School auction time is here again. Got an email yesterday about donating a creative good or service to the annual gala-auction-event at our old nursery school. I'll have to come up with something good this year. Last year I donated a custom mural in someone's home, and the year before it was the tattoo-inspired painted denim jackets (see those here. And peek into the process of making them here and here). Hmmm....
At the girls' current school, auctioning happens along simpler lines, with a silent auction to which each class in the school donates a themed basket--a movie-night basket, a wine-lovers basket, a scrapbooking basket, you get the idea. As head class parent in Stella's class, I was responsible for putting together our class' donation back in December, and I loved what I came up with: an art basket.
The idea was that you could bid on this for an artistic child who's ready to move beyond their Crayola watercolor set and crappy paper, or for an adult who needs a little encouragement to get creative. Either way, the materials would be easy and fun to use, but enough of a challenge to keep you interested. Kids need decent art materials too!
So into a basket full of feathers (just for fun), I put: a set of acrylic paints in basic colors, a set of ten paintbrushes in different sizes, two canvases, a palette, a color wheel, and a little note from me. I had originally wanted to include a mini how-to book on the basics of working with acrylics, but wasn't able to find exactly what I was looking for. So I ended up just making my own. I figure if you're going to be opening up a basket of art supplies all by yourself instead of in a class setting, you could probably use a little guidance to get you going.
The whole thing, including the basket and plastic wrap (but not counting the feathers, which I already had) came in just under $50 and I understand from the auction committee we made money on it, so I'm pleased. But even more rewarding is the idea that maybe this little basket of goodies inspired someone to start painting, or to take their painting a little more seriously. Seriously, how cool, right?
