New Portrait on Etsy- Iseline

The adorable little girl in this portrait is Iseline.
Alexis captured her sweet little face so well!

Iseline was sent to the Rescue Center by a volunteer doctor in April. She had kwashiorko and was sick. It took her several months to recover.

Here she is going home with a weight gain of 6 pounds. Her mother is 6 months pregnant with another child. But was so happy to be able to take her back home. She will follow-up with 2 week check ups for a few months.

I keep thinking about what an amazing conversation piece this portrait would be. Any of Alexis's portraits actually! Having Iseline's portrait hanging in your home or office would allow for the opportunity to talk about the children in our world that are in desperate need of good nutrition and would be an amazing reminder of how blessed most of us truly are.

Check out this portrait at our Etsy site!

New Portrait on Etsy- Begendy

This sweet little boy is Begendy. His sister has also been in the RC, both with severe malnutrition. Their father brought them in and their mother has been very sick and unable to work. They have one other child and they have lost two children already to kwashiorkor (one died in the RC a few years ago.) Thankfully, Begendy was healthy enough to go home to his family.

Children like Begendy are brought into the RC every day. Sometimes they gain weight and start to do very well. Sometimes the malnutrition is too advanced and they die. The wonderful people at the Rescue Center in Haiti do everything they can to provide for these children, and our hope is that we can help with their efforts through art and creativity.

Please check out our Etsy site for this amazing portrait by Alexis!

Artist Bio- Alexis

The main reason we started Artists For Hope was obviously to help people. We wanted to give hope to children and help to provide them with the basic things they need to survive.

We realized that art is universal and appeals to people all over the world. People create art and people buy art. We want people to come here to learn about new artists and purchase artwork that will help provide food and medical care to children that need it SO much.

We want this blog to be a place where we can tell people about the artists that have so generously donated to Artists For Hope. I know many of you have already seen the portraits of Rosena and Deny that Alexis has created...and now it's time for you to learn a little more about this amazing artist.

Alexis studied art at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and has continued studying art at the University of Nebraska in Omaha. She started doing portraits for family and friends in college and word spread quickly of her talent. She began doing portraits for clients while living in Chicago and has been doing custom portraits ever since. She often works from photos (sometimes directly off her computer screen) and uses Prismacolor pencils to create her work. She is excited to be able to use her gift to make a positive mark on the lives of the children in Haiti and she hopes her drawings will bring hope to the children and joy to the people who purchase them.

Thank you Alexis! Please check out her amazing portrait of Deny, who is still living at the Rescue Center in Haiti and check our Etsy Site soon for more of Alexis's portraits that she has so generously donated. If you would like more information from Alexis about doing a custom portrait, please contact her at

♫

alexis_laguardia@yahoo.com

Waiting and Thank you

If you haven't already, take the time to read about little Nerlande. Her story is incredible and I was SO happy to see how great she looked when I checked the RHRC website today.

Here she is now...
2 pounds bigger and looking so healthy!

Here she is when she came into the Rescue Center.
She has already been through so much in her little life.
I can't even imagine!
The money we are raising is going to give HOPE to children like Nerlande.

One of the things Artists For Hope was able to do with money from the artwork donated so far was have new dresses made for the children at the RC. Scrub material was donated to them and they were able to employ some women to sew uniforms/dresses for the children that live at the center. The children now have a clean, new outfit to wear and someone was able to earn some money for their family by sewing....thanks to your donations.

We have also donated just for the general needs of the center, but it's nice to see something specific that has come from your purchases. The people who work at the Rescue Center work hard day after day to help these children and adults and I know they are very thankful for the artists and people who have purchased artwork to help them. Thank you!

If anyone has gone through the process of starting a Non Profit, will you let me know. We want to get going on this ASAP, but honestly it kind of makes my head hurt. I'm hoping there is someone who has gone through the process and can give us some tips. I know it's a bit of a long process and I don't really want to wait to get things going...but I know it's the next step we need to take. Thanks!