PFND x Aluna Collective online charity auction now live!
We are excited to present four beautiful original artworks, created by local artists, to be auctioned in order to raise vital funds for our work protecting and advocating for our local environment.
Taking the North Devon coastline they call home as inspiration, Aluna Collective artists Faye Allison, Emily Hamilton, Georgia Morgan, and Emily Harrison created these amazing pieces using the charity’s ‘Protect our Playground’ wooden bellyboards as a canvas. The boards themselves are made by family run business Timewarp from sustainable Okoume wood here in the South West, and we offer them for sale or free hire as a more eco-friendly and durable alternative to polystyrene boards.
When the four artists offered to each create a unique painting to go on them, we jumped at the chance to showcase their work and bring new attention to the wooden bellyboard revival in North Devon, and why it’s such a positive thing for the environment.
Our Operations Manager, Anne-Marie Eveleigh, explains a little more about the Protect Our Playground campaign that the auction highlights:
“Connecting people with the natural wealth of habitat and biodiversity right here on our doorstep is our passion here at Plastic Free North Devon. Our Protect our Playground campaign, among other things, advocates for more sustainable choices in purchasing, renting, and borrowing bodyboards. The wave of waste we see each summer, with cheap polystyrene bodyboards being abandoned on our beaches and polluting our waters is a very visible symbol of the disposable culture we should be moving away from.
We’re so grateful to the Aluna Collective artists for bringing their own unique style to these four pieces and helping us bring the campaign to a wider audience, taking their inspiration from the ocean that we are working to protect and highlighting the impact that behavioural changes can make - whether that’s taking a wooden bellyboard out for a slide or using one of our beachside Toy Libraries.”
Artist Faye Allison speaks for the collective when she explains the inspiration for her piece, ‘Marcelline’:
“The name Marcelline is of French origin, meaning ‘Defender of the Sea’ - something we all passionately feel we need to be doing in some way.
The SEA has been a mysterious and mesmerising source of inspiration for humankind for centuries. It calms us and at times frightens us. There is so much we do not understand about the sea and so much to learn in regards to caring for this vital source of life. Marcelline is inspired by the idea of the sea needing a mistress and protector - a nurturing feminine energy. Plastic Free North Devon is an incredible and visible local charity that I am very inspired by.”
The auction is taking place online, running from 8.30pm Friday 25th November until 11.59pm on Sunday 11th December. You can place your bids securely online, with the winning bidders notified after the auction is closed, meaning you should be able to walk away with a unique gift just in time for Christmas.
Go to www.theauctioncollective.com/auctions/pfnd-x-aluna-collective/ or scan the QR code to place your bid!