I recently
donated one of my paintings to the Mo Farah Foundation, which subsequently saw
the painting raise an impressive £5,501 for the charity.
On
the 1st September, The Mo Farah Foundation held its ‘Night of
Champions’ charity event at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London. The event was
attended by Olympic greats such as Sir Steve Redgrave, Usain Bolt and a host of
British Olympic stars, including Mo Farah himself.
The painting “My Generation – Inspired” was part of the charity auction
that took place on the night and gained a lot of interest from enthusiastic
bidders.
The Mo Farah Foundation works to help save lives and support children affected by the worst
drought to hit Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia in over 60 years, by distributing food and supplying water
and sanitary facilities.
I was over the moon when I found out how much the painting had raised
for such an important foundation.
I
created the painting after the Olympics finished on 12th August. Using the London 2012
Olympic tagline ‘Inspire a Generation’, my aim was to create a piece to
celebrate the success of Team GB and the positive effect the Olympics has had,
and will have on children watching the various sporting events.
I felt the painting was a really strong image. I wanted to be able to
use it to its full potential, and by raising over £5500 for a great cause, it
seems to have done just that! :)
Painting a hurdle in the My Generation piece seemed the
perfect way to represent a metaphorical ‘hurdle’ we must all overcome to reach
our goals.
The painting is capped off by a child draped in the Union Jack flag, a
familiar site whenever a medal was achieved by Olympic heroes such as Sir Chris
Hoy and Andy Murray, and which became a symbol for success during the games.
