Three Artworks Auctioned on Feb. 1 to Benefit AIDS Help Key West

As a part of the celebration of their 25th Silver Anniversary, AIDS Help Art Auction's Committee invited three outstanding artists to submit a piece as a commemoration of the event. These works are to be raffled at the Art Auction on February 1.

The Art Auction Committee, consisting of Cheryl Cates, J. David Cooper, Betsy Dietz, Donna Harvey, Ali Hyatt, and Kate Miano urge art lovers and the philanthropically minded to bid on the works, or just donate to AIDS Help.

The Artists and their Works include Jane Rohrschneider's "The Wonder of the Sea," Bill Welch's "Italian Villa, Lake Como," and Richard Worth's "Seven Mile Bridge and Friend."

Rohrschneider's "The Wonder of the Sea" is aluminum cast sculpture and enamel pain, and is valued at $7,500. Have you ever noticed the beautiful mosaics hanging at the CVS at the corner of Front and Duval Streets in Key West? They were created by Key West Jane, as she is known! She is also responsible for the large mosaic found at Poinciana Royale, 1341 McCarthy Lane and works at several other locations around town.

Rohrschneider has lived in Key West for 16 years and has been a frequent contributor to the AIDS Help Art Auctions. She loves the sea and diving. She would never hurt a sponge, but when she saw this sponge beached after Hurricane Isaac she picked it up and took it home. It has gone through quite a metamorphosis to become this lovely sculpture. First it was washed and dried for a few months. Then it was coated with a thin layer of wax and the bottom of the sculpture and fish were added to the wax.

It was taken to the Shadetree Studio, a fine art foundry, in Fort Pierce, where Pat Cochran cast the sculpture in the Lost Wax method. The sculpture was cast in aluminum, a metal that Jane felt was appropriate because it is silvery white and is remarkable for its ability to resist corrosion and is lightweight.

Besides her love for the sea, Rohrschneider thought the sponge was a suitable symbol for the fight against AIDS because parts of the sponge have been discovered to have potential medicinal properties. Sponges have significant value within the pharmaceutical industry as a means of generating novel drugs. Rohrschneider thinks that sponges are just beautiful to look at. With all of this in mind, she has created this magnificent original sculpture as a commemorative piece to celebrate the 25th Silver Anniversary of the AIDS Help Art Auction.

Welch's "Italian Villa, Lake Como" is oil on canvas, valued at $6,000. Nantucket, Key West, and Southern France Artist William Welch received his art education at Ohio University with further study at the Philadelphia College of Art and in Europe. A Cleveland native, he developed his painting skills further under the instruction of many prominent East Coast watercolorists and oil painters, including Domineck DeStefano, Christopher Shenk, and Joseph McGurl.

He refers to himself as an "academic impressionist" using the same six-color palette favored by impressionist master, Claude Monet. Welch is a member the Copley Society of Boston and the Philadelphia Watercolor Society as well as many others. He is represented in Key West by Frangipani Gallery. Welch has supported the AIDS Help Art Auction for many years.

Worth's "Seven Mile Bridge and Friend" is enamel on canvas, and valued at $4,000. Worth creates paintings on "conch shingles," discarded shutters, walls, cars and even canvas. He arrived in Key West fresh from the Navy some 20 years ago and has since left his mark all over town on cars, murals, fences, posters, tee shirts, theatre sets and parade floats. He's participated in Sculpture Key West for several years, including a composition called Dali-ing Around, large watch/clock faces draped over rocks.

As he increasingly turned to fine art, he showed his work at Harrison Gallery, Lucky Street, and his own much-missed Three-Legged Dog gallery on White, named for his late great dog, Kido.

Worth teaches a wildly popular painting class, Boot Camp, at The Studios of Key West. During a recent retrospective at the Studios, the street was lined with examples of his painted cars (and even a boat). Worth's works have been favorites of patrons at the AIDS Help Art Auctions for many years. His inspiration for this painting was the Seven Mile Bridge and his work with the "Save Our Pines" group and the lonely little tree that we all see every time we cross the bridge.

To help raise funds for AIDS Help or to bid on the artworks, visit http://www.aidshelp.cc/ArtAuction2015/index.html on February 1.