Doofus Decorative Artist Fun Fact: Sometimes the best jobs are the ones that dont pay. Allow me to explain. A few months ago, my mother and I had an opportunity to work in the beautiful home of a woman named Vantrese Blair. During the course of the job, we learned that Mrs. Blair had gotten her unique first name from her grandmother, Vantrese Russell, who founded the Russell Home for Atypical Children in 1951. If you dont know anything about the Russell Home, take a minute to visit the website russellhome.org/. Read a little, or watch the short video. Just prepare to cry like a baby. I know I did. At any rate, Vantrese Blair is the Executive Director for The Russell Home for Atypical Children, helping carry on the legacy of her grandmother--which started with one child--and continues to thrive and grow today. The Russell Home for Atypical Children cares for well over twenty now, and is in the midst of an expansion project, all despite accepting no government funding. My mother and I found it to be an interesting coincidence, as Mom had volunteered with some other artists many years prior (before we began working together), and painted a mural inside the Russell Home. Cool side note: the mural is is still there. Anyway, we voiced an interest in doing something new for the home, and after a few months of searching for the perfect project, Vantrese contacted us recently and requested a faux fireplace upon which all of the children could hang their Christmas stockings, as the home was not equipped with one. We briefly discussed a flat, plywood fireplace cutout with some painted bricks. Then I saw where they wanted it to go (under their brand-new TV, which is to be installed today), and the important other function it needed to serve in addition to the place for all the stockings (housing the DVD components for their aforementioned new TV). Mom and I realized a plywood cutout of a fireplace wouldnt be sufficient, so we decided to convert an existing piece of furniture into a fireplace. As I always say, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. And so we began the search. Two weeks later, staring down the barrel of our Thanksgiving weekend deadline (their decorating party is today), I started to get more than a little nervous. After several trips to Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity and every thrift store in between, just when I began to grow terrified that Id have to try to build something from scratch, I found this beat-up Broyhill TV cabinet at a garage sale in my own subdivision. Best $30 I ever spent. Two weeks later, and BOOM, we delivered today...literally minutes after we finished it. Big thanks to Mom, as always, and this time Dad gets a shout for helping deliver. My wife, Ilona, also gets a big tip of the hat for putting up with the giant mess in our house and garage (the weather was very uncooperative) we created as we frantically put this together. The biggest tip of the hat, however, goes to The Russell Home for Atypical Children. Its a really special place filled with exceptional people doing work that brings me to tears virtually every time I think about it. Thanks to them for allowing us this honor. Please visit their website and read a little about what they do. I included some pictures of the process, as well as some in its new home. Ive been promised new pictures once the new TV is installed (in a higher position, of course), and the fireplace is decorated. Pictured with me in one of the photos is Warren, one of the residents. He helped us roll it in.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 22:07:03 +0000
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