Special Populations Indeed!

Today I had the pleasure of going to the opening reception for the Special Populations art show at the City Arts Center. Special Populations is a program of the Allied Arts Council of Oklahoma City that brings multidisciplinary arts education to children and adults with special needs in the metro area.

There are five special needs programs that participate in Special Populations. Two adult programs, one high school program and two children's programs. The art was absolutely beautiful and the turnout spectacular.

There were so many people there that the reception was planned for one area of the facility and had to be moved to another. Some of the participants from the high school program were videotaping and interviewing artists as I ducked in and out trying to take pictures oblivious to everything except my mission. Needless to say I had to be asked more than once to get out of the way and was asked to sign a release just in case they couldn't edit me out:)

These are the three paintings that Rose did along with a shot of her painting with several others. I have to go back before the show ends and take my time looking at the exhibit and get more photos. It was hard to do with so many people. If you live in the area I highly recommend you visit the exhibit. It ends on the 30th.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Oh and PS. Rose was initially a little nervous because of the crowd, hung close and held my hand. But once people started complimenting her she forgot I was there:)

Clouded In Secrecy - Artist with Autism

From the moment she entered the room all eyes were on her. No one knew who she was but they all whispered and stared. She smoked to calm her nerves but her presence was clouded in secrecy.

Rose did this drawing using ink, colored pencil and pastels. You can find reproductions for sale in my Etsy shop.

I am a member of the Etsy Twitter team and one my fellow members, Lois Stifel of FoxyGKnits wrote an article about Rose and I for Autism Awareness Month. I hope you'll stop by and take a look.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Subliminal Messages - ACEO - Artist with Autism

This is an artist trading card by Rose. It looks to me as though there's some hidden message here, what do you think?

You can find it for sale in my Etsy shop with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Autism initiatives.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by

Bridges - Original Painting - Artist with Autism

This is a painting by my sister Rose who has autism. Rose is mostly non verbal, so when I ask her what she would like to name her work oftentimes I don't get an answer so I name it myself. I named this piece Bridges because it reminded me of people reaching out to one another.

April is Autism Awareness month so all month I'll be featuring art by Rose and other artists on the spectrum.

You can find this for sale in my Etsy shop.... I think it's time Rose had her own Etsy shop!

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Elsile - Upcycled Vintage White Glass Bead Earrings Supporting Cancer Awareness

My maternel grandmothers name was Elsile but everyone called her Liza. I found a broken necklace amongst her belongings after she passed away made up of these white twisted glass beads.

I made these earrings for this weeks Etsy Project Embrace Team challenge. The theme was "recycled". I added sterling silver beads and findings to the beautiful vintage glass beads.

Etsy Project Embrace is comprised of a group of sellers spreading awareness, raising funds and offering hope and embraces for those whose lives have been touched by cancer. To find out more visit the team blog at http://etsyprojectembrace.blogspot.com/. You can find these earrings for sale in my Etsy shop. I lost my grandmother to breast cancer and so a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society in her honor.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Working On Resolutions

As some of you may know one of my resolutions for the new year was to paint more. Two other resolutions were to create items with all the beads I have and to work on my photography skills. I've spent the past week taking photographs of some of the items I made with the beads. And while I still have a ways to go on my photography skills at least I'm working on it.

You can find these earrings for sale in my Etsy shop with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society as part of Etsy Project Embrace.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Mother and Daughter - Artist with Autism

Last week Windows crashed and I have spent the majority of my time since then restoring my computer. While I was busy with that Rose painted. Mother and Daughter is one of the paintings she did. I really like this, it's looks very happy to me. She used dimensional and acrylic paints, glitter, vintage text pages, paper, ink and crayons. You can find it for sale in my Etsy shop.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Turmoil - Abstract Painting

The original image was done using acrylics on 10 x 8 wrapped canvas. You can find reproductions for sale at Fine Art America.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

With Purple On Top

This painting was done by my sister Rose who has autism. She is a self taught artist and will often use art to express herself. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to support autism initiatives and the rest goes to Rose for supplies and shopping excursions. The moment I let her know something has sold she makes a shopping list, usually for lots more than the sale:) She is mostly nonverbal.

Title: With Purple On Top
Size: 8 x 10 Canvas Panel

Medium: Professional Grade Acrylics

Date: 2010

Artist: Rose Refour

You can find it for sale on eBay. Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.