Thoughtful gifts

Nancy Rosetta, a local silversmith at Gallery 9, made a wonderful pin for Nancy Bacevich commemorating the auction.

Here is Nancy Rosetta's blog post showing her process and result.

Auction recap: part 5, clean up

And then it was all done. Wow.

With all our volunteers clean up was as easy as set up, even though we were all exhausted.

Happily, the hall was being used the next day so we could leave the chairs where they were. Whew!Frank takes a moment to review with Tim Hindes, our fabulous auctioneer. Tim was a major reason the auction was a success and we are grateful for his skills and talents.

Here Sister Robbie, Ed, and Carissa wait for a family picture to assemble.


And Jane Hunter just before she made her exit. Jane's work in getting donations was critical to our success. And this is the last photo I took that night.

Ann, Polo, and Tim at the door as we're saying our good-byes and exiting the hall. Tim is quickly checking the score of the Red Sox game (they were winning and our World Series hopes weren't dashed at the time.)

Ann's face is the perfect end. She's still smiling!

Auction recap: part 5, short video

How self-indulgent I can be!

Here is a short video of my daughter at the auction. My mother brought her by for the preview hour so she could show off her granddaughter, sample some food, buy raffle tickets, and bid on the silent auction items.

Lately Lucy seems to enjoy wiping her hands. My mom, sister-in-law (with her son, Tucker), and I are discussing this new behavior in the video. In the background you can hear the crowd and then me wondering if my daughter is neurotic.



You would think I would have looked up with the camera for an overall shot, but no, I was too fixated on my daughter.

I hope you will pardon this little indulgence.

Auction recap: part 4, wonderful photos

I think at this point people were arriving and we were all on auto-pilot getting things done. We were operating like a well-oiled machine!

Just before heading into the hall, I snapped this one of Haydi with her daughter Ariel. What a great team these two were.

I love this photo. They are too cute in matching Abbey Art Auction tees.

Then I saw Tim with our daughter Lucy. Lucy looks great and Tim already looks tired--understandably so. He probably was caught in a blink.


In the hall, Frank was busy selling raffle tickets--the perfect job for him. He seemed to enjoy working our crowd. In this photo, though, he seems to be selling to Andy Bacevich.

Frank, you look so serious even with your silly raffle-ticket-prices hat.

This is the only photo I have of the auction itself and it's of Sr. Robert holding the painting "Nun with Cows" that was up for bid. (Can you guess who the nun in the painting is.)

We had a bidding war on this one! What fun!

In the end, the live auction raised $10,000 and we were delighted (and exhausted) at the end.

Looking at all of the donated paintings was such a tangible visual of the support of friends and strangers. I am so pleased to have been a part of it.

Auction recap: part 3, someone's in the kitchen...

Thank God for the food donations. Cindy and Diane worked tirelessly to get them and then we put the two of them in charge of getting them out to our auction attendees.

I had just asked them to pose for a picture. I can't recall if they were singing into the spatulas or giving some acceptance speech.


The entire group in the kitchen, Diane and Cindy with Anne, Polo, and Jeff. You have to love Cindy's apron.
Here I asked Cindy to show it off. She is the "Queen of the Kitchen" to say the least. I just love Diane's face in this photo, too. She's showing the relief we were all feeling that the day had finally come and things were going smoothly.

And if Cindy is the Queen of the Kitchen, here is the king, Jeff, in a particularly cute photo.


And finally, here are Ann, Tim (my husband), and Polo in a last-minute photo before they were given trays to begin serving.

You can see they are practicing their posture for trays. And Polo doesn't know he has antennae, but his wife, Ann, does. Tim's focus seems to be on fun rather than practicing his form.

From these photos, you can see they had things well in hand and maybe were even enjoying themselves.

Auction recap: part 2, last minute details

The auction itself began at 6:00pm. People drifted in from 5:45pm on and we welcomed them happily.

Here some of the sisters awaited some auction attendees while conversing with Carlos.

Luigi Grasso played wonderful guitar during our opening hour. Here he stands with an assortment of artwork for the live auction behind him.

His music was the perfect backdrop for our auction preview.
One of our raffle prizes included 2 hours of music with Luigi Grasso. Such a kind donation from our musician. (I thought he was wonderful especially when I took my 15 month old Lucy to watch him play and he broke into "Twinkle twinkle little star." She was enthralled by his guitar.)

And a quick photo of Nancy in front of the silent auction table no doubt taking care of a few last minute things.

Auction recap: part 1, Set up

As one would expect, I have a lot to talk about regarding the successful Abbey Art Auction held last Saturday.


Here Frank is trying to stow away the basketball hoop. I don't think this had been done in quite some time because the gears were dusty.

While Frank was winding up the hoop, everyone was helping with set up. Here the chairs are being set up. Tim the auctioneer and Mary Kay his wife and auction partner are discussing specifics about the hall layout.

Haydi, Jeff, and Karen diligently place chairs. Making a cameo in this photo is Cindy. You can just make out her arm in back there.


Bill and Diane also helped with chairs.
Set up was something that had us worried and yet, with all this great help, it went lickety-split!

Abbey Art Auction Afterthoughts

From the first whisper of auction inspiration to the arrival of the Blough family members (Ed and Carissa, and Karen and Bill) who came to help out at the event, I felt like I was part of a hand-picked, well-organized and disciplined team effort. But who was the coach?
We had the active guidance of Kim Weineck, who may never have hosted an auction before, but you would have thought she was an old hand, whether posting pictures or comments on the blogs, evaluating our art donations, or networking with other artists and talented folks who lent their support to this event. She's been a font of creativity and kindness during the five months or so of planning and execution.
Mary Kay and Tim Hindes lent their expertise and talent as the knowledgeable and affable auctioneers. They came, gratis, but their work was invaluable to us. They were the auction!
Then there was Jane Hunter and Jeanne Nolan , both my neighbors, who know practically everyone in the area and the hinterlands. Between them they secured every conceivable raffle prize to fill the baskets. They have a gift for bringing out the best in those around them.
Cindy Kerr and Diane Duffy wore holes in their shoes walking around town and farther, seeking food and prize donations. They will tell you that the vendors (Stone Forge, Stop 'n Shop, and Fresh Start, to name a few) were incredibly generous with the hors doeuvres that were served and heartily consumed on Saturday night.
Frank Quinn cast a watchful eye over all and generated many ideas and donations. His unfailing good humor effected all of us when we needed it.
Tony Donovan wove his magic from his laptop. He acted as webmaster for the Abbey Art Auction, a task no one but he could manage so well.
Ann Gorbett and Karen Bracchi both contributed their fabulous paintings and time to the auction in many ways, and we benefited greatly from their gifts.
Haydi Hurley lent an enthusiasm that was hard to resist. She conducted the silent auction from top to bottom and kept her husband Bill in line the whole time.
Speaking of spouses and significant others, they all pitched in, and we were very lucky that they did!
Now if you are still reading after all this, you should thank me, because I am the one who decided to condense what should have been a much longer thank-you list! There were so many wonderful people who gave and were supportive. Please know that you have my gratitude. We have been blessed through this whole process by our coach, the Big Guy, who got us together for a special event for some very special people. Truly, it has been a pleasure!

The day is here!

All I kept hearing today were sentiments like, "I can't believe the day is here," and "it seems only yesterday we were having our first planning meeting." The day of the auction is here and we've been at it since this morning with all the preparations for this great event.

I'm off to meet everyone for a small dinner and last minute preparations.

What an exciting thing this has been to be a part of. I'm delighted to have helped.

I'll be sure to post after the auction.

Thank you to everyone who contributed, and thanks to those of you who are planning to attend tonight!

See you there!

The final countdown

In just two days (!) we'll be having our auction. It was in the late spring/early summer that Nancy first proposed the idea. What a nice opportunity it has been to help get this event organized.

The support that the auction has had is the most heartwarming thing. Contributions have come in from everywhere. We are all looking forward to a wonderful event and hope you will be there.

Thanks for checking in and following our efforts. I think the next report on this blog will be a summary of the event itself.

Final preparations

Last night was another meeting of the auction committee. The last two meetings have been hands-on marathons of organization and excitement. This time I remembered to take photos!

Here Ann Gorbett and Nancy review our list of live auction items. (We're up in the 70's now!)

The artwork in piles by numerical sequence that they will be auctioned.

Two photos showing some of the raffle items we have.
And the rug that is rolled up (and you can just see a sliver of the blue color) will be in the silent auction.

And Frank, on his way out the door, after many grueling hours of organization and work.

The auction is SATURDAY! We're all looking forward to a fabulous day!

The auction in the news!

We've been working hard to get the word out about our auction. I'm happy to report that the story has been picked up in the media. Hurray!

The Walpole Times picked up the story. The story in the paper had a great picture of Susan Kelley, a donor/artist with her painting. I loved the photo (and her painting.)

Here is the link to the Transcript. They used a photo from our blog which Nancy and I staged in my studio.

One of our painting group is in France and emailed to say that his CNN homepage had information about our auction in his local news area. I'm so glad he emailed this news. What fun!

The auction is only 8 days away. We're hoping you will attend.

Auction preparations

Last night we met at Nancy's for a hands-on meeting of some intense organization and preparation for the auction now only 11 days away (!) and so exciting.

My camera never came out of my bag which is a shame because Cindy, Frank, Haydi, Nancy and I were busy all night organizing, grouping, and admiring the assortment of artwork and other donations. Andy pitched in and did some shredding for our decorative raffle baskets.

There were numerous photo opportunities but all of us were too busy working. It was a late night, but well worth the effort.

What a great event this is going to be. If you're one of the donors, thank you for your help and generosity. It's something to behold when all of the artwork and prizes are displayed on every surface of the living room, hallway, and dining room.

(I bet Nancy and Andy can't wait to get their house back in order!)

We'll be including textile arts, too

We're happy to report a few donations of quilts to the auction.

This one arrived Express Mail and we opened it with great enthusiasm.

It's called "Flying Geese on the Lake" and is the creation of Jane Wheeler of Montana.

Some of the triangles are in wonderful flannel giving this quilt extra warmth and comfort.

What the photo doesn't show is the quilting detail of different nautical themes tying into the lake theme.

Just beautiful!

Exciting donations!

We have been busy organizing the donations we're getting for our auction on October 18th. It's quite exciting to see the creativity of our contributing artists.

Here is a sampling:Vera Cross, a fabulous watercolorist from Sharon, MA has contributed this wonderful framed piece and a detail without the frame:


Tony Donovan has contributed this oil painting, Four Chimneys. What wonderful trees he's captured in this piece.



Bruce Turner has donated this wonderful painting!

And here it is without the frame to show some detail

What a wonderful, luminous sky! I am especially fond of the shadows on the house. The blues are just beautiful.



And to conclude, here is a watercolor by Donna McClure. Just a perfect painting for the season.


Hope you enjoyed this preview. More to come!

All auction donations by October 10th

These past couple weeks have been filled with letters, emails, packages and pledges from Montana, Colorado, Texas, Chicago, New York, Indiana and Utah. Between my daughter's wedding and the auction, there has been plenty to do! We have had some surprise artist participants, like the monks at Spencer, and there's always room for more. We hope to receive
all donations by October 10th, so that we will have assessment and paperwork time.

We have some splendid donations of newly-made quilts. Wherever we display them at the auction, I hope you will pay special attention to their craftsmanship. The colors are gorgeous! We'll be posting these pictures soon.

Not auction, but art related, is an exhibit at the Norfolk Library beginning on October 4, 2008, featuring the work of four women artists. Sharon Carloni, Karen Pendleton, Pamela Ruby Russel and I hope you will join us for a reception at 4 pm that day!

A new donation!

It's nice to learn of our new donation promises. It's great when we get photos of what we can expect.

How about these photos!

Abbey Story

Recently we were talking about personal memories in connection with the abbey. Here's one of mine. When my daughter Amy was a tiny girl, our family went to see my sister , who is a member of the community. The sisters made a fuss over the baby, and it was a lovely visit.
Twenty-five years later, Amy again went with me to the abbey. An older nun took Amy's hand and told her that she remembered meeting her and included her in her prayers every day. I could see that my daughter was profoundly touched by her words and by the fact that a very casual acquaintance offered prayers on her behalf.
This week Amy and Kevin will be married . We are all looking forward to the event. Thanks to friends and family for all your support over the years. Bless you, Amo!

Going for 50

Gathering the artwork donated to the auction gives me a lot of satisfaction. Best of all, I like meeting the artists, who are some very interesting and thoughtful people. I enjoy seeing their creations. Right now we are past the half-way point in our drive to get fifty original, framed pieces of artwork, the goal our auctioneer has set for us. If you are an artist considering a donation to the auction, now is a good time to do it. We look forward to meeting you!

The Generosity of Siblings, In-laws and Neighbors

Every so often this summer we received a note from my brother who has faithfully solicited donations from co-workers and friends on behalf of the abbey. My octagenarian aunt insisted that her daughter keep an eye on the auction's progress for her, even as she approached the end of her long life of caring for and loving her whole family. Yesterday my sister-and brother-in-law generously donated their Notre Dame tickets to some lucky bidder for our raffle. Our neighbors have freely given their time and talents to assist the auction. I truly have been blown away by these and other demonstraions of kindness and support!

Inspiration

We have had some really inspired donations. Barbara gave a gift certificate for picture framing. Great idea! My sister in Buffalo knows a chainsaw wood carver who plans to create a BC eagle for the Boston College fans who will be at the auction. Kathy and Paul will donate their house on Cape Cod for a weekend....happily, the list goes on! You can see the rest for yourself on Oct. 18th at the Blessed Sacrament Auditorium.
Just a reminder: if you order your books from Amazon, use the Abbey website and they will get credit for it. Thanks!

Further donations

We got word of three new donations today!

Wendy Winger, a photographer in Nantucket, will be donating TWO framed pieces. Thank you very much for those.

And Bruce Turner is also making a donation.

(This is a piece of his to show his style. This is not the donation. I found this on line when I Googled him.)

As soon as we have the pieces I'll be posting them here for all to see a preview.

Stay tuned....

Donation drop off

One of the best things about planning this auction has been the wonderful people and talented artists I've been meeting along the way.

I do so enjoy talking with other artists---getting to know their perspectives, ways of doing things, and sometimes their tricks and secrets that they've picked up from years of plying their craft.

Today I met Adele Corrigan. She lives in the same town as I do and was happy to stop by with her painting. I was delighted to see it and take it for our auction.


What a wonderful piece!

I think this pastel is lovely. Of course in person it's better than what I can take with my camera.

She framed it well, too. Here is a photo I took of it with the frame:


How appropriate, too, that her subject is the house at the Big Apple. It's just around the street from the Abbey! What a perfect perfect piece.

Thank you, Adele. I look forward to seeing this go up for auction. (I may even be one of the bidders in the audience.)

And they are in!

The postcards are in!

We have a meeting tomorrow to review where we're at and see how we're progressing.

We'll also work on some logistics for the night of the auction itself. The night is going to be a lot of fun.

Postcards are ordered

Today Nancy and I designed postcards for our auction.

They are great and will help us all to get the word out about our fabulous event and cause.

We hope everyone will like them as much as we do. We should have them for our next planning committee meeting. Hurrah!

Nancy and I also did some work on a logo. More of that to follow.

Call to artists!

Interested in donating some of your work?

We accept all original artwork in 2D mediums as well as sculpture and prints.

The schedule includes a live auction, silent auction, as well as raffles, so we can happily find a spot for your generous gift.

Please email us at info@abbeyartauction.com.

We will be happy to figure out how to get your donation--either by pickup, shipping, drop off, or who knows, but we'll be happy to figure it out!

Some donations!

Here are some of the donations that have started to come in!

Look at this pastel! What wonderful color!


Wonderful work in pencil


A gorgeous pastel floral
And along with art, we'll be raffling off all kinds of donations!

So yes! We can happily accept your contribution!

My abbey story

On the request of one of the sisters, I was a guest of the abbey so I could give an art lesson. What fun that one of the nuns wanted to learn to use pastels!

During the course of an hour or so, Sister and I enjoyed drawing in both soft and oil pastel. She clearly enjoyed chalk pastels over the oil and drew a lovely rose. After the lesson, another Sister brought us tea.
Since I have a young daughter I had to bring her along. Here Sister holds my Lucy. It was lovely.

Stories of the Abbey

Whenever I mention this project to people, I'm amazed to hear people's own reminiscences about the abbey and the role it has played in their life. People have been buying candy, bread, and other goodies from the sisters for years.

We invite anyone to share their story with us. Please email it to info@abbeyartauction.com . Photos are welcome, too!

We hope to hear from you soon.

Behind the Scenes

Nearly every day something happens in connection with this event. Yesterday, my brother told me that he had spoken to Otto in Chicago who will discount any paintings in his gallery that are bought for our art auction. Just another demonstration of the generosity people have shown us!
Ed and his wife Carissa are looking for donations in their neighborhood and the surrounding area.

Our list of artists is growing longer; we are well on our way to our goal of 50 paintings for the auction. One artist I visited actually gave me her whole collection to choose from. We happily chose two lovely watercolors. I think there will be a good variety of artwork, to include pastels, oil and watercolors, also pencil and photography. Let's keep this ball rolling!

Monday night, August 11th, the abbey art auction group will meet for a potluck at the Bacevich house at 6:30. Hope to see you there!

More Web Page

OK, the site is up and running.

Now let's get some feedback on what the page should look like.

Web Page

I got the domain name of abbeyartauction.com and the hosting is in the process of being set up. In the meantime, the web page I was working on can viewed at

www.asdonovan.com/Abbey

We can use this page as a starting place.

We're getting started!

And now we have a blog.

We're excited about this project and want you to know all that we're doing to prepare for a wonderful event on October 18th.

Please check back often for new additons, further information, or to make a donation.