I am so proud to be involved with the online ‘Art for Floods’ fundraiser taking place on April 2 & 3, 2022 to support our flood devastated communities in the place I call home, the NSW Northern Rivers. This fundraiser is deeply personal for me. The floods have impacted places that are incredibly special to me: the tiny village of Uki, in the Tweed Valley, near Murwillumbah, where I lived for almost seven years and that will always be my heart home. Beautiful Ballina, where I shoot many of my fine-art print images. The surrounding rural villages around my current home. And the hardest hit of all, our regional city of Lismore. I doubt I will ever be able to forget-or adequately describe- Lismore’s shattered, destroyed and devastated CBD, streets, homes and residents. The scenes will stay with me for the rest of my days. In the immediate days after the floods, it looked and felt like a bomb had just exploded. I think the Mayor of Lismore, Steve Krieg, best described the scenes when he told the media, ”This wasn’t just a big flood event. This was a demolition.”
Exactly one month after February’s raging, deadly floodwaters tore through Lismore and the surrounding the areas, the city and its outlying villages were yet again inundated by another flood. The damage, destruction, and loss from this week’s disaster, has yet to be full assessed as floodwaters are still receding. Although it doesn’t take an expert to know that the debris piles won’t be as high as last time. There is so little left for these new floods to swallow and wash away. They took everything last month. And I do mean everything- houses, gardens, parks, shops, businesses, heritage buildings, new buildings, cars, furniture, clothes, household belongings. People’s workplaces, studios and everything inside them. All left behind in a trail of mud plastered, broken, shattered debris.
People are currently sheltering in evacuations centres, living in their cars, in accommodation provided by friends and strangers alike. Left with nothing, waiting to find out if their homes will need to be demolished. Where the waters have receded, others have returned to the shredded shells of their former homes, many of them windowless and doorless, to sleep on the floors and try to figure out where they go and how they can piece together their lives. An estimated 25,000 homes in the region have been destroyed, not to mention countless business premises and shops.
Our volunteer community hubs continue to be the driving force behind the huge task of providing clothing, food, shelter, support and services to the people of our flood ravaged region. The scale and extent of loss, grief and devastation is enormous and the recovery, on some days, seems insurmountable, despite the awe-inspiring unity and strength of our amazing community.
It’s sometimes hard to know how best to help, where to start and what to do. The ‘Arts for Flood’ initiative is one way. It is the latest fundraiser organised by creatives, Kate Pittas (@katepittasart on Instagram) and Andrea Hamann (@strongsoutherly on Instagram), who raised $160,00 for drought relief in 2018 and 2019 with their Art for Bales campaign. This time, the pair has inspired 425 Aussie artists (me included!) to collectively donate 500 pieces of art, worth a staggering $250,000! All proceeds on the sale days will be donated to one of three organisations involved directly in helping our flood devastated Northern Rivers community. On Instagram they are: @givit_aus (GIVIT) @norpalismore (Northern Rivers Performing Arts) and @artsnr (Arts Northern Rivers.) You can find out more about how each of these organisations are helping with flood relief and recovery by going to the official ‘Art for Floods’ website www.artforfloods.com. You can also follow the fundraiser, and the posts I have been contributing to help raise awareness about the floods and their aftermath, on the @artforbales Instagram page. In the meantime, here’s the details of the photographic print that I’m donating:
Art details
I will be donating one 8 inch X 12 inch (20cms X 30cms) unframed, fine-art, photographic print, ‘Facing the Thunder’. This piece was shot at Ballina, an area also affected by the floods, and has not previously been offered for sale.
-The 8 inch X 12 inch (20cms X 30cms) piece is professionally printed on premium, museum quality, smooth cotton rag paper using archival quality ink. This delivers an image with a smooth, matt surface (non-glossy/non reflective).
-The print will be mounted into a 11 X 14 inch archival quality, acid-free white mat. You can simply pop the finished piece into a ready-made frame, available from art, craft, variety and department stores or have it professionally framed. Whatever your budget allows! I am very happy to provide framing advice if required.
-I have priced this print at the special ‘Art for Funds’ fundraiser price of $65.00 to make it affordable for most people.
How to buy
-The piece will be offered for sale from 8am on April 2 through my Instagram page @creativemomentsdaily. The first person to comment ‘Sold’ will be the successful buyer.
-I will be in touch via DM with the buyer to send an invoice and discuss which of the organisations they wish me to donate the proceeds to. The invoice must be paid within 24-hours or the sale is null and void.
-Once I have received payment and sent the funds to the nominated organisation, the buyer will be provided with a receipt to confirm the donation. The receipt will also be sent to ‘Art for Floods’ organisers for their records.
Postage
- A flat rate postage fee of $15 to anywhere in Australia applies. Postage is not included in the donation. The print will be packaged securely and sent with Australia Post. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery. Local delivery or pick-up is an option for buyers within the Alstonville, Wollongbar, Goonellabah, Ballina or Lismore areas.
Thank-you for your interest and support.
If you have any questions about my donated print, please don’t hesitate to contact me by clicking here.
UPDATE:
Thank-you to everyone who has supported this fundraiser and to the Queensland based buyer who purchased my piece.
The final amount raised was an amazing $215,00 that has been donated to three organisations helping with the massive job of flood relief, recovery and rebuilding here in the NSW Northern Rivers. Those organisations are @givit_aus (GIVIT) @norpalismore (Northern Rivers Performing Arts) and @artsnr (Arts Northern Rivers).
A very sincere and deeply heartfelt thank-you to everyone who was involved, especially to the organisers: Kate Pittas (@katepittasart on Instagram) and Andrea Hamann (@strongsoutherly on Instagram).