The Giving Tree

Bunny Luv is a rabbit shelter, rescue and resource center that I have been involved with for years. They recently did a fundraiser and asked me to create this poster for them. It's 50 x 92 inches! Since I have a small apartment, I taped the paper to a wall in the hallway outside my place to do the painting. A couple of neighbors were hoping it would remain on the wall since it added some nice color! I used acrylic paint for the tree and bunny. When I realized it would take forever to paint individual leaves (what was I thinking?), I tried making a leaf stamp out of a sponge, then a potato, but they just didn't look right. I ended up making a leaf out of cardboard, dipped it in paint and used that as a stamp. 

I cut apples out of red construction paper and lettered in white gouache. Each apple has a donation amount and the gift you will win when you donate. Some are gift cards to stores, products and services. When a donation is made in that amount and a gift chosen, the apple is removed from the tree. If you're interested in donating, you can go to Bunny Luv's website.

At the base of the tree is a painting of my sweet 9 year old rabbit Mocha. He passed away in February and I couldn't resist this tribute to him. Mocha was a rescue from Bunny Luv and I used to call him my velvet boy because his Rex fur was so so soft. He used to hang out with me whenever I was on the computer. I miss him terribly. 

Because my other rabbit, Maddie, also from Bunny Luv, was so lonely after Mocha died, I had to get her a new companion. Also a rescue, Dashell, has become our new family member. When I brought in the poster to add the calligraphy, I had it draped over my coffee table to work on it. The photos below will show you how that went! Dashell is the multicolored rabbit, Maddie, the gray and white.

Funny, it doesn't smell like a tree!

Hey, where's the trunk?

And finally, hiding underneath the tented coffee table.

 Peekaboo!