Women in war zones :::: silent auction

My collage series of The Democratic of the Congo- women- will be a part of the silent auction to support the film Women in War Zones

June 14th 7-10 pm
at the Cirle of Hope 1125 South Broad St. 2nd Floor

About a year ago I joined the Philly Business Lady's hosted by the fabulous ladies over at Art Star Craft Bazaar and organized by Joy from the blog Oh Joy! and the sationery line Nantaka Joy (good luck at the stationery show Joy!)  and the first couple of meetups all us ladies brought in what it was we "do".  Business wise- craft wise- didn't matter.  At the time I hadn't even started to do letterpress printing - i was working on this series of collages about the women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who had suffered such human tragedy and pain beyond anything I could ever imagine - before- during- and after the genocide.  I was also working a lot on fabric dolls. 
So at the meeting I brought in a painting that I had recently finished and some other stuff- and when i put it out there- a woman who was also at the meeting Jenny Jaskey who runs a gallery in the Northern Liberties section of Philly said "I've seen your work before!  my friend Brad is doing a film about this and I've somehow seen your work..."
which I thought odd since I had never shown this series before and hadn't really put it out there other than on flickr.  So that night i came home and googled a little and found the website for the film.  I e-mailed brad letting him know that if ever he was looking to do some kind of collaboration with me and the pieces that I was making that I would be more than happy!  And now a year later- they are holding a silent auction to raise money to complete the film and I've been asked to show the work!  I'm really thrilled- not only about the totally round about way that this came to be- but also because of how amazing of a project this is to be a part of. 
What started the series for me was an initial interest that was thrust forward after having watched an Oprah show one day.  She had send Lisa Ling to the Congo to interview several women about their lives and I was sobbing for days.  And at one moment Oprah looked at the TV and said " there- now you know and you can't just sit there and pretend like you don't...you've gotta do something" and she's right.  So that something for me was to create art and try to reach out to others through my art. 

Comments

[Kira]

That's FANTASTIC! Congrats Schwink!

[Jenna]

amazing....inspiring
when I first read that post regarding the women in the Congo, I felt your pain...its really inspiring how you found a way to mark that pain & raise awareness...
lately I felt more & more how blessed I am & what to be the change I want to see....
congratulations
blessed be