My Next Big Give-Back Project…

I am excited to reveal a big “Give Back” project. Bayou City Art Festival showed me what an amazing community there is that surrounds me in Houston, TX. The support from everyone that came out and genuinely wished me well and bought art was incredible that weekend. Still beaming from all it! So in return, I have chosen Keep Houston Beautiful for a year-long fundraising project. One of the many things that they do is teach children and adults about the necessity to keep our city clean. Everything that gets thrown on the ground has potential to harm for our wildlife as it reaches the water tables. I will choose a species each month and tell a story in a whimsical way with a painting… teach about all their facts within the piece and hopefully bond kids with these creatures… instilling in them a desire to keep our city clean by getting to know these animals personally in their “homes”…

So Mr. Armadillo here (our Texas mammal) cannot see very well, hence, his glasses. There is the obligatory road that often leads to his demise. There is the habitat he craves.. a warm climate. A hot drink sits on the table because he needs to stay toasty for survival. The books on the table are “Twelfth Knight” (his armor) “The Road Less Traveled” (again the road thing) and “The Big Book of Bugs” (what he eats). The balls on his chair represent how he rolls up. And there is his paw print on his cowboy hat. The little Knight book end represents his protective armor.

This project officially begins in late September. One nice size painting a month… ending with an auction event in October of 2017 at Winter Street Studios. 100% of the proceeds will go to the city of Houston and more specifically Keep Houston Beautiful. So happy to do this for a hometown that has done so much for me and my dream job… love this art-filled life. Giving back is where it’s at! 🙂

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April Murphy

When I was in college, I was captivated by a painting at a nearby art museum: “The River Seine at Chatou” by Andre Derain. I would go and sit in front of it every week. Something about the colors…It JUST made me feel good. No matter what my mood, when I looked at it, I smiled. When I left, I felt happy. My goal as an artist is to do for others what Derain did for me...to lighten a mood and bring a smile….a pretty top-knotch way to make a living in my book!

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