Sorry to have been away

I have been a lazy blogger recently but hope you will excuse me as I have been so busy with my painting fundraiser (see blog January 10th).

Hard work, but such fun.

I now have 108 paintings, mainly from amateurs (most of whom are beginners - including myself) and they will all be on view at Stourhead gallery 19th - 21st Feb. We are delighted to have had the help of Desmond Shawe-Talyor, Surveyor of the Queen's Paintings, who has chosen 12 to be auctioned at our charity dance, the Paint Ball. I have to confess I do not know Desmond at all but he once taught my best friend, Pip, history of art and she loves him. And since he has given up his time to help Msaada I am now joining the Desmond fan club.

Here is a sneak preview, starting with my daughter Alex's painting (proud mum) called, The Lone Emperor. Alex is at uni studying natural sciences and saw this image on Planet Earth.

It has been wonderful to see the range of subjects that people paint, but most have chosen what is dear to them. I have no doubt that Alex will one day be a zoologist. (For Christmas she asked for a 'chimpanzee chasing hat' to wear in all weathers, as she will be spending the summer in Uganda studying a troop of chimps.)

This painting is called The Promise, and was painted by a young woman called Clare Davenport who is head of Maths at Shaftesbury school. She had been to Rwanda with Msaada, as the charity has helped to link the school with another school there. She wanted to paint an optimistic picture full of hope, but also show that the genocide is not forgotten. The purple of the earring is the colour that is worn by people on genocide remembrance days.

I love the fact that farmer's wife, cook, and all round good woman - Gillie Strang - painted her landscape with a pastry brush. Any one who has visited the Strang's mad, farmhouse kitchen will understand that the chances of her losing the brushes that came with the paints and canvas we gave her were always pretty high!

Mother and daughter, Francie and Beth got all their friends and female relations to kiss their canvases. They wanted to show how women support each other in Rwanda - and in fact all over the world.

Isn't that the truth.

And what did I paint? (or rather copy from a greetings card)

A flower stall of course!