Me and My Huskie

Me and "my" Huskie, Joel Seutter

The Artists and Athletes Invitational Art Auction was a huge success again this year- at least it seemed to be from my point of view. It was a different crowd compared to last year- the energy never really built as the auction went on and the auctioneer had to work a little harder for the bids, but in the end I think the organizers have to be happy with the final result. Almost all of the pieces went and a lot of money was raised for the U of S Huskies and The Emma Lake Kenderdine Campus.

Cocktails were at 7:00 and that is when the paintings were available to view. My date (a friend I have known since Kindergarten) and I arrived right at the beginning so I could meet the Huskie football player, Joel Seutter, that was "representing" my painting in the viewing area. I wanted to give him a quick synopsis so that he could tell the people more about my work. It was at that time that we realized my painting, "Morning Light On Meewasin", was in the program titled as "Warning Clouds Morning Light"! I really got a kick out of that! Not a cloud or bit of sky to be seen anywhere on the canvas. As it turned out Joel already realized the error (he had read the back of the canvas) and the organizers were scrambling to make a new card for the easel. He did a bang-up job making sure the guests knew it was a view of the Meewasin trail. It came up for bid about halfway through the auction and to my surprise and delight ended up receiving one of the higher bids of the night. It was very exciting! My very loyal and supportive date kindly told me that she felt the night's first real energy surge happened when the bids started coming in for my piece, but that was her job... she even wrote a little affidavit when she agreed to be my date swearing that she would be loyal and supportive. Silly and fun!

I think this auction is such a cool event and the guys who organize it put in a lot of hours to make it a unique, memory-making night. I think it is a great idea that they actually ask the athletes to be involved. For most of the football players it is a big step out of their comfort zone to be put in the position of having to talk about art, but they all did a great job and took it seriously. After the auction my date and I had a few of the football players take us on a tour of the locker room (which was open for the guests) and it was interesting to see their demeanor change as they spoke about what they "knew". What a fantastic facility! These boys are taken care of and they seemed genuinely proud of and grateful for their building.

The evening ended with my date challenging me to a race on the football field under the bright Saturday night lights. Hilarious! Thank you J.P. for literally holding my hand through a nerve-wracking but enormously fun night!