                     @DavidSandumArt
Nat George                           @natgeorgela
Robin Maria Pedrero        @robinpedrero

Now would you like to see my abstract postcard painting for the exhibit?
Here it is....

 "The Movement"

6" x 4" on vellum paper

Sold!

What do you think?

Kinetic Interior

Hello again!

Hope you saw the first postcard painting that I'm sending to Norway for the Twitter Art Exhibit, "Purpose and Dream". Now, I'm ready to post the second painting to be included in the exhibit.

So, here is "Kinetic Interior". The process of creating this one was layering the red and allowing it to dry and doing the same with the darker blue. Then adding other colors on top and wiping some away with a large palette knife. Then I may have to add more color, but I work it into the paper. I'm very pleased with the results of both paintings. I hope they sell at the exhibit. Let me know what you think. I'm planning on expanding the look of those mini paintings into larger ones on  canvas, that will be available for purchase. So, stay tuned!

"Kinetic Interior"

6" x 4"

Acrylic

Paper

 Close Up 

Another Close Up View

So, would do you think? 

Purpose and Dream

Hello,
Just to update you, I was asked to participate in a charity event organized by a talented artist from Norway, David Sandum. The Twitter Art Exhibit has been a dream of David's. He asks Twitter artists from around the world, to participate by donating their art to raise money for causes close to his heart. This is the second year of his Twitter Art Exhibit and this year's purpose is to raise monies for the Women's Crisis Center. Each artist's works are done on paper about the size of postcards. Each postcard painting or drawing will be exhibited in a public library in Moss, Norway, and can be purchased at an affordable price which is a donation for the crisis center.
If you want to read about David Sandum's Twitter Art Exhibit or would like to participate as an artist click on the link.

Here's one neat connection in all of this. When I was a little girl, my parents had a foreign exchange student from Norway stay at our house.  She made such an impression on us, we've never forgotten her. Now, I've found a dear friend in artist David Sandum in Norway. So, as you can see when asked, I had to be involved in his great idea to raise money for his local library's childrens section and this year, for the womens's crisis center. 

I wanted to offer two small paintings for their patrons to choose from. Here is one of the abstract paintings I did and I'll post the other in my next post. 


If you like the style of these mini-paintings, you can look forward in the future to larger paintings in this same style. I want to further this work and make it available for you, as well. Please stay tuned.


So in honor of David Sandum and his passion to improve other's lives, I've named this mini painting.....

"Purpose and Dream"

6" x 4"

Acrylic

Paper

Close up 

Another Close Up

In my next post, see the second postcard painting that I'll be sending to Norway. Thank you.
Allison

How can art help others? Can my art help someone?

I heard something the other night on TV, that actually got me thinking which TV usually doesn't. But anyway, it posed a question to me as to how art can help others. First of all, we know it can inspire, uplift someone's mood and giving them encouragement or hope. Or bring awareness to a particular social issue, and communicate in ways words can't. So that we all know, right? And yes, we've all heard of art therapy, where a troubled adult or child can use a creative medium to communicate when words aren't available. Expressing unsolved emotional pain via creative means can be very therapeutic.Yet, I wonder, can my art help someone? I mean, it's just a painting, an image; how is that going to help someone?
Good question to ponder, right? I thought so. Rather than using art to say, look at me as a artist and what I can do, but can my art help someone else? 

For example, take my latest invitation to a charity art event in Moss Norway. One fine artist from Norway, had an idea and shared his idea to a local public library. Now over 200 artists are involved and have painted postcard size paintings to be sold for $34 each. The proceeds of that event will fund the purchasing of children's books for the public library. The obvious goal is helping the library buy books for children. You see, this is a multi-fold win/win situation. The library has a new charity event that is exciting for everyone. The children get new books to read, that's pretty exciting in itself. The buyers get a good deal on an original painting to take home and enjoy, plus feel good about their participation in the event. Us, artists enjoy the gift of giving and the satisfaction of how our art made a difference.

So, to answer the beginning question, yes, art can help others. And, I for one, am pretty excited and amazed how we can all come together as artists and make a difference.
Here is my postcard painting sent to Moss Norway Library to raise funds to purchase children's books.
 
"Afterglow"
This abstract painting inspired by the beautiful sunsets over the Sarasota, Florida Gulf of Mexico waters.
Medium: Acrylic

 
Close Up of "Afterglow"
Final note, now how can your art make a difference?
Here is the link to this event's details:
http://tiny.cc/e24rq

Final notes: In these times of financial recession, I believe it's the creative workforce that moves us beyond our limited parameters. Possibly it's time to rethink our art. Instead of how I can sell another painting, perhaps look at it at from a different perspective. What can I do with my artwork? Please feel free to post your comments. I'd love to hear how your art has help make a difference. Hope to hear from you, Allison.