Texas Artist Creates House Paintings to Raise Money for Local Food Bank
Food banks across the country have experienced a major demand in the past few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Sara Lee Hughes, a painter from Lockhart, Texas, found out her local pantry, Caldwell County Christian Ministries Food Pantry, was struggling to feed residents, she wanted to help. So she decided to create and sell paintings of local houses and donate a portion of her earnings to the food pantry. After a neighbor donated some birch plywood as the canvas, Hughes got to work. Thanks to word of mouth in their town of about 14,000 people, it only took a few days for a handful of Lockhart locals to request a painting.
Courtesy of Sara Lee Hughes Sara Lee Hughes works on one of her house portraits.
The masterpieces took about three hours each to complete. Hughes says that she'd stand outside the house for two hours, either at sunrise or sunset, depending on what lighting worked best with the home's features, and painted as much as she could. Then, she'd bring the piece back to her studio and work on the details, which only took about an hour. After that, she'd let the canvas dry for four to five days, add hardware, and give it to the homeowner. Originally, Hughes charged $100 per painting and planned on donating $80 to the food bank and keep $20 to pay for supplies. But thanks to some generous tips, she was able to donate all the proceeds to the pantry. By the first week of June, Hughes painted 11 houses in the community, including her kind neighbor who donated the wood for every piece of artwork, and she raised $1,100.
Courtesy of Sara Lee Hughes One of Sara Lee Hughes' finished paintings.
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In addition to the thrill of helping others, Hughes says she discovered the joy of working outdoors. "It is so thrilling to paint from life and natural light," she says. "It just enriches whatever else your painting."
