Authors and Artists Come together for Horizons: Select Live Art Auction at Writers & Friends 2006
An impressive gesture has become an exciting challenge. And all for the benefit of international charitable organization Horizons of Friendship.
Following last year’s inaugural and very popular example, A Select Live Art Auction is announced once again as an important component of Horizons signature literary evening fundraiser to be held this year on Sunday November 19, at LeVan Hall, Trinity College School. In response to the generosity of Writers & Friends 2006 writers, Farley Mowat, Camilla Gibb, Linda Diebel and Joseph Boyden, six art works and special offerings comprise this years’ Select Live Art Auction and are aimed to raise additional funds on behalf of Horizons partners in Central America. Visitors on recent Horizons’ exposure tours to the south have seen how the economic crisis faced by coffee growers and other small farmers has exasperated conditions of abject poverty in the region. Devastation caused by hurricanes has only compounded the ongoing struggles of indigenous communities in the area.
With the support of Writers & Friends, and its Select Live Art Auction, Horizons of Friendship can continue to make a difference. See below for information on art by Melanie Browne, Naboth Chandirange, Betsy Downie, George Raab, and special offerings – a first edition art volume and Week in the South of France.
Melanie Browne
The paintings and drawings of Melanie Browne have been exhibited in Northumberland, Peterborough and Toronto and are found in many private collections. She has taught drawing at Trinity College School for several years and has written about art for local newspapers and for the Art Gallery of Northumberland.
Her background in art history informs her art criticism and her painting style giving many of her images a sense of the history of things. Her most recent exhibition was a group show at AK Collings Gallery Port Hope. Her donation to Writers & Friends is an oil painting, 24” h.X 18 ½ “w entitled Winter Greenery, valued at $ 900; reserve $ 450.
Naboth was born in 1966 in the Eastern Highlands area of Zimbabwe, where sculptors have access to a range of stone colours not available in the rest of the country. A fulltime sculptor since 1990, with collectors in Europe and the US., he prefers working in black serpentine, rapoko and springstone and is always looking for the different colour variations and grains in the stone that can be enhanced through polishing. He draws inspiration from Shona mythology, Biblical stories and the beauty of the environment in which he lives.
Naboth has been represented by ZimArt, Bailieboro since 2002. His sculpture in the Select Art Auction is made of serpentine and is 16’’ h. Value s $ 700.00
Betsy Downie has been painting and exhibiting in solo and group shows since the 1970s. Following studies in sculpture with Frances Gage, she continued with printmaking, and later, painting studies with David Bolduc at OAC. Her most recent show inaugurated the 2006 opening of the A.K. Collings Gallery Port Hope. She has also been the subject of a solo exhibition at the Gallery of Northumberland. Betsy’s work is held in public and private collections ( McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario; private collections in Canada, & the UK.) Her contemplative abstractions evoke landscape, space and light. Her Writers & Friends contribution is an oil painting, Untitled, 21”h X 25 ‘w. Valued at $ 1400.00 reserve at 700.00
George Raab is an artist and intaglio printmaker who has gained an international reputation for his representational wilderness landscape etchings. The techniques he uses most frequently are etching, aquatint, photo etching, engraving and water colour painting. George’s award winning work has been displayed in many galleries and is in private, corporate and public collections throughout Europe and North America.. His studio is located in the village of Millbrook, just north of Port Hope. His website is George Raab “Catalpa”, the original ’23 X 68” three plate etching and aquatint intaglio print offered in the Live Art Auction is of a tree on the Raab property. It is valued at $ 1400; reserve is $ 700.
This pristine first edition, collector’s volume, Japanese Bamboo Baskets: Masterworks of Form and Texture surveys 19th and 20th Century baskets of Japan, their place in history, and the elevation of bamboo craft work to an art form. It features more than 250 illustrations of selections from the largest known collection of Japanese flower baskets. This is the first book in English to examine bamboo baskets as modern sculptural masterpieces as well as chronicle the development of Japanese flower- arranging baskets from utilitarian containers through their subsequent transformation into art. This highly prized gift book was on Elton John’s Christmas Wish List last year. (Compare Amazon recent price $ 1600. and ebay at $ 800). Valued at $ 800. Reserve at $ 400.
Your 2007 dream holiday retreat – seven days and nights in the Aveyron district, Midi Pyrenees region of France. Enjoy a very special week in a rural and rustic setting in the quiet farming hamlet of Pradines, 15 minutes from Najac, 90 minutes form Toulouse airport. Your pied-a-terre (for up to 6 people) is a fully restored 18th century farmhouse with three bedrooms: two with queen beds, one with two double beds. Living area with fireplace, dining / kitchen area, bathroom with shower. Superb view from terrace overlooking Viaur River valley. The countryside varies from flat arid plateaus to gently rolling wine growing areas to rugged river gorges. The region is home to restored 12th and 13th fortified hilltop towns such as Cordes, Puycelci, Castelnau de Montmiral and Najac. The area has maintained a natural and unique quality; there are relatively few tourists. Availability winter through to mid May 2007, also autumn 2007, winter 2008. (dates – by negotiation with owner). Suggested Value $ 850.
Tickets for Writers & Friends sell out quickly. To order by credit card, call 1-888-729-9928. Tickets are also available in Port Hope at Furby House Books and in Cobourg at Horizons’ office, 50 Covert St. For more information call 905 372- 5483, ext. 10. 1 888 729- 9928. .
Horizons of Friendship is a community- based federally registered charity founded in 1973 by three volunteers from Cobourg. The goal of this international development organization is to help Central American and Mexican communities meet their basic needs as expressed by the people. With local partners, Horizons supports low- cost housing, health services, clean water, food production and literacy and education. The projects provide entire communities with the potential for self – sufficiency through training and income – generating opportunities. For information about Horizons of Friendship call 1 888- 729 9928 or visit www.horizons.ca.
For further info, contact Horizons of Friendship 905 372- 5483, Doreen Gorsline ext. 14, dgorsline@horizons.ca
Tickets are $110 and an income tax receipt is provided for $ 65.
