On November 16th somewhere around 300 people gathered in an otherwise empty space to reveal clean water once again to the people of Uganda.

It was such an amazing night. It went by too quickly, as is typically the case. We had fabulous music first by Lojo Russo and then by my talented husband and friends who ended the night with Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” and my personal favorite, Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”.

The art was through and through my favorite of all time. And though I didn’t eat nearly as much dessert or consume nearly enough wine, whiskey or beer it was all so delicious and perfect.

The crafts put together by some of my favorite people a few days prior looked better than ever too. (Sidenote: There are still 6 bean soups, 3 lentil soups and 6 soy candles left. Let me know if you’d like them, shipping is on me! 🙂 )

The centerpieces. Oh the centerpieces! I met Marjie when she first walked into my yoga class a few years ago. Since that time she has designed flowers for my sister’s wedding, donated centerpieces for the last two Wine to Water events and painted two beautiful pieces for the event as well. She is one of those people you would absolutely despise for being so incomprehensibly beautiful, sweet, smart and creative if she weren’t so disarming because of all of those things as well. Lucille Marie Designs in the Quad Cities, she’s perfection.

Becky Straw, Co-founder of The Adventure Project made it to the event as well. She had one of the most intense few weeks of her life prior to the event and yet she showed up. I have such a thing about showing up. I loved having her there and I loved introducing her to so many of the people I love. They had heard me go on and on about her since meeting her a year ago, it was easy for them to see all of the reasons I love her and TAP.

But let’s just be honest here for a moment. One of my favorite parts of the whole thing is working with this little lady really closely for months at a time. I know I say it all of the time but I somehow managed to get best friends for my in-laws. My siblings have married the very best, as have Zach’s siblings. Does that happen in other families? I feel like it’s not possible everyone is as blessed as I am. But Leslie? Yeah, we would’ve found each other in this lifetime even if we didn’t marry a couple of really good looking brothers.

I feel in a lot of ways this was our most successful year. There were considerably more people this year than any other year before. We ran out of all of the alcohol and had just a few bits of dessert left at the end of the night. There were people who had not ever been there before, even people who hadn’t heard about the water crisis as well.

I also think when it’s all said and done we’ll be really close to my personal goal of $15,000 heading straight to The Adventure Project, which is not only the most we’ve ever made but also a lot of money for this community of mine.

I don’t know what else I can say about the event that hasn’t been said in years past. Man, it’s such a great night, it really is. I love finding where my passion and God’s divine providence meet. I guess that’s why every year I feel like going barefoot-for me it’s all holy ground.

*If you missed it this year and would still like to donate there’s still time! Help us reach our goal by going here. Please and thank you! https://adventureproject.wufoo.com/forms/donate-wine-to-water-2013/

For three of the last four Wine to Water events we have offered the art that is auctioned off at the event to the online community. We started this knowing that our online community is just as generous as our Quad City community and we wanted to give them the chance to buy art for a really good cause. Over the last three years, the online auction has brought in thousands of dollars, providing clean water to thousands of people.

So here’s your chance once again to be part of something bigger than “just” art. We all know really great art has the power to move people into feeling something they wouldn’t ordinarily feel or to look at something or someone in a whole new light. We believe offering this art to you—our online community—is a way of encouraging that. We believe every time you look at this painting or quilt or piece of pottery you will remember that a group of people acting together can make a real impact on changing our global community.

Here’s how it works: The online auction begins right now and will end Saturday, November 16th at 12pm CST. Send your highest bid to tesileagh@gmail.com. We will have someone bid on your behalf at Saturday night’s Wine to Water event. Remember, all bids (and subsequent donations) are 100% tax deductible. You will donate the cost of your purchase directly to The Adventure Project. Once we receive confirmation of your donation, we will ship your piece of art directly to you! (Thanks to generosity of our event hosts, the shipping costs are on us! ☺)

So bid away! And if you really love something, make sure you bid high!

Keep in mind this is just a portion of the art that will be available on Saturday night. If you’re in the Quad City area make sure you have plans to attend the actual event this Saturday night.

7–10pm

3rd floor of the Redstone Building

2nd and Main, Davenport.

At 8:30pm there will be a short presentation on The Adventure Project.

Also, you’ll see within the description below that certain pieces of art are only available to local residents. Those pieces are just too big or heavy to ship. If, however, you feel like you still really want it and you are not local, we would be willing to ship it to you as long as you will help with the shipping costs. (Keep in mind we’re just a few people passionate about fixing the water crisis—our budget is limited!)

Every year we are humbled by the outpouring of support this event brings. Thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. We’re looking forward to another amazing night. Happy bidding!

1) This is a 4 piece canvas, each piece is 11×14.

2) “Wine to Water” oil on 24×12 canvas.

3) “Tree of Life” 18×24 acrylic on canvas.

4) “The Gathering” 12×36 acrylic on canvas.

5) “Africa: My home. My Heart. My Motherland.” 16×20 acrylic on canvas (This was done by an 8-year-old Ethiopian adoptee, y’all! She’s amazing!)

6) “Symbol of Change” 18×24 mixed media acrylic painting.

7) Acrylic 18×24

8) “African Summer” quilt.

9) “Waterfall” quilt.

10) “Breath” *this is a local piece only* . Piece is 43″ in diameter and features 16 different light colors.

11) “Spiral Paradise” *Local piece only* Pottery bowl.

12) “Fish bowl” *local only piece* a 2 piece jar.

13) “Baren to life” quilt.

14) “From a well emerges life” a 12×12 acrylic multi media piece.

15) “My Cup Runneth Over” 16×12 canvas.

16) untitled abstract 8×10 canvas.

17) Photo etching 11×14 framed.

18) mixed media 5×7 frame.