While spending time with kids one can see their innate nature of wanting to give. As a teacher, I always had students who drew me pictures and wanted me to hang them up in my classroom. Each year, we would have a wall dedicated to the students for a gallery behind my desk. Humans are givers and kind hearted from the time we are tiny children. Christmas is my favorite holiday because it is a season about giving and spending time with loved ones. Every year I make gifts from scratch because this small act of kindness is very important to me. Growing up into a professional artist has had its challenges. Financially, my art world became a business in order to support myself and then my family. Putting a price on something I love is probably the hardest part of this experience. The value of the work itself factors in cost of materials, amount of time, detail of subject, and experience of the medium. I try to balance out the feeling of cost and love of art by doing charity events and giving back to communities in need with my paintings whenever I can.
The most recent event was with Prevail Farmers Market and the recipients were a local school called Joy Academy. They work on letting children explore education in a different environment, and setting, by helping students be more involved in their learning paths. Students spend a majority of the day outside, working on art projects inside, connecting thought patterns to subjects, and forming deep connections with their understanding. This is a great organization and I was honored to be asked to paint something to raise money for the school funds. The presenter requested for me to create a landscape of Red Rock Canyon in watercolor style by using acrylic paint. I chose to set the mountains back and focus on the foreground. While at the event, however, amazing Jazz music was playing and the colors of the canyon came to life. The painting took on the feel of a bold acrylic with subtle watercolor wash techniques. The patron loved the piece and I was very pleased. Many people came up and talked to me while I was painting and it was an overall great experience. What a wonderful feeling it is to be able to help those in need by giving something so personal as an artistic creation.
Thank you for reading.
-Karen Hilliard