Newburyport artist Lisa Riordon works with children to raise money for Haiti
February 10, 2010
The ache and loss in Haiti has been upsetting, but nothing has been as distressing as the stories and images of the island's children.The international aid organization Save the Children estimates that 1 around million Haitian children lost either one or both parents in the colossal earthquake that struck the island on Jan. 12. And now, as thousands of children roam alone all the way through the ruins of their homes and neighborhoods, several fear they are susceptible to disease, famine and child predators. Many people have searched for ways to help and one such person is Newburyport artist and graphic designer Lisa Riordon who has adopted a new method for helping.
Riordon, who is known for her signature series of paintings of children in silhouette, decided almost at once to put her art about kids to work for kids. And she has teamed up with a group of Newburyport elementary school students to get the work done.Riordon conveyed that it is such a large scale event that it can be tough to feel like you can do anything to make a difference. She also said that she wanted kids to be able to do something to help.
Riordon has launched "A Painting a Day" fundraiser, and for this month, and possibly longer, she will create a fresh set of paintings of children in silhouette which will eventually be sold to raise money to support Save the Children's relief effort in Haiti.
Like her previous works, these paintings start with an abstract field of lively color and brush strokes and are finished with a silhouette that captures something essential and universal about childhood. Different from her previous paintings, Riordon isn't painting each individual background.For this gamut of paintings, students from Eileen Whitney's third grade class at Bresnahan School and children from Margaret Foster's kindergarten class at Brown School are taking care of this initial step.
Riordon said that the 20 kids whom she worked with to create the 6-inch by 6-inch abstract paintings are so motivated about this project. The kids learned the basics of abstract art and were delighted to discover that sometimes it is acceptable to sling paint, especially when it's for a good cause. Also,these kids wanted to know more about Haiti.
Labels: abstract art, Haiti, Lisa Riordon, Painting
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