Transforming a Plate for HEARTS!
Once in a while, you get called upon to do a project that sparks your creativity AND makes a contribution. I was thrilled to be invited to do just such a project: transform a dinner plate into a collectible art piece to auction off for a good cause. A big thank you to Loloi Rugs for this invitation.
A little background: Dallas Market Center and ART, the creative home furnishings network, along with 12 other industry associations, have come together for the HEARTS Awards, honoring outstanding leadership, empathy and service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans include a gala event in Dallas in January, hosted by Carson Kressley and Thom Filicia, and silent auction fundraiser of 70 one-of-a-kind plates creatively transformed by artists, designers, celebrities, influencers and special guests. All proceeds will benefit No Kid Hungry, a national campaign to end child hunger.
You can bid on lot #59, AKA my plate, and over 70 others, HERE until early January.
San Francisco 9/9/20 Plate⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Alcohol ink & lacquer
11 x 11
2020
I was beginning to work on the plate in September, at the time that California was being ravaged by wildfires. The photo below was taken on September 9th through my bedroom window, looking out on San Francisco’s Mission District. My plate depicts this surreal day of the orange skies (caused by the intense smoke above the city), overlaid with portals of hope envisioning a cleaner, more balanced, more abundant—and hunger free—future for all.
The view from my bedroom window on 9/9/20. San Francisco’s skies were choked with smoke, and we spent the day in an eerie orange twilight.
A detail of my plate evoking the disturbing orange skies.
Nothing like new art supplies to improve the mood and creative flow!
My trial plate at the end of day 1.
Playing with layering and removing section of the background.
My trial plate, procured from a local thrift shop for testing purposes.
Painting on a plate was new for me, and I decided that alcohol inks would be my medium, as they are both waterproof and capture the ethereal vibe I was looking for. Plus nothing seems to inspire me quite like a bunch of new art supplies! I like to do trials and drafts, so instead of starting on the beautiful Rosenthal plate that had been donated, I found a similar one in a thrift shop and got started.
A process video showing the removal of the unmasked sections of the background layer, so the foreground could be added in.
A detail of the skies beyond the portal, showing a much happier color!
A detail of the portal transition in-process, created using a Frisket resist.
A detail of the final portal, including plenty of metallic highlights.
Lots of generous people participated in this endeavor. I feel in amazing company: textile luminaries like Sherry Donghia and Justina Blakeney; icons of interior design such as Thomas O’Brien, Barbara Barry and Bunny Williams, trend expert Patti Carpenter; artist Lisa Hunt; TV celebs Bobby Berk and Thom Filicia; and even The Trim Queen herself, Jana Phipps! It’s great fun to peruse the transformed plates of all the talented creatives who participated.
An excerpt from Dallas Mart’s SPARK magazine is posted below. Be sure to check these beauties out in detail, and place some bids, at the SILENT AUCTION!
