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Viladrin's portrait found a home this past weekend. A family in Dallas bought it as a Christmas present. This makes 17 of the 31 Moni's Kids portraits are sold! If you are looking for a Christmas gift that is out of the ordinary, please consider purchasing one of these paintings. You'd be gifting the recipient AND the children as well. To see which portraits are still available, please click here. You could also make a donation in any amount to Moni's Kids in someone's name and I will send them a card with an image of one of the paintings. And if you can spare a minute during this very busy time of year, please do share the Moni's Kids facebook page with your friends. Thank you!

I have been absolutely swamped this summer which is why I am so late posting about my upcoming exhibition at Luminarte Design Gallery in Dallas. But here it is October and the reception is tomorrow evening! I did send out email blasts, posted it on Facebook and promoted it in many other ways, but somehow forgot to update the blog.
Oh, well, I hope some of you can make it anyway. I am so grateful to the gallery for not taking a commission from the Moni's Kids paintings, only my other work, so that all of the proceeds from those portraits can go towards the library we started in Haiti this summer.

If you'd like to see a preview of my newest work which will be shown as the second part of this exhibition, you can click here. I was thrilled that the gallery specifically requested work in the Up Close & Personal style, because it allowed me to work up some new images that were not commissioned pieces. I could play with different designs and compositions, adding lettering and text. I definitely plan on creating more paintings in this series. Some of the new work merges the teenage series with the Up Close & Personal series which I think works well.

I welcome your comments and feedback about this new work!

We went back to Haiti last weekend and it was so great to see the kids again! Some of them had changed quite a bit in a year as kids will do and I was nervous. Would they remember us? Did they think we had forgotten about them? Would they recognize themselves in the portraits? My fears were soon quieted.

The presentation to the kids was a success! They loved their portraits and I LOVED seeing their faces when they saw them.  Each child was given a photocopy of their portrait which we framed in colorful frames and displayed on bright blue benches in the chapel where we held the event (see photo).  I also made personal thank you cards for each child with a photo of me in front of my easel, with the original reference photo I had taken of them and the painted finished portrait (like the photo seen here).

Some of the 31 children I painted were not able to be there but will receive theirs when they return.

In addition the kids got goodie bags filled by my daughter Sam. 

We were thrilled to present the kids with the start of the first library at New Life Children’s Home! Originally, we had planned on building shelves to hold the books, but the orphanage is currently in the process of acquiring new land adjacent to the current home, onto which they will erect new buildings. One of those will house a recreational area which will include a study hall/common room where the children can read, study and play board games as well as work on art and craft projects. This will be the perfect place for the library.

In the meantime we came up with a solution to house the books in a flexible way: mobile library carts! We brought three of these with us and filled them with books which we arranged in different categories such as English storybooks, books in French and Creole, flashcards, activity/puzzle books and DVDs.

We also brought along metal shelves and plastic containers with art and craft supplies.

These carts can be wheeled anywhere to make it convenient for the staff at New Life and will fit right into the permanent library later.

We had also collected a lot of stuffed toys, clothing, toiletries and more art and craft supplies to deliver, but were unable to do so due to a summer bag and box embargo imposed by the airline which greatly limited what we could bring along. They are ready to go next time, though!

The owner of the orphanage expressed to us a desperate need for storage of items such as medicine and school supplies. We will be buying dozens of large plastic containers online and shipping them to her within the next week or two.

I will now focus on selling more of the portraits, with the proceeds going to add to the collection of books and setting up the permanent library once the building is in place.

If you would like to help us achieve our goal, please visit the Moni’s Kids portraits page where you can read about each individual child and purchase a painting.

If you have no place on your home or office walls, consider donating the art to your local hospital and deducting it from your taxes. You may also simply donate to the project by clicking here. Any amount is appreciated.

To see the paintings in person please stop by the Lakewood Summer Arts Faire in Dallas the weekend of August 26-28, 2011, where I will have a booth. I would love to visit with you and tell you more about our plans for Moni’s Kids.

In October, there will be an exhibition of the paintings at Luminarte Design Gallery, also in Dallas. More details will follow.

Also, Moni’s Kids now has its own facebook page. I would love it if you “liked” it and help us spread the word. Thank you!

I feel like a year of very hard work has paid off and I've come full circle. Some of the pressure is off. The kids saw that there was a follow up, they were not forgotten. This was so important to me and added to the urgency I felt. Part of my intention with Moni’s Kids is to make the children feel worthy - worthy of having their portrait painted, worthy of an education, worthy of love and attention. I do believe they got a sense of that this past weekend and hope it lasts in their minds and hearts.

Here are some more photos from our trip:

Rich and Sam in front of New Life Children's Home, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Our suitcases full of books

Sam and I had fun filling the library carts with our books!

After my speech Fabien was chosen to thank me on behalf of the kids. He gave a great little speech!

The kids had to find their portrait among all of the 31 on display. Jean sure seemed happy with his!

Getting these incredible hugs made it all worth it!

Playing with the kids

Moni's Kids is now formally a non-profit corporation in the state of Texas!

Thanks to the help of TALA (http://www.talarts.org ) who provide pro-bono legal and accounting services to artists and non-profit arts organizations in Texas. My wonderful lawyer Victoria is also helping me file the paperwork to gain official 501(c)3 tax-exempt status with the IRS which we hope to have approved by the end of the year. It's a ton of work to form a non-profit and I am so grateful to have found some help with this, so I can concentrate on creating the paintings and organizing our trip back to Haiti in just a couple of weeks.

 It can get overwhelming at times trying find the time to get it all done. From the painting of the portraits to the marketing and selling of them, promotion, exhibtions, shipping, staying organized in the office and studio (especially since I still have my other painting obligations and continue to enter a lot of shows). Then there is the whole social media aspect of it hat can be extremely valuable but time consuming. And right now, my spare bedroom/office is full of books and supplies we are delivering to the kids in Haiti soon. Add in my day job which takes up several days a week, plus family obligations....well, let's just say it's not always pleasant to be around me lately, watching me jump through all the hoops!

I am just trying to tackle one step at a time and plow ahead. I did not have all of the answers when I started this process last fall and I still don't. I am learning as I go along and love seeing the many doors open as I approach them. I leapt before I saw the net, and miraculously the net does appear! I followed my heart on this one, and while there have been stumbling blocks, there have also been many new insights and helping hands appearing out of nowhere. New ideas and plans for Moni's Kids are revealing themselves to me all the time and I have faith that I will figure out how to implement them when the time is right.

For now, it's just one baby step at a time, one foot in front of the other, following the path I believe I need to be on, crossing each bridge as I come to it and enjoying the unfolding of each event. All clichés, I know, but oh, so true!

We are returning to Haiti in about five weeks! 
We will use the funds raised so far from sales of the Moni's Kids portraits to build shelving for a small type of library. I have been buying French children's books while in Paris this month, but also had the great fortune to get free first and second grade reading textbooks from the Richardson Independent School District in Texas donated for FREE!
My goal for Moni's Kids is to make accessible to the children whose portraits I paint as many books and educational materials as possible.
I have loved books all my life and can still remember vividly certain stories that I would read over and over again and illustrations that sparked my interest in creating my own artistic images. I believe books can bring the whole world to us and open our hearts and minds. They teach us languages and about other cultures and let us escape our own situations for a little while.
We will be delivering books in the children's native languages, which in this case is Haitian Creole and French, as well as in English, because learning English will definitely help them with future job prospects. We are also bringing them board games and art and craft supplies. Thanks to Erin Maines for giving us such a good start on those by collecting left over art supplies from her teachers at the end of the school year.
DVDs of English language children's shows and movies are also needed. I know from personal experience how easily one can learn a second language by watching TV and movies. When I first came to the U.S. from Germany I learned more conversational English from "Happy Days" than any of my high school textbooks!
As more portraits are sold I plan to add computers to the list of things Moni's Kids will provide to children in developing countries. If you would like to donate any of the items listed, make a monetary contribution or purchase one of the children's portraits please contact me here or at [email protected].  I thank you for your support!

I received a facebook post a week or so ago from the New Life Children's Home in Haiti. Turns out their power was cut off and they were in need of $3000 for new batteries for their generator.
Even though my focus with Moni's Kids will be on educational help, I felt I could not sit by idly while the kids sat in the dark, their food spoiled and the electric fans could not supply at least a little relief to the relentless heat, (not to mention the needs of the many disabled children), so I sent in $1500 from the first funds raised through the portraits' sale. It felt good to be of help!

I am planning a trip back to Haiti in the next few months. We will be setting up a small library for the kids. It may just be a corner in the classroom for now (they are hoping to move to new facilities soon where there will be more room).
We will provide portable bookshelves and fill them with books in Creole, French and English. If you can donate any children's books in those languages (especailly "early reader" types), please let me know! We also hope to add educational games, puzzles, art and craft supplies, a TV with educational DVDs and a computer in the future.  As more portraits sell it will be easy to add on to the library at any time.
If you can donate any of these itmes, please contact me. The kids are especially asking for canvases and paintings supplies right now (love that!), so any of my artist friends who can donate some things, I will gladly come pick them up.
Please, feel free to forward a link to this post to anyone who might be able to donate items for our library.
Thank you in advance for all of your help!

I can't believe it's already the middle of January again! Today my oldest daughter turns 20, which means I have been a mother for 20 years!! Incredible how fast time really does go by.
20 years of immense joy and challenges, love and frustration, worry and pride. Raising children in today's world is very tough. Trying to instill our own values while being bombarded from all sides
by opposing ones feels like swimming against a very strong current at times. Balancing motherhood with following your muse (and in my case also earning a living and supporting my family) has been
tough and full of feelings of guilt at times. However, there is no way I could have waited to dedicate time to art making until the girls were in college. As tough as the balancing act has been for me and for them over the years, it would have been worse if I had to live without painting. I hope they saw that it is absolutely essential to be true to oneself and follow the path you believe was meant for you, while still living up to your responsibilities.

As this new year begins, I am excited to get back to work in the studio. I have several wonderful commissions, including two large ones from a family who traveled a couple of hours just to meet with me and commission me to paint their children. What an honor.

I also still need to finish the last 5 paintings in the first Moni's Kids series. We are deciding on how to use the funds raised and when to travel back to Haiti.
Plans for Moni's Kids include starting the paperwork to become a full fledged 501(c)3 non-profit foundation and getting some help with administrative stuff!

I am looking for someone who has a passion for art, helping others, has experience (or a degree) in marketing/sales/PR. The paintings are done and I hope to paint many more children, but unless I can sell them, the point of actually helping these kids will be lost.
If you know of anyone who would like to help me get Moni's Kids off the ground and make it grow so that we can keep reaching out, connecting people and helping children, please let me know. Finding someone who would be willing to work as a volunteer, at least in the beginning, would be fantastic. Maybe a kind of internship?

I have ideas about sending proposals to children's hospitals, medical offices, businesses, etc. who regulalry buy art for their facilities anyway. Why not decorate their halls with these children's faces and lend a helping hand to them at the same time? It would be a tax deduction and shed a positive light on the business.
I have the ideas, but cannot possibly follow up on all of them myself. I still have a day job, a younger daughter at home and lots of paintings to create!
I am looking for that angel who can help with Moni's Kids. Know any?
Or do you have connections to medical facilities or businesses who have ties to and an interest in Haiti, have supported relief efforts there and would be interested in this new way of supporting children in Haiti (as I said, other countries will be represented in the future)?
Any and all ideas and suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated!

On other painting goals: I plan to continue entering shows and competitions this year (although they may be fewer in number) and creating paintings that have been floating in the back of my mind for a while.
Lots of goals, plans and ideas.
Now comes the hard part: Doing it all!

A Happy New Year to you all.

May it be filled with love, joy, laughter, creativity and growth.

I finally have a moment to tell you about the event in Miami!

After shipping 25 paintings to the Doubletree Hotel in Biscayne Bay ahead of time (a huge thanks to Fox for storing them in his office and being so helpful throughout the whole process!), Sam and I arrived there on Thursday. This is after my boyfriend/project manager Rich had INSISTED that we be there on Thursday, not Friday, which I thought would be plenty of time. The poor man had put up with quite a bit of complaining from me about being so bossy and setting our itinerary without consulting me first (it's hard to let go of the German control freak in me). Well...there was a reason why he was so insistent, but I wouldn't find out till later.

The hotel and location were gorgeous. The event was held in the Grand Ballroom with a huge patio overlooking Biscayne Bay and out to South Beach along the horizon. Despite being busy doing last minute things for the show, we managed to be tourists as well.

On Friday, I got the biggest surprise of my life: my brother Andreas and his two kids, Lennart and Vivien, arrived all the way from Germany! Rich had planned this for months and had had a very tough time keeping the secret while putting up with my attitude about his conceived bossiness. The man truly deserves a medal! Everybody else around me (including the hotel staff and Nancy Rivard of Airline Ambassadors) knew about the surprise. I can't even describe my feelings when I found out. The fact that my brother and his family would travel so far for such a short time was an incredible show of love and support for me. They had originally planned on spending three and a half days in Miami, which is short enough as it is coming from Europe, but their first flight was cancelled and they ended up with only two and a half days! I have never felt so loved in my life. That the two most important men in my life, my brother and my boyfriend, went to such lengths to support my project, my dream, left me in tears and speechless. My project is named after our late mother, Monika, and I felt that she, too, was present in the ballroom that night with Andy and me.

After breakfast on South Beach and a dip in the ocean for the kids we spent several hours on Saturday hanging the paintings and setting up our display table. The Bon Voyage party for the Cruise 4 Haiti by AAI started at 7pm and even though not as many people attended as we had hoped, we had several sales! All together, seven portraits have been sold (and put on hold), and many good connections were made. And since I didn't mess up too badly during my little speech (will I EVER be comfortable with public speaking??), the evening was a wonderful success.

Sam put together a slideshow with music about our project. You can view it here. 
Be sure to turn up your speakers so you can hear one of my favorite songs that I thought was perfect to accompany the photos. (Update: I could not use the song we had chosen on this site, but you can see our intended version on my facebook page here.)

I received so many comments about the portraits and the idea behind the project came across exactly as intended. I watched so many people read the kids' stories displayed next to their paintings, point to the drawings the kids had created behind their faces and ask me about the children. I wish the kids themselves could have been there to see the reaction of the audience! It was heartwarming and reaffirming.
I have added the children's background stories (as much as I had) to the Moni's Kids page on this site instead of adding more on this blog. You can read them below each child's portrait here.

We ended up packing the paintings back into heir boxes and taking them to a 24hr FedEx, so we could spend the whole next day driving down to the Keys and snorkeling. After months of non-stop work it felt fantastic to do nothing but play! To get to do it with my family from Germany, which was so completely unexpected and almost surreal, was even better.

Monday morning started before dawn with all of us heading to two different airports to fly back to our respective homes. We were all exhausted, but so happy about a successful launch of this project.

Now, back home, I have a few commissions to do for Christmas, then I will finish the last 5 portraits in this series of 30 and continue to find homes for them. I will be talking to the New Life Children's Home soon to determine when I might travel back to Haiti and how we will distribute the funds raised. I will keep you posted!

Below are a few photos from our whirlwind weekend.

The three cousins Vivi, Sam and Lenny having a blast at South Beach

Hanging Wisben's portrait with Andy

The Grand Ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel, more paintings were hung in the bar and foyer area

Andy and Rich

with Nancy Rivard of Airline Ambassadors

with the Consul General of Haiti, Ralph Latortue

Sarah picked out Vanessa's portrait, which her mom, Leslie Sosnowski, bought. I think Sam was hoping to keep it for herself, it was her favorite!

Annette Tillemann-Dick of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice and her son Zeke with their portraits of twins Fabien and Fabienne

The big day is here! I am exhibiting 25 of the portraits from my non-profit project "Moni's Kids" tomorrow, Saturday, Nov 13, 2010, from 7-9pm at the Doubletree Grand Hotel Biscayne Bay in Miami, FL!
Click here for more details on the show which is part of an Airline Ambassadors International fundraiser.
Please, forgive me for not having posted all of the kids stories on this blog yet, but it's been CRAZY getting ready for this show and still working my full time schedule. You can see the 25 finished paintings here or here (without their backgrounds).
The good news is that one of the portraits, the one of Mitchi-Love, has been sold and will travel to its new home in Germany after the show!
I will post all of their stories on here as well, as soon as I have some time to breathe. I will also, finish the last 5 portraits in this series as soon as possible.

If anyone in or near Miami reads this, please come join us tomorrow night!

Since I am way behind posting new images of the kids, let me get right to it:
 
"Kenley" 10"x10" pastel by Daggi Wallace

"Kenley" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and Kenley

This is Kenley, and boy, does he have something special about him! This 15 year old boy had such a dignified, sincere air about him, one could tell he had a heart of gold.
Recently, I received an email from a lady who doesn't know me, but saw his portrait in an email forwarded to her by another woman she didn't know and wrote me the most beautiful message. She was so touched by Kenley's face, that she felt compelled to help him and has since signed up to make regular donations through New Life Children's Home in Port-au-Prince where all of these children live! I was thrilled beyond words! She called Kenley "regal", and thus put into words what I could not when I met him. It fits him perfectly and I'm so happy that this wonderful lady in Texas felt such a connection with this boy in Haiti.
It made the time and effort of this project even more worthwhile to me, gave me the affirmation I needed to keep going. Thank you, Nancy!

Next I painted Kenley's brother, MacKenley, but I honestly did not know at the time that they are not only brothers but TWINS! There is actually a third brother, Roberto, who is three years older, but I did not photograph him. The list of kids to be portrayed was chosen by the staff at New Life.
Here is MacKenley's portrait and his drawing:

"MacKenley" 10"x10" pastel by Daggi Wallace

"MacKenley" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and MacKenley

Both brothers came to the home at age 6 with severe malnutrition and Tuberculosis. As quiet and shy as Kenley was, his brother seemed to be the opposite. Outgoing and confident, he posed like a model, totally comfortable in front of the camera. The staff told me that all three brothers are exceptional kids.

Next, I'd like you to meet Daniella:

"Daniella" 10"x10" pastel by Daggi Wallace

"Daniella" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and Daniella

Don't you just love her delicate drawings? And she seemed delicate herself, giggling and being so shy while I took her picture. I was immediately smitten with her beauty and sweet smile. She, too, had TB when she arrived and suffered from malnutrition as so many of Haiti's children do. She is 12 years old and has been at New Life since she lost her mother during the earthquake.

And here is Stevenson, a 10 year old boy who lost both parents during the earthquake:

"Stevenson" 10"x10" pastel by Daggi Wallace

"Stevenson" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and Stevenson

I thought his drawing was VERY interesting!
On the back of it he wrote that he wants to be a doctor, and added two more words: No mother, no father.
All I could do was give him a hug when I saw that.

I apologize for having taken so long to post an update. I am back to my full time job, but still painting the portraits every day I can. I am currently working on #17! I have not had a chance to photograph each one, but here a few more:


"Desir" 10"x10" pastel by Daggi Wallace
Desir is the cousin of Wendy (see other blog post about Wendy) and is nine years old. He suffered from malnutrition and TB as so many of the children there. He is such a cute boy, you just want to hug him! Notice the rubber band he is wearing around his neck. That's supposed to be his necklace!
Here is his drawing:

"Desir" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and Desir

An update on Wendy, his cousin: I found out that he came to the orphanage from the interior of the country after the earthquake. He had severe TB of the bones ( which I didn't even realized existed!), was close to death and spent 3 months in a hospital.

This next portrait is of Vildarin, who is Vanessa's brother ( the little girl with the braids and chewing gum in the corner of her mouth, seen in another blog post).

"Viladrin" 10"x10" pastel by Daggi Wallace
He is 14 years old and came to the orphanage with severe malnutrition. Their mother was not able to care for the children who were found on the streets.
Here is the drawing that serves as background to his portrait:

"Viladrin" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and Viladrin

And this is Youseline, a striking beauty in my opinion!

"Youseline" 10"x10" pastel by Daggi Wallace
She is 11 years old and lost her mother in the earthquake on January 12th. Life was not easy for her before then, either, since she also was suffering from malnutrition.
I love the small, intricate drawings on her paper:

"Youseline" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and Youseline

As I am finishing more and more of these portraits I am surrounded by these kids in my studio and I love it! I am learning so much artistically and can't wait to apply it to my other paintings as well. It's impossible not to make strides when painting so many portraits in a row. Since each one is a new challenge I do not get bored at all, which was one of my concerns. I look at these precious faces, remember the kids and try to do them justice. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience and the wonderful emails I have received have been a huge confirmation that I am on the right path. Thank you all for the great support!

Here are the next two portraits in the "Moni's Kids" series. Sophonie is 13 years old and a real beauty. She lost both parents during the flooding in Gonaives, Haiti, caused by hurricane Jeanne in September, 2004. She struck me as very mature and sweet. She actually wrote "Thank you for the service" and "God bless you" ( with a few delightful misspellings!) on the front of her drawing. On the back she wrote that she wants to be a doctor. I hope she fulfills her dream!

"Sophonie" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and Sophonie

"Wendy" 10"x10" pastel by Daggi Wallace

I can't tell you too much about Wendy yet, because he is one of the kids I still need to get the story for, but since I already painted him, I thought I'd share him with you. I can tell you that he is 10 years old, has a sister at the orphanage and was quite a character which I think you can tell from his portrait! And take a look at his drawing: I love the HUGE boat with the tiny person and flag at the bottom right. And he was so patient filling in all the petals of his flower with the white gel pen I had brought!

"Wendy" 16"x16" finished size by Daggi Wallace and Wendy

Meet Jimmy! When we first met the kids and told them about our project he was the first one to jump up to have his photo taken! The other boys made fun of him and teased him about being a "model", but he just kept on smiling and laughing. We could feel his kind, good natured spirit.

We also noticed his bandaged ankles. Jimmy came to the orphanage at the age of 7 and is now 16 years old. He suffers from sickle cell anemia and has had a wound on his legs for 6 years now. He hopes to get treatment from the state soon. For a brighter future for Jimmy he needs to be able to get vocational schooling to learn a trade. The money raised from this project could help with his medical treatments and tuition.
Here is a picture of the portrait with Jimmy's background. He wanted us to see the beauty of his country and drew beaches and palm trees, boats and homes that were still intact.

"Jimmy" 16x16 finished size by Daggi Wallace and Jimmy

If you would like to give this piece a home and help Jimmy in the process, please contact me or click below:

I'm making progress on the portraits of the kids from New Life Children's Home in Haiti and am ready to share some with you!

Vanessa is 10 years old and such a cutie! I was trying to get a photo of her blowing a bubble with the bubble gum we brought ( note to self: test out the gum beforehand to see if it actually makes good bubbles!), but it just wouldn't work. She giggled throughout and kept at it. I decided to leave the blue gum showing in the side of her mouth.

Vanessa came to the orphanage after she was found in the streets. Her mother suffered from mental illness and was unable to care for her.

The other picture shows the painting with the background drawing done by Vanessa. I love the intricate flowers and hearts she drew! This will give you an idea what the finished painting will look like. They will all be framed in black canvas floater frames with Tru Vue glass and all archival materials which will last for generations.

"Vanessa" 16x16 finished size by Daggi Wallace and Vanessa

Please, remember that the proceeds will go directly back to Vanessa and the other children portrayed in this series. I will make no profit off these paintings. If you would like to give this piece a home and help Vanessa in the process, please contact me or click below:

We are back from Haiti, and what an experience it was! My 16 year old daughter, Sam, and I travelled from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale and on to Port-au-Prince. Even from the air you could see blue tarps everywhere. Port-au-Prince looks like the earthquake hit just last week. I knew it would be bad, but I had no idea how little (only 2%!) of the rubble had been cleared.We were fortunate to stay in a private home that had sustained very little damage but happened to be right across the street from one of the largest tent cities in the area. Tens of thousands of people living in tents, in stifling heat and humidity, tent "walls" only inches from each other, so crowded it boggles the mind. No human being should have to live under those conditions. I have no idea how they manage to keep hope and faith alive. We saw women with pretty dresses walking through the rubble-filled streets, looking beautiful and composed, proud and dignified, while I was dripping sweat 24/7 and trying not to get irritated about the temperature, constant honking of cars ( it seems to be the standard communication systems among all drivers) and the enormous amount of people on the streets.

Absolutely nothing is easy in Haiti and you take nothing for granted. Just because we had electricity at the house at one moment, didn't mean we'd have it in the next. The power went off frequently, our host Dave Rivard from Airline Ambassadors carried three cell phones at all times (I could text with mine but not make or receive any calls at all), in hopes that one might work, the car could hit one of the many, many potholes (huge, deep and everywhere!) and break the tie rod (as ours did one evening on our way to meeting two gentlemen from UNICEF) and getting anywhere through the congested streets always took much longer than anticipated.

I have been on other mission trips before, have seen poverty and chaos, but nothing like the city of Port-au-Prince. To be honest, I could not wait to come home. To my bed, air conditioning (it doesn't matter that it's a 106 in Texas today, we can always go inside and cool off!), to unlittered streets and (relatively) clean air.

But once we were actually on the plane back to Dallas a few days later something funny happened. Sam and I both started missing Haiti. The kindness of the Haitian people, their ability to laugh and joke and be so welcoming and hospitable; the children who lost parents or limbs or both, who still played and giggled and hugged and kissed us...well, they got under our skin and into our hearts and we found ourselves not wanting to leave them behind. 

As far as my project goes, well, one thing I learned from prior experiences is that something will always go wrong on a trip like this. And it did. The 30 children I was supposed to paint were not able to meet with me at all for a variety of reasons. Since I only had a couple of days to gather all of the reference material I needed to complete the 30 portraits back home, I quickly had to come up with an alternative. Sure, I could go out and meet thousands of kids in the tent cities, but how would I choose the 30 to portray? Furthermore, how would I find them again in a few months when I can hopefully return with the proceeds from the sale of the paintings? It is important to me that the kids I met would be the ones benefitting in the end. Since Airline Ambassadors had a visit planned at an orphanage the next day, I decided to see if I could work with the kids there. The place is called New Life Children's Home. You can read the amazing story of their founder (an American named Miriam Fredericks) on their web site at: http://newlife4kidz.org.

Miriam was enthusiastic about my project and with the help of her staff and her daughter, Sherry, we quickly rounded up 15 children that I could photograph. We were also so fortunate to have four other teenage girls there to help us work with the kids on providing the writing that will form the background to their portraits ( thank you so much, Dani, Chelsea, Kaitlin and Ashley!).  I thought I would get more written words, but the kids ended up drawing a whole lot more than writing! It's amazing how you can put a pen and paper into a child's hand and they will be happy drawing and doodling for hours. Some kids did share with us what they wanted to be when they grew up ( doctor was by far the most popular choice), and some drew what they wanted to be (a plane for a pilot, for instance), but most just expressed their love for their country. They drew palm trees and tropical flowers, beaches and boats. They wrote "I love Haiti" again and again. We had told them we wanted them to let the viewers and buyers of their portraits know who they were and it seemed to me they wanted us to know that they love their home country as much as we love ours, no matter what our impression of it may be. They see it as a beautiful place and are proud of it. To have that attitude after what they have been through, is definitely thought provoking.

As to the stories of the kids,  I will tell you much more about them as the paintings are finished one by one. Some are absolutely heartbreaking. I did meet with 15 more children the next day (the home has about 130 kids living there), but again things didn't quite worked out the way I planned and I did not get all of their stories yet. I do hope to have them to go along with the paintings.

As far as their needs, they are many and varied. The older ones are in need of tuition for vocational training soon so they may have a brighter looking future. There are also some that still need surgeries. How we will spend the funds raised will be determined by how much we end up with.

I need your help to spread the word, so each painting will find a home as soon as possible after its completion. Also, if you would like to help offset the cost of this mission such as the framing and materials, you may donate directly on this site or at Airline Ambassadors: http://airlineamb.org/TopLevel/3_Programs/Donate_To_A_Project_Template.htm.
Any amount is greatly appreciated and I thank you!

I will probably write more about our experience in Haiti, including the great people we met and worked with but for now I need to spend my time painting the portraits.

I am getting a late start on it, because I was sick from the day I got home! I don't get sick much, but this time I was laid out flat (and I didn't catch it in Haiti, but it was due to the overtime worked before leaving and burning the candle at both ends). After a reluctant trip to the doctor and some meds, I'm much better and finished the first portrait. Except...I will do it over!
I had received a very generous amount of paper from my friend and fellow artist Marie Maines, enough paper for the whole project!), but it's a different kind of texture than I usually use and I wasn't quite happy with the effects. Since I do not have much time to get these done before my day job comes calling, I did not want to spend too much time learning and experimenting with something new. So, today I started again with my beloved regular paper.

I invite you to sign up to receive regular blog posts as I upload images of the finished portraits of the awesome kids we met in Haiti. Thanks for your interest and look for the first image in a couple of days!

In the meantime, here are some photos of our trip (You can see more on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Daggi-Wallace-Studio/131014993590334).

sign for help in Haiti

tent city

showers

The Presidential Palace



The kids working in their classroom on their art assignment for the portraits

Sam and Vanessa

Sam and Jeremie

This boy was such a serious young artist, making one playdoh sculpture after another! When I asked him if he was an "artiste" (my highschool French came in handy) he never hesitated with a definite "Oui!" He knew exactly who he was.

Out of fear some of the kids still sleep outside

A dream come true: "Moni's Kids"!

For years I have sought ways to use my art "for the greater good", specifically how to combine my love of painting and my desire to help children in need. I have painted many kids' portraits for clients and visited orphanages with the non-profit group Airline Ambassadors (http://www.airlineamb.org/) in my spare time. But how to make them both work together?
I am so very excited to finally make the jump and start my own non-profit project! I am naming it after my late mother, operating it under the supportive umbrella of Airline Ambassadors and kicking it off next week with a trip to Haiti!

My youngest daughter, Sam, and I will be meeting 30 children who have lost one or both of their parents in the January earthquake. I will be photographing the kids and will paint a portrait of each one of them after I return home to my studio.
While we are there the children will be writing about their stories, hopes and dreams. These writings will be part of the finished artwork, the idea being to give the kids a face and a voice, to have them be "seen and heard".
The proceeds from the sale of the paintings will directly benefit the children portrayed. Sam and I will travel back to Haiti and deliver aid, such as school supplies, scholarships, food, clothing and books, with the funds raised. Each child will also receive a small print of their portrait, so they may see the finished product.
In addition, I hope that the children will gain a sense of dignity and pride by having helped create a piece of art which not only brings joy to the buyer of it but also improved living conditions for themselves. I plan to make this a yearly event, choosing different destinations for each series of portraits.

                       The Inspiration behind "Moni's Kids"

I started drawing at an early age growing up in Berlin, Germany. The first portrait I ever drew was the face of a little girl on a UNICEF brochure on our coffee table. This was my parents' charity of choice and my mother, Monika ( Moni to her friends and family), was instrumental in instilling a social conscience in her three children. She also was immensely interested in other countries. Documentaries of other cultures were the norm in our TV viewing habits. When I started going on Airline Ambassador mission trips years ago, my mother loved the idea but always said she wouldn't be able to go herself because her heart would break. She passed away in 2001 at the age of only 59. I'm naming my project in honor of her. Her sole purpose in life was children, her own and other people's. I love the idea that children will continue to be helped in her name.

                                          Interested in helping?

There are different ways you can help. You can make donations to help offset the cost of this project by clicking on the button above. Or you may make donations through Airline Ambassadors where you can receive a receipt for tax deductions:

http://airlineamb.org/TopLevel/3_Programs/Donate_To_A_Project_Template.htm

And, most importantly, you may help by purchasing a portrait of one of the kids!
All proceeds from this series will go directly back into the project. I will post each painting as I finish it, so be sure to sign up to receive the posts.

Please, join me on this exciting journey to make a long harbored dream come true! I invite all of you to sign up to receive regular blog posts and follow me along the process of creating the paintings. I will also post photos from our initial trip to Haiti and our return to the kids in a few months.

Look for the first pictures next weekend. Off to Haiti!

I am so excited about a new project starting the first week of August.
It is a dream that has been "marinating" for years, a goal that was finally broken into manageable steps and this blog is one of the first of those steps.
I will post the complete idea for the project soon and will update this blog regularly during the whole process, the good and the bad, the lessons learned, all the way through to the completion.
Stay tuned!