Art Donation - Farewell to an Old Friend

Let me say this right up front: I don't, as a rule, donate original art. All my art is for sale and I create it with that purpose. I have no desire to be a starving artist and I want my art to find good homes. Although my work is for sale, that doesn't mean I don't get attached to it, but it's a great feeling when something I've created touches someone else enough for them to purchase it. As far as donations go though, I simply can't afford to donate too many higher-priced sources of potential income. While exposure is nice, it usually doesn't pan out and it doesn't buy kibble and hay for my animals.

Having said all that, I've finally gotten to the point where I have enough art to keep both my studio and my display at the Auburn Old Town Gallery well-stocked. This leads me to start thinking about donating an original, provided the situation is a good fit. Just such an opportunity arose that made me feel it was time to cut loose of an old friend and donate it.

So it was with a bit of sadness that I said goodbye today to "Quiet Strength", a scratchboard drawing of a draft horse and his owner/handler. I created this in 2003, it won awards at three different shows, and it has long been a personal favorite. However, it hadn't touched enough of a chord with anyone else, which is why I still had it. Many people over the years have liked it, just not enough to buy it!

I received a call to artists to donate works to the art auction for the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento (CCAS). In the application, there are a number of things that made me feel it was time to send "Quiet Strength" on down the road. One thing is that the artist has the option to request a 50/50 split of the final sale price, another is that the auction will be held at Elliott Fouts Gallery (a well-known venue in Sacramento), and a third is that I really want to see scratchboard get the exposure it deserves. It IS fine art, yet it isn't generally regarded that way. Since I started participating in discussions about scratchboard on WetCanvas, joined the International Society of Scratchboard Artists and attended workshops in June, I've had a renewed excitement over the medium.

If all goes according to plan, this drawing will touch a chord with someone and sell at the auction. And maybe for even more than retail, which would be wonderful, but it could go for less or it might not sell at all, which means it comes back to me. For now though, these are unknowns and it truly did feel like saying farewell to an old friend when I left the drawing there, propped up against the wall at CCAS.