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September 24, 2010

Finally, my secret is revealed!!

I’ve been bursting at the seams for weeks, but I managed to keep my secret quiet — and tonight, I can finally spill the beans!! Right at this moment, I’m sitting in a B&B in Shediac, New Brunswick after an amazing evening at Matt LeBlanc’s Art for Life Gala!!!

corner

I was really bummed about not being able to meet up with Matt on our trip to Nova Scotia in August. So I formulated a cunning plan… a weekend trip to PEI in September to celebrate our anniversary, with a side trip to Dieppe to attend the gala. It didn’t take much to convince hubby!! We flew to Charlottetown this morning on possibly the smallest plane ever, drove to our B&B in Shediac, and then down to Dieppe for the gala this evening. And WOW, it was awesome!!

centre Dieppe Arts and Culture Centre

The evening began with a presentation in the theatre. Matt put together a fantastic video about his campaign. He’s a funny guy :-) And then the gallery with all 200 campaign paintings was opened to everyone at the gala. It was so cool to see all of the paintings together. I couldn’t quite get all 200 into my pictures, but close. (I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the overflow in the hallway. Oops!!)

wall 1b  wall 2b wall 3b

These paintings should look familiar to some DesignTies readers, starting with Vanessa at Decor Happy:

VF

Lisa at Lisa Goulet Design:

LG

My friend Maureen at Modecor bought this one:

MC

And here’s Victoria’s:

VL

Matt brought his entire inventory of paintings and donated 25% of each one sold to cancer research. Melanie Roy of Me Bijoux was there selling her beautiful jewelry and donated all the money she made tonight to Matt’s campaign. (Melanie, it was great to meet you too!!) She created a special collection of necklace & earring sets especially for this event.

melanie

There was a silent auction and a live auction, which I’m sure raised another $6,000-$7,000. Matt planned to auction off one 4’ x 4’ custom painting, but when the first one sold for $2,000, someone encouraged him to auction off a second one — he did, and that one went for $1,750!! And he auctioned off a 4’ x 4’ original, which sold for $1,000. I was thrilled to be able to help out with a JAX e-design consultation that was auctioned off for $350. Matt has way surpassed his goal of raising $25,000. He said he thinks he might be up to $40,000 after tonight!!

auction

Thanks to all our DT friends who supported Matt’s campaign by spreading the word on your blogs, tweeting about it, and/or buying a painting. I know Matt is beyond thrilled with the outcome!!

At the end of the gala, everyone was able to leave with their campaign paintings. Wish I could have brought #27 home with me, but remember what I said at the top of the post about flying on the smallest plane ever?? Yeah, not gonna happen!! Matt said he’ll put mine in the mail on Monday — I’m holding you to that, Matt!!

kelly matt  Me & Matt & #27

Matt and I had never met before tonight, but he made me feel like we’ve been lifelong friends. You’d be hard-pressed to find a kinder, more gracious, and more generous guy than Matt LeBlanc. Now I hope he takes a break from painting and spends some time with Colette and their kids. And get lots of sleep!!

So that’s one of my big secrets revealed. I may have one or two others up my sleeve… stay tuned!!

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15 comments:

Vanessa@decor happy said...

Oh Kelly, I knew you were going! Really, I just had a sense of it for some reason. You and Victoria were so helpful in raising awareness of Matt's campaign - one of you had to be there! Looks like it was an amazing evening and Matt should be so proud of what he has accomplished.

My painting looks even better than the picture of it that Matt emailed me - can't wait to receive it. (I just emailed him tonight saying "the cheque is in the mail" and congrats on the gala tomorrow - I'm clearly not on the ball these days.)

Brillante Interiors said...

Great project and good to hear everything went so well.

Victoria @ The FAT Paint™ Company and ÉdinHome said...

Brian and I have got some major & impressive work to do in the building and decorating of my basement office because my BEAUTIFUL Matt LeBlanc painting needs a fantastic home!!

How exciting that you were at the gala, Kelly... and what a meany you were for not telling me!! ;-) I'm so very happy you went... after years of "knowing" one another, it's about time you actually MET Matt and his family!! HaHa! He's done such a fantastic job with this campaign, hasn't he?!!

Thanks for taking a photo of my painting!!
Victoria

Layers and Layers said...

Wow ... sounds like a special night! Congrats all round :)

Anonymous said...

Looks like some fantastic artwork !!

Shannon @ What's Up Whimsy said...

Wow, what an amazing collection of paintings - I wish I had bought one, but it wasn't in the budget at the time :( I'm so glad you got to go though!!!

Kat said...

I'm thrilled that you got to go Kelly! What an amazing campaign, Matt did a fantastic job raising funds. Thanks to you for letting us know about this, it's been so much fun to follow his progress on your blog and on FB. Love the painting you purchased, can't wait to see where it's going to hang! Kat

Christy said...

Kelly! I love it! Your photos! The art you bought! Your jacket and your hair! So freaking cute! You were stronger than I would have been - I NEVER would have been able to keep this a secret!!! Well done - and it looks GORGEOUS and like so much fun! Awesome!

Wendy said...

WOW! looks like so much fun... congrats!!

~CC Catherine said...

Hey Kelly! Sounds like you had a fabulous trip and time with the event! Lovely painting! It's so refreshing to meet a well renowned figure that is down to earth as he sounds. Ciao~

Lisa said...

What fun you must have had! Matt is such a great guy! So many beautiful pieces. Thanks so much for taking a photo of the piece I bought. Now, I have to find the perfect wall for it.

Unknown said...

What a great story, an amazing cause and some really lovely artwork...thanks!

Unknown said...

ok seriously - these are FABULOUS!!!!!

PS - come visit my first GIVE-AWAY - $45 worth of fabulous! - don't be shy - pass it along! :o)

*kiss kiss*
Erika
~Tiptoe Butterfly~

Puna said...

These are beautiful. What a talent. I particulary love Victoria's. They are my colors! So nice to "see" you too Kelly!

Marie Brady said...

Fantastic, colorful art and an evening for a great cause-perfect! I would take any of them!

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