St. Thomas Aquinas students inspire local artist to auction painting for art education

by Casandra Haynes

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She gave 60% of the profits back to the school.

DALLAS — A group of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders inspired a local Dallas artist to sell her aptly-named painting, Inspiration, and give 60% of the proceeds back to the very kids who inspired her.

Katherine Baronet visited the art department at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, painting while she spoke to each class. By the end of the day, the students helped her create a masterpiece, which she finished when she got home.

“One of the kids actually asked me if I was going to sell it,” she said, inferring that the kids were so impressed by the painting that it was worth money. “The only thing I could say was that I hadn’t thought about it.”

Baronet decided to sell it on eBay, her first time selling a painting on the site. After 10 days and dollar amounts climbing from $129, Inspiration sold for $610 to the parents of one of the children she spoke with. The actual retail price (would she have sold it in a gallery) would have been $700.

“I decided to sell this painting because I wanted to donate money back to the art program,” Baronet said. “eBay is an easy access website and I wanted everyone to have an opportunity to bid on it.”

Baronet said an art collector in Houston wanted the painting very badly, bidding it up several times during the course of the auction. According to Baronet, the art collector went to sleep one night, and at the last minute, the St. Thomas Aquinas parents bid the item up and won it.

“I think eBay is a good way to get people aware of your artwork from people who aren’t even in your city,” she said. She also sells art in galleries, stores, salons, and in shows. “Once you find collectors that like your work, as time goes by, you can start selling at higher prices.”

The painting came to be known Inspiration because the students named it. Her inspiration for most paintings comes from the spiritual space she envisions between her and other people or things. The red and white "swirls" in Inspiration represent people.

“I know for myself, I create my desire through abstract art to visualize what space might look like between individuals or in a room,” she said. “My focus in my artwork is to see the unseen space and on a spiritual and energetic level.”

Her new paintings can be found on her blog.

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