“Acompalia will be celebrating its 3rd Charity Ball on September, 22nd and who best to ask for original art than Acompalia Artistica project leader and talented artist Emma Plunkett. We are honoured to have Emma by our side and are delighted by her artwork Rejoicing in Tulle. She is generously donating the original A3 framed watercolour painting that will be auctioned on the night. All proceeds going to Acompalia. Heartfelt thank you Emma!” Françoise Rajewski – President of Acompalia

Find out more about Acompalia, a hospice charity based in Granada Province, Spain. I have been working voluntarily with them for about 5 or more years now because I support charities that are about saving human beings.

Françoise Rajewski, the president of Acompalia, asked my husband Jan and I to donate our design services to create this years gala poster. We then decided it would also be a good idea to donate the original painting for the charity auction as well.

So the pressure was on to produce a painting that was compelling enough for people to actually bid on. I decided to paint 1950’s ballroom dancers to reflect the style and class of the gala evening.

The Making of the Painting

I had just been reading the Viv Albertine autobiography, which is a ruthlessly honest account of her punk days in the band called The Slits. So, as all my art is directly influenced by the experiences of my life, the first painting came out all punk. I knew immediately that this was the wrong feel for the Acompalia audience.

I tried again, this time focusing on what Acompalia needs from me. I used all my skill to get that chartreuse green background wash even all over. When painting it though, I kept finding tiny spots of red ink bleeding through my green and I had to keep washing my brushes out, whilst wondering where it had come from. It turned out to be from an invasion of cochineal flies we have in the area right now. I fought off those red marks using water and a clean brush.

I worked hard but gently on the faces, to give them both soft expressions. I let myself go a bit on the skirt with sprays and splashes because it seems to me I have a bit of a thing for skirts with movement (see my flamenco dancers paintings).

Bidding

Bidding will take place on the night of the Gala. Acompalia will also be accepting bids from afar. So, if you can’t make it and you still want to place a bid, just let me know.

I hope the painting brings Acompalia some welcome funds and publicity.

“Use of the arts in palliative care settings is a powerful and effective way of addressing the practical, psychological, social and spiritual issues faced by service users in end-of-life care.” Françoise Rajewski – President of Acompalia

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