London and Essex-based artist Sara Sherwood painted the canvas live on film to accompany the reading of Gideon Heugh’s Easter poem ‘A Tremor in the Void’. The film was made to be shared over the Easter season with thousands of Tearfund supporters and via social media.
Now Sara would like Tearfund, an international development charity working in the world’s poorest countries, to benefit from the sale of the abstract oil painting, which she created for their brief ‘Darkness into Light’.
‘I was delighted to work on this project as it touched my heart, combining prayer, painting and action to help others,’ said Sara. ‘Painting is my voice,’ she explained. ‘My call to action was to donate my time to create this art and I hope to turn it to ‘gold’ for Tearfund by holding the silent auction. This way my hands are in service to God and it makes me happy that I can do a small thing to inspire or help others.
‘I believe in both prayer and action,’ Sara said, adding: ‘I chose to support Tearfund because I know they work to end extreme poverty around the world and it saddens me to see hungry children. I passionately believe no one should be living in poverty: to be the light in this world, we have to love our neighbour as ourselves.’
Tearfund’s Head of Church and Supporter Engagement, Ruth Tormey, said: ‘Sara brought Gideon Heugh’s Easter poem to life, by painting live on film for our supporters. We’re humbled that she’s now taking this further by auctioning the picture for Tearfund. Sara took her paint, canvas and skill and turned them into a beautiful picture. Our prayer is that God will further multiply her work by helping Tearfund reach more churches to enable communities to lift themselves out of poverty.’
To view and/or bid for the painting, please visit www.sarasherwood.co.uk or Sara Sherwood’s Instagram or Facebook pages. The closing date for the auction is 30 June online, or in person at Sara’s event at Spitalfields Arts Market, London, 1-3 July.
ENDS
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Photo: Sara Sherwood in her studio with the painting she created for Tearfund’s brief ‘Darkness into Light’
Notes to editors:
To see Tearfund’s Easter film - a reading of Gideon Heugh’s A Tremor in the Void featuring Sara Sherwood painting her artwork - please visit YouTube
A silent auction is one where potential bidders view the item online or on paper and submit a bid according to the value of the object to them. The highest bid on the closing date secures the piece.
Gideon Heugh is a published poet who writes about faith, justice and nature. He is a Senior Copywriter at Tearfund.
Tearfund is a Christian charity that partners with churches in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries. We tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. We believe an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee. For more information about the work of Tearfund, please visit www.tearfund.org.
