Friends of Lorton School Exhibition and Silent Auction Nov/Dec 2018
If there is one piece of advice I could offer to any new artist, then it would be to get yourself out there!
One of the best ways of doing that, in my opinion, is to take part in a community event where you donate a pieces, or pieces of work to help raise money for a good cause. Not only are you doing something good for a community event, but you are putting yourself and your work out to places and audiences where it might not otherwise get to.
I was delighted to get the chance to do just this at a recent event here in Cumbria. The Friends of Lorton School were fundraising to get money towards the purchase of some new outdoor play equipment for the school, so they organised an exhibition and silent auction at the birthplace of William Wordsworth, Wordsworth's House in Cockermouth.
Lots of local and very talented artists contributed some amazing work to the event, along with one or two local "celebs" and the whole event was a huge success, raising just under £3,000 for the school, off the back of more than 200 bids for the work on show. If you want to some of the other work featured in the exhibition, go to The Friends of Lorton School Facebook page and check out the photos on there.
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What made it all the more pleasing for me was that both my pieces pictured above were sold and my linoprint "Three Herdies" received the joint highest number of bids during the exhibition. Now from an artist's point of view, that's great to hear, because you know you're doing something right with your art if there's a demand on it! So, all you new and upcoming artists, get yourself out there, get involved, be part of the community and help make a difference while helping yourself too! When it comes to art and charity, it really is a win win for everyone concerned.
Marty Strutt December 2018