Brass Rings
Once again I have the honor of being invited to participate in An Affair of the Heart for the Las Vegas Chapter of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I’m proud to say that this is my third year to paint one of these Ginormous Hearts, which are then used to generate awareness of and money for the work St. Jude is doing in the fight against cancer in children.
The successes St. Jude has achieved during its 51 years of existence are phenomenal. For example, in 1962 the five-year survival rate of a child diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia was a paltry 4%. That survival rate is now up to 94%, which is just outstanding!!! (FYI, you can see more survival rates here. Check it out, you’ll be amazed.) As wonderful as this is, there is still a lot of work to do, and that’s what I wanted my concept for this year’s heart to reflect. Let’s keep reaching for even more success with even more young lives saved.
My artist statement for this year’s heart is:
“The Carousel is a place where hopes and dreams abound. Those magnificent steeds of fiberglass, wood and steel take us to places of wonder where the cares of life are forgotten. But wait… It gets even better. There’s the brass ring! A goal. A hope. A gift.
Thank you, St. Jude, for helping to give our children the hope and the gift of life after cancer.
Keep reaching for those brass rings!”
Brass Rings – Acrylic on fiberglass heart – Completed 2/8/13
There are a few people that I want to acknowledge and thank. First of all, I want to thank my wife and children for allowing me to, once again, take up the dining room for the duration of this project. I also thank them for their wonderful support and insightful input. I’d like to thank my good friend, CJ, for once again taking some fabulous photos of my work. And, finally, I’d like to thank my good friend and outstanding Las Vegas Artist, Niki J. Sands, for: 1) including me in this blessed project, and 2) challenging me to “knock her socks off” with this year’s attempt. I’ll be checking her feet when I see her at the unveiling later this month.
I now leave you with one more photo – one of a tired, but very satisfied artist…
Happy Creating!
Such imagination and beautiful use of color. You must be a professional visionary or just a plain ole genius.
Love your work.
Kate
Bravo! Great design. The horses are magnificent. It is wonderful that you do this year after year. Congratulations!
My dear friend..not only did you knock my socks off but you touched my heart as well. I never doubt that you will put everything you have into such a worthy project as this. You are a fantastic artist with vision, soul, creativity and pure talent. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I thank Laura and the kids for being so patient….love to you all.
Kate… Thank you, very much! I appreciate you stopping by and checking out my blog.
Dan… Thank you! I love being able to do this each year. The challenge is coming up with something fresh and new each time.
No Socks Niki… Bless you! I consider this an honor and an opportunity and it means the world to me that you petitioned to get me on board right from the beginning. Laura sends her love. Thanks!
-Don
This is fabulous! And, the cause a worthy one. The complexity of your design and the size makes me wonder how long this took? It’s inspired.
Thank you, Kathy! This year’s heart took me about 2 1/2 weeks of painting daily. I also spent about 2 months prior to that conceptualizing, planning and prepping. The cause definitely makes it worth all of the time and effort put into this labor of love.
-Don
I’m catching up with blogs. I saw this on FB. It is incredible–the size and those horses–really fantastic work. I think lots of people will lose their socks!
Hallie… I’m hoping for warm weather the day of the unveiling.
Thank you!
-Don