Art for art's sake

So the place where I teach, the University City Arts League, is having their annual fundraiser in May.  It's a big neighborhood event, they generally have it at one of the college halls so they have enough space.

This year, the 49th anniversary, they decided to do something a little different and contacted 49 local artists/artisans/crafters and asked them to submit a tiny painting for part of the fundraiser auction.

A tiny, tiny painting.  The canvas was 4" square.

I got one of these tiny canvases to play with.  The director who gave it to me said to do with it what I would -- she didn't know whether or not I painted, and said I could decorate it with fabric if that worked for me.

I thought about it for a bit, and wondered how I could use fabric.  Then I got an idea to embroider on the canvas, but that wasn't practical considering how small the canvas was versus how large the tiny stretchers were underneath.

Then I wondered why I couldn't just paint it?

I used to paint, quite a bit.  Never as well as I wanted to, which is how it fell by the wayside, left behind because of other things that were easier for me to do well.

Also, sewing and cooking were practical arts, people need clothes and food.  People may need art, but they don't see it as necessary the same way, and I always had trouble showing people my work.

So here, now, I'm showing my work.  Such as it is (both in scale and skill).  It's called West Philly Sunset and it's a study of sneakers thrown over the power lines at my corner which is so Philly it's ridiculous.

And I did end up using embroidery thread, because placing it on the wet acrylic paint was both an interesting use of a different material and a way to get out of painting tiny straight lines.

The fundraiser/auction is May 7th.  I'll be there, selling raffle tickets, and watching to see if anyone bids on this.