This is a correction to my earlier post -- I had read some incorrect information, and just now found out that the Totoro Auction raised well over $200,000!
I first heard of this on June 21, at a Sketchcrawl, when Enrico Casarosa asked Amelia & I if we might be interested in contributing something. We worked furiously hard to meet the deadline (we were definitely afterthoughts) and turned in our pieces on July 15th.
Enrico, Ronnie, Dice and Yukino (and hundreds of others) have worked long and hard on this project all year. Can you imagine? Herding over 200 artists, and then organizing all the logistics and collateral material and resources to create an auction? There must have been over 500 people there last night. Lots & lots of volunteers working the floor - serving food, monitoring the bids, doing the sound, checking i.d.'s, etc. All their hard work sure showed. What an amazing feat to pull this together -- and they all have full-time jobs to boot! I hope they all slept in today!
It was like a night amongst the stars of the art world. The caliper of art was amazing. I wish Amelia would have been able to be there, because she knows who these people are. Me, I was just wandering around oblivious to who's-who, because most people didn't have name tags. But I knew for sure I was in the company of greats based on the art on display. Of course, I recognized John Lasseter, Mark Andrews,Pete Doctor, Ronnie, Enrico, Dice, and a few other artists I'm familiar with. Mostly I recognized names on the art -- and had no idea which face matched the name.
The food and drinks were amazing; from smoked duck pizza to seared sesame halibut with white miso aioli, green tea macaroons, white peach cheesecake lollypops, sake, etc etc etc. It was a beautiful, casual evening, with wonderful company, and we were treated like kings. They know how to throw a party!
The art was mostly silent-auctioned, with certain pieces set aside for live-auction. A select few hot-moving silent auction items were then moved into the live auction. It would really get interesting when a certain section of the silent auction would get near closing. Mark Andrews and Derek Thompson would wander around with wireless mics describing the art and pumping up the crowd. They'd give a 5-minute warning, and then do a 30 second countdown before closing.
The silent auction was amazing. There were 18 pieces - the cream of the crop, and most went for $2- $3,000.00 Some went for over $4,000. It was fun watching Lasseter bidding - he ended up the winner of quite a few pieces last night. Ronnie's was one of the silent-auction pieces. Although he obviously has nothing to worry about, he told me later his heart was pounding. Can you imagine? That's really putting yourself out there - to be up in front of your co-workers, peers, executives of your company --- hoping that somebody will bid a worthwhile price on your art! Of course, his painting of "Nina" went for over $2500. I can't imagine doing that. I was so happy to wander around being an unknown nobody, and if nobody bid on my piece, nobody would know it was mine! Something to be said for anonymity!
Amelia's watercolor -- I'm so proud -- sold for $200.00! My felt piece scored the lowest bid of the evening at $65.00! Which is completely appropriate, based on the caliper of the other artwork. I'm just glad somebody bid on it -- thank you very much. I would have hated to have to bid on my own piece, or worse yet, have no bids at all! I really felt, and still do -- that I had no business being involved in this thing. Enrico just has a heart of gold to invite us. I enjoyed the process, the anticipation of the event, the online gallery and bidding action, and the event itself. It has given me a huge boost of enthusiasm for creating my art, and with Amelia being gone, this is a great time to dive into something and give it my all. I feel more motivated than I have in a long time.
Pixar does not allow cameras, so I can't post photos like I usually do... boo-hoo! But there were plenty of professional photographers wandering around, so I'm sure there will be photos up on the web soon.
All the art is still online at http://totoroforestproject.org/
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Great post, Nancy. The art really was amazing. There were several pieces I would have loved to have. Congratulations to both of you. It's nice to hear you talk about being inspired. You got me pumped up a bit!
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