 | | | Jan Pablo Schurig Photo provided
| | | | | | Lafayette Tennis Club head tennis pro and artist Pablo Schurig and Allison McCrady Fine Arts (aMFa) Gallery owner Allison McCrady brought the Lafayette and Orinda art and tennis communities together when they sent out a blast of e-mails and made personal calls to art and tennis fans in early March to help a fellow artist and friend.
Schurig and McCrady joined forces to raise more than $5,000 to help Schurig's art mentor, Don Hatfield, who within the last months lost his wife to cancer, his home to foreclosure, and then shockingly on February 27, lost his daughter, Rachel, who was murdered in her home.
Compelled to help his friend in the only way he knew best, Schurig donated all of his original artwork to be auctioned off with all proceeds going to the Rachel Winkler's Children's Foundation, which was created to help Hatfield care for his daughter's three children (the eldest only 4 years old) who are now without either parent.
The response was amazing. Many who donated did not know Hatfield, his daughter, or the children. "It's just normal for the art world to be inspired and act," McCrady said about the response. "We're artists." The tennis community was equally inspired, offering generous donations to the fund.
When asked if he had any emotional reaction to seeing his artwork leaving in the driving rain, Schurig said, "Painting them was just a time in my life; I'll find another inspiration to paint again." Schurig's artwork features world class tennis players, bull fighters, flamenco dancers and paintings of the Dave Matthews Band.
Schurig will continue to display his art at the AMFA Gallery in Berkeley. For more information visit: rachelschildrensfund.com. To see Schurig's artwork visit his website at www.PabloFineArt.com.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA