An Anmore artist is hoping her talent with a paint brush will help people affected by brush fires that have been devastating parts of Australia since October.
Tammy McCormick is auctioning off a special 24-inch-square painting called “Your Light,” with 70% of the winning bid going to the Australian Red Cross.
So far, hundreds of fires have burned more than 20,000 square miles of Australia, many of them clustered along the country’s southeast coast, near Melbourne and the capital, Canberra. At least 25 people have died and more than 1,400 homes have been lost.
McCormick said she has been so touched by news coverage of the devastation, she wanted to do something.
“Like everyone, you feel helpless,” McCormick told The Tri-City News, adding that her brother, Jamie Edward, lives in Queensland.
Though he’s well away from the firestorms, she said she checks in with him regularly and hears his stories of acrid, choking smoke dulling the summer sunshine.
“You try to put yourself in their shoes.”
McCormick said she’s been particularly affected by the toll the fires have taken on Australia’s wildlife.
A Sydney University ecologist, Chris Dickman, told the Sydney Morning Herald almost half a billion animals, including thousands of koalas, have perished since last September. He’s since revised that number to more than a billion if invertebrates, bats and frogs are included.
McCormick said she’s a self-taught artist. She began painting six years ago by crafting wooden signs and selling them a local artisan fairs such as the Port Moody Winter Market and progressed to landscapes and portraits of trees in acrylic, oil, watercolour and digital media two years ago that she also markets at etsy.com.
McCormick said painting trees takes her back to her childhood in Cowichan Bay, on Vancouver Island. They’re also a forgiving subject, she said, noting, “There’s no such thing as a perfect tree.”
McCormick said she will run her auction until Saturday at 11 a.m. and she’s willing to ship the painting to the winning bidder wherever they reside.
To place a bid, contact McCormick through her Facebook page, facebook.com/mccormickmakes.
