New Year Shenanigans

Greetings Y'all

Art in Healthcare is delighted to wish you a belated Happy New Year and to invite you to buy a raffle ticket for our forthcoming Valentine's Prize Draw! We have a fantastic range of prizes, including tours and tasting around the Glenkinchie and Dalwhinnie Whiskey Distilleries, dinner out at Pizza Express and the Hard Rock Cafe, a family pass to Butterfly World and IPod shuffles! What more could you want.. Tickets cost just £1 and can be purchased from contacting the office on 0131 555 7638 or admin@artinhealthcare.org.uk. All funds raised go towards Art in Healthcare, a prominent Scottish charity that provides high quality, original Scottish artworks for all sectors of healthcare. Our vision is to improve the healthcare environment with our unique and culturally relevant art collection and by engaging patients, residents, staff and visitors with enjoyable and interactive art and health talks.

News now on our recent guitar raffle that gave one lucky winner the ownership of a uniquely hand-painted guitar that was autographed by members of Scottish indie bands Idlewild, We Were Promised Jetpacks, and Frightened Rabbit along with brilliant jazz guitarist Graeme Stephen, members of Canadian superstars the Barenaked Ladies, and the legend, Jon Lord, of Deep Purple! 11 year old, Jordan Chatt, photographed left, was over the moon with his big win!

Finally, a reminder that we continue to seek venues for our wide-ranging collection of pictures by highly esteemed Scottish artists for Care Homes, Hospitals, Health Centres and other healthcare-related contexts. Do you know of anyone that might be interested in renting a picture from us? Have you seen a spare bit of a wall in your local Hospital/Health Centre that could benefit from a bit of colour? Get in touch! We liaise with organisations to find out the most suitable picture for a location and deliver to the very spot. You will find full contact details on our website at http://www.artinhealthcare.org.uk/.

'A Picture of Health'

Art in Healthcare's New Works Exhibition, 'A Picture of Health'

Art in Healthcare is delighted to put on an exhibition showcasing some of the works added to the collection this last year, including pictures from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Featuring works by exceptional professional artists such as Jock McInnes, Marjorie I.Campbell, Colin Black and others, the exhibition will be held in the Atticsalt Gallery. This will be a great opportunity to view a selection of the pictures of Art in Healthcare's growing collection before they are sent off to their new homes in healthcare facilities throughout Scotland.

As Art in Healthcare's purpose is to improve the healing environment, director Margaret Hucombe explains that "we believe art has a powerful role to play in the health service and with these kind donations of artwork we can continue to provide a stimulationg environment for patients staff and visitors".

The exhibition will be open on the following days and times:
Friday 3rd December, Opening 18.00-20.30
Saturday 4 December, 10.30-16.30
Sunday 5 December- Saturday 11 December, 14.30-16.30

Attic Salt Gallery
50 Thrisle Street Lane North East,
EH2 1DA

Edinburgh, United Kingdom
http://www.atticsalt.co.uk/

More on Facebook event!

Flowers For Frida by John C Brown

Flowers of Frida, 2010, screenprint, 77x56 cm

Acclaimed artist John Brown created the new Prestigious Print, Flowers For Frida, for Art in Helathcare's annual art fundraising drive. Inspired by a trip to Mexico, flowers for Frida exemplifies Brown's distinctive, colourful and expressive style. Warm hues of red, orange and yellow, reflective of the Mexican landscape and culture intermingle and balance with darker colours, while sketch of Frida Kahlo, an exceptional artistic and social figure of 20th century Mexico, sits to the right of a vase overflowing with flowers.

As seen in the Flowers for Frida, colour is an important element of his work and usually its intense use is a direct response to travel, during which he collect information by drawing translated later into paintings. His solo exhibitions, with the latest one being held in London, October 2010, are inspired by visits to various places such as Tuscany, Kerala, Zanzibar, Spain, Vietnam, Mekong Delta and Cambodia.

In Novermber 2009, in the Sense of Fate catalogue entry he writes: "my work is inspired by visits to foreign parts (mostly where the sun shines brightest)… I draw with pencil in square sketchbooks in front of the subject, trying to establish what is essential and discarding the unimportant. These drawings inform the paintings executed in my Edinburgh studio…The sense of place is all important…I search for ways in which to communicate the reason-a subject makes me stop to look-the why and the how."
More work by the artist can be viewed in his personal website.

Get a print:

Although John Brown is mainly a painter working with a mixture of acrylic paint, washes, and collage, printed by hand at Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop from 15 screens, the Flowers for Frida is an exception to his overall painting practice, therefore unique and Prestigious.

The print is available in a signed and limited edition of 75 and those purchasing it will acquire a picture by an artist of the highest quality, whose appears in various public and private collections throughout the world.
The print may be purchased for £295 and there are framing and delivery options available. For more information please contact Art in Healthcare.

The work will also appear in the Silent Auction event at the Hard Rock Cafe, Edinburgh.

John C. Brown:

Born in Scotland 1945, he trained in Drawing and Painting at the Glasgow School of Art (1963-68) and won a major travel scholarship from RSW and GSA resulting in one man show in the museum of GSA. Brown taught for 25 years while continuing to paint and exhibit in Edinburgh, London and Truro. Further detailed biographical information can be viewed in the artist's website.

Charity Fundraiser Silent Auction

Art in Healthcare is auctioning twelve lovely artworks to help raise money for the charity.

The Hard Rock Cafe, Edinburgh, is providing a 'gallery space' in the restaurant to showcase the pictures next week from Monday to Sunday.

We will also have on display Art in Healthcare's two latest Prestigious Prints AND, possibly the most sought after guitar in Scotland - a custom painted Gibson Les Paul Epiphone that has been signed by a load of great musicians including Frightened Rabbit, We Were Promised Jetpacks, the Barenaked Ladies and Jon Lord of Deep Purple!

Come on down to the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up some raffle tickets and check out some lovely artwork. You never know, you may just go home with a beautiful painting!

You can see all the pictures to be auctioned here in our slide show. For details and prices of works check our facebook page.

Become a friend of Art in Healthcare if you're not already!

Details:
Auction starts November 3rd 7-9 pm until November 7th
Hard Rock Cafe
20 George Street
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

What a prize!

This guitar is becoming more and more unique and valuable! The custom painted Gibson Les Paul Epiphone has now been signed by Rod Jones, guitarist from Idlewild (left), exceptionally talented jazz musician Graeme Stephen (top), the members of Frightened Rabbit and also rising stars We Were Promised Jetpacks (centre)! For more details about the guitar or to get raffle tickets (£1 each) please go to http://www.trevorjonesart.com/

[fi-lan-thruh-pee]

Philanthropy

noun; an activity performed with the goal of promoting the well-being of fellow man.

There has been a lot of interest of late concerning philanthropic activity. Bill Gates for example has managed to persuade 40 other American billionaires to give at least half their fortunes away to good causes. Gates established a foundation in 1994 and since then he has donated nearly $23 billion for health and development in poor countries and to improve access for Americans to opportunities they need to succeed in school and life.

(photo: Hard Rock Cafe staff member, Mike Hawker, promoting his 'Tour for a Cure' fundraiser)

However, as the definition above suggests, philanthropy is not only about giving away one's monetary wealth. It also incorporates the ‘altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement’ and therefore, any kind act with intent to better another individual or group’s situation or lives could be considered a philanthropic act.

On that note, I would like to draw your attention to the huge amount of energy and resources that a local business is expending to help our charitable organisation. Like many charities at the moment, we are struggling financially to make ends meet. I approached Dave Pellow, the General Manager at the Hard Rock Café, Edinburgh near the beginning of the year to ask if he would be interested in helping raise money for Art in Healthcare. Mr. Pellow thought it was an excellent idea as, although the HRC regularly raises money for various causes around the world, this would be the first opportunity for the Edinburgh restaurant to help a local and very ‘visible’ charitable organisation.

Since then, we have been working closely with the Hard Rock Café on a fundraising project involving a hand painted Gibson Epiphone guitar. Prize draw tickets to win the guitar have been printed and can be picked up at the restaurant as well as at the UNIONgallery. With the Edinburgh Festival taking place this month, the Hard Rock Café is, as usual, heaving with thousands of people from far and wide. I’ve been told the entire staff at the restaurant (and there are a lot of them!) have all been working exceptionally hard letting the visitors from around the world know about this guitar prize draw and also about the charity behind it. A special mention goes out to Mr Mike Hawker, who has taken this almost as a personal crusade to raise money for our charity.

Interestingly, Mr Hawker ‘Edinburgh’s Hard Rock Café leading philanthropic ambassador', organised his own charity event to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer Research, last Father’s Day. Including a day with fun filled activities for the whole family, he also drummed up support from the Harley Davidson’s Dunedin Chapter to provide rides along George Street for the guests. Then, Mr Hawker himself, toured around the UK on his ‘Tour for a Cure’ road trip to continue to raise awareness and funds for his cause.

This just goes to show that we don't all have to be like Bill Gates or other billionaires, offering up half our fortunes to make a difference. Whether it's one business, like the Hard Rock Cafe helping a local charity or even one person, such as Mike Hawker, taking it upon himself to make the world just a little bit better - we can all do something that counts for an act of philanthropy. It doesn't have to be big; it doesn't have to be worth billions, it just has to be about spending a little time doing something worthwhile for someone else.

If you would like prize draw tickets for the Epiphone guitar please visit this link HERE

photos courtesy of the Hard Rock Cafe Edinburgh Facebook Page

Win a custom painted Epiphone guitar by Gibson!

The ballot cards for the Art in Healthcare charity fundraiser have arrived from the Hard Rock Cafe! So who wants to win this guitar?

Oh, and good news for all our overseas friends, this prize draw is open not just to UK residents but to anyone.

No purchase is necessary but donations to Art in Healthcare would be greatly appreciated. Just click on these links to donate at the Art in Healthcare website or at the artist, Trevor Jones' website.

Draw Date: 31 December 2010

Good Luck!!