Past Art Exhibitions

New England Organ Bank
Art Exhibition
August 4- September 5

Wanda Murray

Donor Spouse.

When my husband, Ed, died 4 years ago  I found myself needing to find a hobby to keep me busy.  I bought my first camera and headed to the Grand Canyon .  More than 7000 pictures and three cameras later photography has become a passion.   Now when I feel the need to relieve stress or to be creative I head out with my camera to capture all of the beauty that surrounds us.  

“Trumpeting Life”

"I don't think there's anything on this planet that more trumpets life than the sunflower. For me that's because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that's such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life." - Chris's (Helen Mirren) comment in the movie "Calendar Girls."

Miriam Gilman, Kidney Recipient

Newton, Massachusetts

The title of my monotype (one-of-a-kind print) is: Brobdingnagian Lily Pads. The title refers to the giants in "Gulliver's Travels", since the lily pads in the picture are huge.

The size of the framed piece is 33.5" x 39.5".

The technique involves my using oil paints to paint an image on a large plexiglass plate, put a piece of acid-free printing paper on it, and run it through a printing press. The image transfers onto the paper in reverse. Because most of the paint is transferred, there is no possibility of a second print. It is therefore called a monotype and is unique.

Before receiving my kidney transplant in December, 1995, I spent 3 years and 3 months on dialysis. To relieve stress during the 3-4 hour dialysis sessions, I would meditate, and to begin each meditation I focused on a safe place, which for me was inevitably a lily pond. During this period and for many years after the transplant, my primary subject matter was landscape and particularly lily ponds.

Stephen M Bruno

Kidney recipient July 2006

There is Always Hope

It was the summer of 2003 and we were vacation at Cape Cod.  I hadn’t been feeling well and my dad had passed away suddenly several months earlier.  I had been living with kidney disease for a while at that point and have always believed that there was hope.  I have even said that I would take “false hope” over “no hope” any day and may be that was what I was thinking when I wrote those letters in the sand.  As like many photos that I take once developed and looked at several times they get thrown in a box and forgotten.

Six months later we were lucky enough to find a house in Rhode Island that was for sale and we could afford.  We put a down payment on the house with insurance money that my dad had left me. At one point I recall a conversation I had with one of the home inspectors who was explaining the paperwork.  I noticed something wrong so I questioned her.  She had written the wrong town on the inspection form.  “We live in Scituate” I had said and her reply sent me back a few steps.  She told me that I do indeed live in Scituate but the town has several small villages and I now live in one them.  She said, “The village you live in is Hope”. 

A chill ran up my spine and I instantly remembered the photo taken earlier that summer.  It now hangs on our foyer wall so that when we arrive home “Hope” is the first thing we see when we enter our house. 

Ellie Ball, Heart Recipient

Keene, NH

When I was waiting for my heart transplant, and in and out of the hospital, I crocheted baby/children’s hats and blankets.  They were simple patterns that worked well for me.  My thought process had slowed down considerably but projects I did could easily be set aside and picked up later when the brain was functioning better.

After the transplant I had to relearn how to do the hats and blankets and after many trials and errors finally the ability did come back.  Crocheting, and sometimes knitting projects, were a great help in getting coordination skills back as they require hands/eyes to work together. 

Carrie Nixon:  Jesus New York, 2008 oil on mylar, 3' x 6'

Tom Grady:  Spine, 34x34", oil on linen, 2005.