The Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit is an annual exhibit that hangs at The American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan. It is an open call exhibit and an excellent show opportunity which includes prizes. Breaking Traditions has become a community effort, helping to support the fundraising projects of fellow fiber/mixed media artists. Past exhibits have supported Bernie Berlin’s A Place to Bark and Virginia Spiegel’s Fiber Art for a Cause. We are honored to be selected by Lynn!

The exhibit theme is “In My Words…” Artists are encouraged to express the ways in which autism has effected their lives by making a 12 x 12 inch art quilt. If you have not been personally touched by autism, you can still participate by making a quilt in support of autism research. $10 of the $15 entry fee will be donated to Autism Speaks through Art Now for Autism. The deadline for participating is August 21, 2010. For all the details, please visit the Breaking Traditions web site.

As a little inspiration, here is my art quilt which I made several years ago for one of the Art Now for Autism exhibits. The piece is called Putting the Pieces Together. I am looking forward to making a new piece (or two!) for Breaking Traditions!

- Facebook has disabled my personal account as well as the Art Now for Autism fan page. They did not send me a message prior to doing this. I just discovered it this morning when trying to login. In the meantime, continue to visit Art Now’s web site and Twitter account. Hopefully they will agree to enable the accounts again as I would hate to have to start from scratch.

- Over 80 artists are participating with just days until the close of the call for entry. Art donations must be emailed to Claudine by no later than 11:59pm on September 1st. Don’t forget to include the details about your piece listed on the donate art page. Click here for more.

Preview of exhibit is October 1 – 4, 2009
Art exhibit will be open online at www.artnowforautism.com. All work will be viewable but not on sale.

Reverse Auction – October 5 – 10, 2009
Everything starts at the same price with price cuts every two days.

October 5-6 – Day 1 & 2 – All art is $90.
The reverse auction begins at 9am EST on October 5th.

October 7-8  Day 3 & 4 – All art is $60.
Prices drop to $60 at 9am EST on October 7th.

October 9-10 Day 5 & 6 – All art is $30.
Art drops to the final $30 at October 9th at 9am EST.

Rmember 100% of art sales will go to Autism Speaks, a national autism awareness and research organization.

Lots of fabulous art has come in over the past few days and just two weeks until the deadline for art donations. Interested in donating art? Click here!

If you cannot find what you are looking for, please email Claudine at artnow@artnowforautism.com. THANK YOU!

Stay tuned! More posts about recently donated art are coming soon!

KISS
Noah Erenberg and Elena Mary Siff
3 1/2” X 4”
framed ACEO

Since the first Art Now for Autism, Noah Erenberg and his mom, Elena Mary Siff have donated art to the exhibit. They collaborate on their art donations to create something truly beautiful and unique. The result is something that represents both of their styles. In the above piece, Noah’s contribution is the text and drawing, and Elena added the frame and embellishments.

Noah is an artist with autism. His work will be in two books this year. The first is called Drawing Autism by Jill Mullin and will be released in November.

From the Publisher:
Although autism was first identified in 1943, the last decade has seen the complex neurobiological disorder become a topic of conversation the world over. Knowing no racial, ethnic or social barriers, today autism is diagnosed in 1 in every 150 children, with boys four times more likely to be autistic than girls. Known as a spectrum disorder, autism manifests differently in every diagnosis. From social deficits to behavioral difficulties and language delays, the severity of autism varies greatly from person to person. The unique nature of how autism affects individuals in myriad ways makes the disorder a challenge for those who have it, have children with it or work with those living with the diagnosis. Painting and drawing has long been an outlet used by some individuals with autism to express themselves in instances where words do not work, or cannot be made to.

Drawing Autism celebrates the artistry and self-expression found in the drawings, paintings and collages created by people diagnosed with autism. From horses to aliens, fascinatingly erratic treatments of letters and numbers and fantastical landscapes, Drawing Autism exhibits an array of fresh perspectives in art as developed by individuals on the autism spectrum.

Jill Mullin is a behavior analyst and educator who over the past 9 years has worked closely with individuals diagnosed with autism. She has a Master’s Degree in Psychology as well as in Education. Mullin is a clinical supervisor who trains teachers and social workers to use a behavioral approach when working with individuals who have autism, and their families.

You can preorder Drawing Autism from Amazon by clicking here.

Noah’s work will also be highlighted in the book Artism… More details on that book to come!

For further information on Noah’s work, please visit his web site. Elena Mary Siff’s web site is www.elenamarysiff.com. Please also visit Elena’s Etsy and 1,000 Markets web sites!

Art Now for Autism
Art of the Day

Northern Sky
By Peter Steeves
acrylic on canvas
14 x 18 inches in 20 x 24 inch frame
$250 donation

Peter M. Steeves is a self-taught artist with a career that has spanned over twenty years. His work can be found on exhibit at the Elmhurst Art Museum, The Naperville Fine Art Center and throughout the Chicago land and Northwest Indiana area. His work can also be seen on the web at www.TerrapinHouseStudio.com. The work merges elements of primitive symbolic, postmodern realism with a bit of a surrealist twist. He lives on a small hobby farm in Northwest Indiana with his wife, two boys and a menagerie of animals large and small. The driving force behind the art is the fact that it is cheaper than therapy for both the artist and collector. Peter was inspired to participate in Art Now for Autism because of a close family friend from when he was growing up.

Click here to purchase this piece.

Click here to see the rest of the exhibit.

Art Now for Autism 2008
Preview Art of the Day

The Direction Home
by Nancy Bell Scott
$45 donation

It is another rainy day here which is delaying photography of art. If you have quality images of your art, please email to artnow@artnowforautism.com so I don’t have to reshoot your work. AND – I really am wrapping up the participating artist list today so if your name isn’t on the list on the home page and you have sent art, please email me today! I don’t want to turn people away but the deadline was September 10th, and I have a huge exhibit to pull together in the next few weeks.

I was thinking that art arrivals would wind down today but there was still 5! This brings us close to 120 artists now!

• K.C. McConaghie along with her children Connor, Brenna, and Niyah sent a package filled with puzzle pins. The whole family worked on them. They were inspired by a relative with autism.
• Sara Urband-Murphy sent several sets of puzzle pins. There are three different themed puzzles which are made of 9 pins. When put together, they make an image. Buy the whole set of 9 and show your family’s unity for a member with autism. Visit Sara online at www.darkhorsetile.com.
• Peggy Trickler’s wonderful art quilt and puzzle pins. Peggy also has a son with autism.
• Mixed media collages by Nancy Bell Scott, who is participating for the second year in a row. (One is above.)
• Jeanine Ferguson sent a pastel drawing inspired by her son’s bedroom wall art. (This piece is really neat and includes a photo of the original wall drawing by her son. Anyone with a child on the spectrum knows that if there is a Sharpie in the house, your son or daughter will find it and draw on the wall! We have repainted several times ourselves.)