7.5″x11″ ink on paper, $40 (plus shipping via standard mail outside of the UK)
SOLD
10% of art sales now through April 30 donated to Court Appointed Special Advocates.
7.5″x11″ ink on paper, $40 (plus shipping via standard mail outside of the UK)
SOLD
10% of art sales now through April 30 donated to Court Appointed Special Advocates.
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7.5″x11″ ink on paper, $40 (plus shipping via standard mail outside of the UK), SOLD. 
10% of art sales now through April 30 donated to Court Appointed Special Advocates.
7.5″x8″ ink on paper, $35 (plus shipping), SOLD
10% of art sales now through April 30 donated to Court Appointed Special Advocates.
I’ve realized while settling into my new home in London that the local scenes are inspiring me to draw and paint faster than I’m keeping up with service organizations. Although it’s invigorating to be painting urban street scenes again, I won’t leave out the charitable component of my work. So, while I’m painting and finding my footing here, I will be making contributions from art sales to Court Appointed Special Advocates, one of my all time favorite nonprofit organizations.
CASA is always looking for volunteers to advocate for abused children engaged in the legal system while a safe home is identified for them. With over 1,000 local community offices throughout the US, there’s bound to be a CASA office near you. I volunteered for CASA and would be happy to answer any questions about my experience, just email me at ashley.cecil(at)gmail.com.
For months, eleven artists have been creating beautiful street paintings designs with clients and staff from the nonprofit partners of the Norton Women’s Pavilion Champions 4 Her Festival. These designs will be translated onto the sidewalk of Witherspoon at Water Front Park the morning of Saturday, June 20th, which coincides with a 5k walk/run.
Last year’s event and street paintings were a huge success. The goal was to raise $100,000 for the participating nonprofit partners, but instead over $170,000 was allocated to the organizations.
Join us this year to see the street paintings unfold at your feet, participate as a walker/runner, and check out all of the educational/health booths. You can register here for the 5k.
And thank you to the artists for all of their hard work and service:
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11″ x 14″ oil on masonite board.
SOLD
See all artwork available for sale.
Women In Transition is a grassroots organization run by and for poor people working on four primary campaigns: 1. Dismantling Classism, 2. CORROC (Claiming our Rights, Reclaiming our Children), 3. Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and 4. Louisville Living Wage Campaign & Raise the Wage.
Virginia’s involvement with WIT began after years of struggling to keep custody of her two daughters. Poverty was most often the obstacle that stood between her and her children. Although she worked two jobs, it didn’t provide her family with their basic needs.
WIT ‘s services would have been a tremendous asset during those challenging times, but Virginia has benefited greatly from the amazing social justice advocates she has since met. She now volunteers as a parent advocate, helping others living below the poverty level navigate the legal system as they work to maintain custody of their children.
Quote in the painting:
If I had known of an organization like this then, I wouldn’t have lost my girls. They motivate me and inspire me.
Yesterday, I learned about a horrific accident in Louisville involving four teens who are members of Youth Alive (where I have been doing community art programming through the Louisville Visual Art Association since this summer). After leaving a holiday party at the Presbyterian Community Center on Thursday night, Arron Shields, Jemar, Demar, and Marc Claybrooks were killed in a car accident. You can read the full story here.
Three of the boys were brothers (two of them twins). The fourth boy was also a twin. I cannot image how their parents are coping. Clearly, this will be a tremendous loss for the families and everyone at Youth Alive to cope with. The families are surely also struggling to pay to bury their children. If you would like to make a contribution to the families, please make it to the Youth Alive Fund for the Benefit of the Claybrooks and Shields families at any Republic Bank.
The funeral for Arron Shields will be at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Stephen Church, 1008 S. 15th St., with visitation from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Rogers-Awkard & Lyons Funeral Home, 951 S. Preston St. Visitation for the Claybrooks brothers will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at G.C. Williams Funeral Home, 1935 W. Broadway. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Lampton Baptist Church, 850 S. Fourth St.
11″ x 14″ oil on masonite board.
SOLD
A donation from sold painting will be made to the Women’s Second Chance Scholarship Fund.
Gallery caption:
The mission of Family and Children First is to “strengthen our community by helping families with children maximize their emotional, social and physical well being through behavioral health and social services, advocacy, and prevention efforts.”
Sherry was 40 years old when her sister convinced her to press charges against the man who sexually abused her, and several of her family members, for years as a child. Although she calls the experience “’empowering,” she also found it very frightening. Therapy at FCF helped Sherry navigate her way through a stockpile of feelings keeping her from fully moving on with her life. The shame she felt left her silent during early group therapy sessions. Now she openly shares her story with new clients of FCF to help them through the same process of recovery.
Sherry’s quote in the painting:
I always thought I was the only one. I blamed myself for years. I was able to let go of the shame. It was the most nurturing place to tell my story.
11″ x 14″‘ oil on masonite board.
Email me at ashley.cecil at gmail.com for purchasing inquiries.
A donation from sold painting will be made to the Women’s Second Chance Scholarship Fund.
Gallery caption:
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana helps children reach their potential through professionally supported one-to-one relationships between youth and adult mentors.
When Diana’s daughter left for college, she set out to fill her empty nest with a child in need of her time. BBBS paired Diana with Madison, a Katrina evacuee. Diana has helped Madison through the transition to a new city under less than ideal circumstance. Aside from recreational outings, they’ve also delved into Madison’s social challenges at school. The two journal together about what makes Madison angry. Then, they shift the focus to positive thoughts about the people in Madison’s life. Although these experiences are meant for Madison’s wellbeing, Diana admits they’ve equally benefited her.
Quote in the painting:
‘She’s here! She’s here!’ I’ve never had someone so excited to see me. It’s wonderful to make a difference in her life.
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11″ x 14″ oil on masonite board.
SOLD
See all artwork available for sale.
Gallery caption:
Alexis and Kelsey, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Jefferson County
The Court Appointed Special Advocates program provides training and support to volunteer advocates who serve as a voice in court for the best interests of abused and/or neglected children through the jurisdiction of the Family Court.These two beautiful girls played with new Easter bunnies while I listening to their grandparents tell their heart-breaking story. The toddlers’ parents’ rights were terminated by a judge due to their drug addiction. Their CASA volunteer, Robin, played a critical role ensuring the girls’ case was given thorough attention and that they were placed in a loving home. Alexis and Kelsey now live with their grandparents, who tell me “there should be more people like Ms. Robin. She should be a judge in family court.”
Quote in the painting from the girls’ grandparents:
They would have taken from place to place. We probably wouldn’t have ever seen them again.
Click here for a direct link to the Champions 4 Her video.
I have spent at least the past six months coordinating the street art festival for an upcoming umbrella fundraiser for 10 Louisville nonprofits. One week from today (Saturday, June 21), ‘Champions 4 Her‘ walk/run will launch its first year at Waterfront Park.
Initially, I was asked to scout and hire an internationally renowned madonnaro (street painter) to set the festival apart from the plethora of other walk/runs in the city. I loved the idea, but immediately thought of the truly unique opportunity the concept of a street painting festival afforded clients of the 10 organizations we were raising money for. I agreed to find a feature artist for the event to draw in the media, but pitched the additional idea of having each of the beneficiary partner organizations create their own amateur street paintings depicting how their respective nonprofit assisted women and girls in our community.
The idea was not hard to sell, and soon I was also hiring a team of local artists to guide the novice nonprofit participants through the process of a creating a roughly 8′ x 12′ chalk pastel painting in one day.
I saw a lot of wide eyes as I sat in on the introductory meetings between the art teams and the artist they were paired with. This is the first time many of the participants have been to exposed to the visual arts on this level. Working with a full-time professional artist has really expanded their perception of the abilities of the arts to impact a community.
Within a few weeks I was getting concept sketches of each group’s final design. It has been such a treat to get photos in my email inbox and snail-mailbox of the art they’re designing.
You can support these wonderful organizations by registering yourself or a team to do the walk/run, or just come by and see the art in action.
I did of course hire a feature professional artist for the main street painting. Her name is Tracy Lee Stum and she will start on her piece the Wednesday before the event. Feel free to stop by Waterfront Park during the day to see her at work. She (and the other street paintings) will be in the parking lot in front of Joe’s Crab Shack. See you June 21!
7″ x 9″ watercolor, NFS
See all artwork available for sale.
Ok, so I admit that when a painting comes before the idea for a new post, I have to dig a little deeper to find a contextual match. This painting above of a scene in New York had me a bit stumped. I think my dad may have told me a time or two, “ask and you shall receive.” So, I asked fellow blogger, Anna Hackman of ‘Green Talk’, if she had any ideas. Oh, did she. How perfect is this:
New York City based nonprofit “Rocking the Boat uses traditional wooden boatbuilding and on-water education to allow high school age youth to develop into empowered and responsible adults. Through these mediums, Rocking the Boat empowers South Bronx students to deal with everyday realities that are often not addressed at home or in school…programs directly serve over 2,000 students and community members drawn from a range of New York City public high schools and neighborhoods…Rocking the Boat teaches, challenges, nurtures, and motivates, providing the tools to transition into the next phase of life. Kids don’t just build boats at Rocking the Boat, boats build kids.”
Way to hit the nail on the head Anna!
All too often I hear the ignorant gripe, “Programming like this is waste. We need to focus on pushing math and science.” Programs “like this” teach youth responsibility, leadership, confidence, and how to collaborate on goal-orientated outcomes. Becoming a successful adult who contributes to society entails far more than acing your SAT. I have personally witnessed many teenagers participate in such projects and become be far more articulate, social, engaged and invested in their own futures (not to mention less interested in peer-pressure induced activities like doing drugs and competing for bragging rights for the most sexual partners). It’s kind of hard to study chemistry when you’re high or 13 and pregnant. Organizations like Rocking the Boat are preparing our youth be learners who have the capacity to absorb their education.
Alright, I’ll get off my soapbox. I think I’m still a little heated about all of the recent across-the-board cutbacks (from state and federal to dried up foundation funds).
Ps-I should mention that this painting was created from a photo taken specifically of another organization certainly worth mentioning: the New York City Downtown Boathouse. Next time you’re in NYC, you should definitely going kayaking on the Hudson with their all-volunteer staff of instructors (one of whom is pretty cute. I think I may have a crush).
8″ x 10″ oil on canvas, $350 ($50 donated to the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana)
See all artwork available for sale.
The Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana (a.k.a. Louisville, Kentucky + Southern Indiana) recently hosted a breakfast wherein their new CEO, Terry Blackwell (pictured above), gave an intriguing presentation entitled, “Change it Up! What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership.” The presentation was based on a study conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI), which “serves as a center for research and public policy information on the healthy development of girls.”
Every generation takes societal norms passed onto them and molds them to mirror the times in which they live. This study is a thorough look into the minds of our youngest future leaders. With a fine-tooth comb, the study breaks down the definitions, predictors and aspirations that our youth assign to leadership.
A few highlights that especially caught my attention were:
But in the boys’ defense, one of my favorite quotes included in the intro of the study was by an 8th grade boy in Atlanta:
“I would like to be a leader some day so that I can change different aspects of the world, such as homelessness, poverty, and unjust happenings.”
To read the study for yourself, click here.
12″ x 12″ oil on canvas, $400
SOLD
See all artwork available for sale.
I although I missed it this year, I got an update from my friends at the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana on the outcome of last week’s Dessert First. Over $35,000 was raised at the box-o-cookies-meets-gourmet-ambrosia-sampling. 600 folks with a serious sweet tooth browsed and indulged in treats from 27 local restaurants.
The “Golden Whisk Award”-winning Tagalong cheesecake (a creation of The Jefferson Club) is a clear reminder of why I decided not to utilize my free press pass. Of all the Girl Scout cookies my family bought when I was a kid, Tagalongs were the only ones that ended up getting stashed in my sock drawer to keep my brother from downing them before I got my share. My willpower would have been out the window. This is my contribution to the cause 
30″ x 40″ oil on canvas
SOLD
See all artwork available for sale.
Last year I finally made a list of “things to do before I die.” One line on that list read, “take Flamenco dance lessons.” Not long after creating my declarations of commitments to myself, I saw a Louisville Flamenco group perform at the Americana Center for International Women’s Day. The performance was inspiring to say the least, hence this painting.
Benefits and utility exist for such sinfully enjoyable activity like dance, which pleases folks on 2 diametric ends of a spectrum: those involved in dance for personal expression and those only interested in any activity insofar as it is “useful” (ie does is make money or is it trackable on a spreadsheet). Here are a few ways dance nourishes the creative spirit and yields tangible positive outcomes:
So you see, all of your time spent dancing in front of the mirror, singing that horrible 80’s tune you wouldn’t be caught dead jamming to in front of friends, has simply been a preface to employing your talent for a fruitful purpose. Dance on twinkletoes!
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