Art Party raises money for The Bell Center
On Tuesday, Nov. 28, the fourth annual Bell Art Party brought a one-night art exhibit to Trim Tab Brewing Company from 5-8 p.m.
The event, sponsored by Trim Tab and the radio station Alt 99.1, raised money for The Bell Center for early intervention programs by allowing participants to purchase featured artists' artwork and having a percentage of the sale go to them, as well as donations.
According to their website, The Bell Center provides various quality services for infants and toddlers that are at risk for developmental delay, including programs that are designed to promote growth in gross and fine motor skills, language, cognition and social skills.
The art party featured live music on the patio by Cheshire Possum and music played by a DJ from Alt 99.1 inside. Artists, families and art lovers drank beer and viewed the various works mounted on the wall.
Three judges also judged the work of the artists and named Lynita Motes as first place for the 2017 event. It was Motes' first year to participate.
"My favorite is figurative [art]; I love to paint people, And second I like to do still-life," Motes said. "I'm very realistic. My art naturally falls into the realism world."
She has done a lot of oil painting, oils on linens and oil paintings on boards as of late, she said.
Motes, who said she has been doing art for a very long time, got her first commission right before her first of five children were born. For the past five years, she has taught adult lessons at her home in addition to teaching high school students fine art at an evangelical Christian school in Alabaster. She was also recently featured in the magazine Shelby Living.
At the Bell Art Party, Motes featured several pieces that she has planned to use to barter with a friend for a wedding dress for her daughter. When her friend chose two, she had two finished pieces left over and then created two more for the art exhibit.
"My daughter got to show her [the designer] pictures and sketches [of her dress] and got a custom dress just like she wanted," Motes said.
To learn more about The Bell Center, go to thebellcenter.org. To view more of Motes' work, go to lynitamotesart.com.