Painting with Purpose Party

 

Some ideas trickle in like a soft rain, others slam into the shore like an Atlantic storm.  The concept of a PAINTING WITH PURPOSE party started slowly and sped up as things started to crystallize. 

The germ of the idea was seeded by our neighbour Jessica who gifted us with two canvases that were ready to be painted over.  Her generosity and the act of turning old or unfinished paintings into new ones grew into PAINTING WITH PURPOSE.

We have already received our first donation of canvases from our dear neighbour and friend Marion.  We will continue to gather donations and start putting soft asks out to local artists who want to participate.  

Once we have enough canvases, we will set a date for the PAINTING WITH PURPOSE party.  Artists will gather together on that day, pick a canvas that is calling to them, and will start PAINTING WITH PURPOSE in Birdsong Studio, or out in our yard.  We'll have the opportunity to stretch out and fill up the space if we get enough people to participate.  Once the PAINTING WITH PURPOSE party and paintings are done, we will take a group picture and then all the paintings will go into our first PAINTING WITH PURPOSE online auction.  All proceeds will go to charity.

In my mind, we could go one of two ways with the charity piece.  We could pre-determine the charity and invite artists who are game to support it.  Or, each participating artist can come to the PAINTING WITH PURPOSE party with their choice of charity.  All the charity names would go into a draw that would happen at the end of the event.  That way, the recipient charity will be something to anticipate.

I think this kind of event would be creatively and socially inspiring.  It would give participating artists time to get to know each other.  It would also be the type of thing that we can open to the public to walk through and watch.  Most importantly, it would create a body of new work using repurposed canvases that would make a significant difference to a charity.

What do you think?

Do you have canvases that you'd like to donate?  You can drop them off or mail them to Birdsong Studio at 74 Elma Street West, Okotoks, T1S 1J8.  

Are you an artist that would like to participate and paint with purpose?  Send me an email at russell@birdsongstudios.ca.  I will add you to the mailing list so you can get the notifications, as this is something that I can see doing on a regular basis.