My dear friend and fellow blogger/designer extraordinaire
Eddie Ross recently posted the story below on
his blog. It is such a touching story that speaks of the connections between art, tragedy and new beginnings that I just had to share it with you all here on my blog too. I love the girls' paintings and the big hearts of their new adoptive parents. I especially love that the way the story came to me was through art in it's purest form. The art of children.
Eddie Ross says:
Weeks ago, in anticipation of
our framing event in Atlanta, we posted a
giveaway of one free framing, courtesy of Larson-Juhl. To enter, readers were encouraged to submit a comment, describing the piece and why it's meaningful to them. Here's what caught our eye—and captured our hearts—from Marylee Deeter of Joilet, Illinois:
My husband and I have a collection of artwork from Haiti. We are adopting
two 13 year old girls from Haiti to join our family of 5. Some of the artwork
is from the orphanage they live in, done by the children there. We have all canvases...nothing is framed. When our daughters finally get to come home,
we'd like to have a wall dedicated to their home country and culture.
Along with these words came this work of art, one of two created by sisters Ismene and Ismarie at their orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, now left uninhabitable by the quake.
Here's the back of Ismarie's canvas made from scrap wood and fabric.
Thankfully, Marylee's daughter's are okay, having been granted humanitarian parole by the State Department for a speedy exit out of harm's way and their imminent arrival safely home. Soon, thanks to our generous friends at Larson-Juhl, their new rooms will be made just a bit more beautiful, their lives a little brighter, with the gift of their works of art, framed-—and celebrated!—just as they should be.
To support the Red Cross in its emergency relief and recovery efforts for those most affected by the earthquake in Haiti,
click here.
And this update courtesy of Marylee (Mom extraordinaire):