Festival of Trees Platter

I have absolutely no idea why this image uploaded side-ways! One of the other things I did this past Saturday was to go to Two Peas in a Pot and paint my platter for Festival of the Trees. (This is one of those paint-you-own pottery places, popular with families and for hosting kid's birthday parties.)

Of course, the colors on the photograph are fairly accurate for how the platter looked after I spent nearly five hours painting it. Yet, after it is fired, it will look completely different. It is sort of difficult to imagine how it will turn out. I used over twenty different colors, I think!

For the past six or seven years I've painted a platter for this charity event. It benefits Children's Hospital. The gala evening is a totally awesome affair, black tie and evening gowns, live music, entertainment, top shelf liquor, great food, and plenty of auction items on which to bid. The hospital has one of the lowest percentages of costs taken from the event. Or, should I say it has an extremely high percentage of money collected going directly to the hospital.

The main attractions are the holiday trees. People, businesses, and organizations actually compete for a few prizes. There's a serious effort to create a unique Christmas tree. My son Alex has donated a wreath made from pointe shoes and a wreath made of broken skateboards in past years. Last year he donated all his old Beanie babies (123 of them) on a tree. This year his working on a tree called "A Gift for Dad". It will be covered with neckties. (If anyone has any, please send them!)

Why are we so involved? Well, Mathias had skull surgery at Children's Hospital when he was only six months old. He was released on his first ever Christmas Day. For a child who is now so unbelievably handsome, we have Children's Hospital to thank. By right of nature, he would have a deformed head!

I'll post an image of the platter once fired sometime next week.