Gifting Renée Zellweger

It's not everyday that I get the opportunity to send my art to an Oscar-winning actress. When the chance came up within The Artisan Group to gift Renée Zellweger, I jumped at it!

Photo of Renée at the Miss Potter Premiere 2006

Renée Zellweger has been in so many great movies. One of my favorites is "Miss Potter", a film dedicated to telling the story of Beatrix Potter. An amazing British woman, born in the 1800's who became one of the most popular authors and illustrators in Children's Literature. She was also a naturalist and conservationist credited with preserving most of the land that now comprises the Lake District National Park in North West England.

Inspired by the film, and the hope that, as a country girl herself, she may like a touch of nature, I decided to send Renée a small collection of my feather studies.

Snowy Owl, Blue Jay, Northern Flicker and Magpie Feather studies

Gift wrapped especially for Renée 

Needless to say, I was not the only one who was excited to send something special to the Oscar winning actress. Here's a peek at some of the other creations members of The Artisan Group gifted Renée. :)

Chiffon Rosette Clutch by GirlByAileen

Goat Milk Bath Soak and Blissful Balm by Simply Caprine

Swarovski Knotieties Bracelet and Knotieties 5 pack 

Set of two stack bracelets by SassyBelleWares

Kumihimo Braided Bracelet by KathsElegantAccessories

Hand Pleated Clutch with wristlet by SugarRushCreative

Boho Cuff Stck by HeidiLee Design

Hammered Organic Oval with Chalcedony by AndreaWysockiJewelry

Hand Stamped Bar Necklace by TheSilverDiva

80 page notepad by Galaxy Eyes

Brass and Druzy Cuff by Ten2MidnightStudios

Now, I have only revealed about a quarter of the amazing pieces that were gifted to Renée by some of my fellow artisans at The Artisan Group. Valerie, the founder of the group just received a hand written note from Renée herself, thanking us all for the "beautiful things". :)

Earth Day 2013

I am so excited to be participating in The Artisan Group's "Earth Day Gifting Event" this year.
What a great opportunity to get my artwork in the hands of some savvy, A-list, eco-conscious celebs!

Yes, all of these folks will be receiving 2 (yes, 2!) of my original watercolor feathers. I went a little nuts and thought I'd paint two each). Haven't brushed up on your celeb name-game lately? Here they are:

Those being gifted with The Artisan Group's Earth Day Gift bag:

First Row: Woody Harrelson, Ted Danson, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Rachel McAdams, P!nk, Orlando Bloom

Second Row: Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo, Malin Akerman, Leonard DiCaprio, Kate Bosworth, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Josh Hartnett

Third Row: Jake Gyllenhall, Hayden Panettiere, Ginnifer Goodwin, Emily VanCamp. Edward Norton, Daryl Hannah, Courteney Cox

Fourth Row: Cameron Diaz, Barbra Streisand

 Fifth Row: Alicia Silverstone, Adrian Grenier

My plan was to paint feather studies from Birds of Prey. Raptors are protected birds and some are "species at risk", (which is pretty much endangered, in my opinion)
I had been rolling around the idea of somehow "giving back" to the birds. After all, I never started out painting with a focus on birds, it just...kind of happened. I felt like donating to a Raptor Centre would be a good option. I visited the Mountsberg Raptor Centre, met with Amy Fennell, the Raptor Centre Lead, and was so blown away by what they do. Mountsberg is currently home to 33 protected birds of prey. With 4 staffers (One Full Time), they rely heavily on volunteers and donations.
I included information on Mountsberg with the feather studies for Earth Day, in hopes that maybe something good could come from it. I also decided to donate 50% off any of my Raptor related prints sold to The Mountsberg Raptor Centre.

The Original watercolor has been sold. Prints available here

Here are a few progress shots of some of the Earth Day feathers.

Let me just say, finishing those 60 feathers felt awesome!

If you are interested, I have made an instant archival quality collection of prints of a selection of the  Raptor Feathers that were gifted to the celebs. 50% of the sale of these will go to Mountsberg. :)

Raptor Feather Collection

Wondering what else was included from my The Artisan Group members? Wow, you are going to be blown away! So much talent.

Look HERE to see what's inside those packages

Local News Articles

My feature spots in some local papers this week. Very exciting!

I've been learning a lot from my fellow artists and business people in The Artisan Group, so I recently took the initiative to send some information about my work and my upcoming shows, to some of the local papers. I had three interviews in the last two weeks, which turned into three "feature" articles and one mention in the local papers!

I would like to thank the reporters who responded to my phone calls, and who wrote the articles:

Thank you to Tom Wilkinson for the article about my participation in "Art in the Village".
Thank you Katie Mueller for answering my plea for last-minute photos!

Read the article

Thank you to Amanda Moore for the great article with more mentions of Art in the Village. Many people who came to the show in Jordan today, mentioned that they saw the article and that was what made them come out! :)

Read the article here

Thank you, especially to Angela Scappatura. Angela returned my message, set up an interview and came to my house (twice! LOL) She was amazing. I was so nervous about doing the interview. She was so easy to talk to - - I really had nothing to be anxious about. Then  - whammo! I open the paper and find this fab BIG article, which I hope will get some more people coming to the Art by the Lighthouse Show on August 4th and 5th in Niagara-on-the-Lake!
She included a link to my on-line shop (Thank goodness!) and added info about The Artisan Group!

Read this article HERE

So - - here's what I've taken away from what's happened this week.

Self-promote by using the media to your advantage.

I've been working hard and have had these great opportunites, but haven't used the media to my advantage...until this week. I had a show today and have a show next week. I figured I could present my work appearing on CSI and a few of my Celebrity gifting opportunites and mention I had a couple of shows coming up. Perfect small story.

I don't know if I'm just an idiot, but I realized - - You need to take the stories to the reporters. How else are they going to know about you? You have to be your own cheerleader.

The worst thing that could happen is they don't call you back, right? Right.
3 out of 5 reporters did call back, and I received some great articles from those interviews.

Hard work pays off.

Most importantly, I am very blessed to have such supportive family and friends.
Thank you all so much!!!

The Art in the Village show was a success today. Beautiful weather, Gorgeous location, wonderful artists and great turnout. If you haven't made it to any of the Niagara Nights of Art events, I urge you to check out the next one. They are FREE. Show your local artists you support them, learn more about them and their work as they engage you in many different ways. You will be happy you did!