A rabbit-crazy artist has been given time off by her employer to get busy with the paint pot and create some new paintings to benefit the ME Association.
Tess Grieten, a medical information specialist working for an international pharmaceutical company, has been given some volunteering hours off this month to paint animals in her own unique and highly colourful style.
“The company gives us one day a year to spend volunteering for a good cause. They’ve given me two half days next week to work on my paintings and raise awareness of ME on Instagram and Facebook”, 31-year-old Tess told us today.
She’ll put the paintings up for sale on Etsy and, to mark ME Awareness Month this month, she will give the ME Association 20% of her sales on certain pictures.
“So far I've done a sleeping koala and a fox. The koala has been sold, the fox not yet. Today I’ll be working on a sleeping, curled-up squirrel”, Tess told us.
“But really it's all about the bunnies here! I love them!”
Tess has also ordered greetings cards and prints to be sold as well as the paintings.
Tess lives in Yate near Bristol with boyfriend Chris. They met in Australia while travelling over there. Sadly, Australia wasn't one long romantic idyll: Tess contracted a severe infection of her arm, followed by a distressing ectopic pregnancy and she came back living with a legacy of ME.
“I'm getting better slowly and learning to cope with the fatigue and all the other symptoms,” she said. “This time last year, I wouldn't have been able keep up with a hobby as well as go to work. So I guess I'm improving.”
Originally from Belgium, Tess has a unique style of painting using daubs of bright acrylic colours on canvas. She has already built up quite a following on Etsy, and she will make sure these new pictures are very affordable.
She will also consider requests for commissions so, if you like this kind of painting, please look in on her shop very soon.
To view her work, please visit https://paintingsbytessshop.etsy.com
Tony Britton
Senior Fundraising Consultant, The ME Association
tony.britton@meassociation.org.uk Mob: 07393 805566
