This is the piece Lori and I finished for the “Art to Gogh” benefit for Mental Health America in Allen County yesterday. It is entitled “News from Home” and has a collage of the local newspaper on the left side and a Threadography of the Fort Wayne skyline on the right. The tattoo stencil on top in Earth Safe Finishes copper Shimmer Translucent pulls the sides together.


It was really exciting to be in the room with so many local artists. Here I am stitching away on the panel. The canvas with the collage is on the floor to my right, just waiting for the finished panel.


Once the Threadography panel was secured to the canvas, I stenciled a swirly tattoo design to pull the sides together. Translucent copper Shimmer was perfect because it drew the color out in the stitched panel without overpowering the composition.


This is a detail of the tattoo on top of the stitched panel. You can see white thread in the clouds and the texture of monofilament thread in the blue sky.


Jay painted a still life from actual tomatoes. Other artists around the room painted from photographs, pictures in magazines, illustrations in books, and some from memory. It was an education for me to watch the painters in action.


Justin is a law student, who works in acrylics. He has sold more than 300 paintings to help put himself through school!


This is one end of the room at Moore and Associates (Thank you to Chris Moore for providing a venue for the event.) There are two gourd artists, a wood carver (amazing work), as well as artists working in oils, acrylics, pastels, and spray paint.


This young lady was working in pastels, creating a hauntingly beautiful piece in a children's theme.

The fanciful work of this acrylic artist was very popular during the bidding yesterday evening.

The mayor was on hand at the dinner and live auction last night to raise money for Mental Health America of Allen County. What an interesting mix of people, music, food, and lively bidding. In spite of the fact I found a chunk of pottery in an egg roll, it was a delightful evening—and once again I'm honored to participate in this small way.