I attended the the 17th Annual Knock Out Abuse Against Women Annual fundraising gala in Washington, D.C. recently. What an event! I had donated my “Closed Tulip III” to the silent auction and had the honor of attending as the co-founder’s, Jill Sorensen, guest!
Standing next to my darling, “Closed Tulip III,” which is the painting I donated
to Knock Out Abuse. The proceeds of the painting went to benefit women and children of domestic abuse. (sorry for blurry pic!)
My original painting was part of the silent auction which lasted 3 hours during the night. This photo is taken right when the doors opened. Within a half hour, this room was PACKED with several hundred women of all ages dressed in fab cocktail dresses. Heaven!
There were 207 items women could bid on, including designer handbags, weekend spa retreats, David Yurman jewelry, VIP tickets to the Tonight Show… list goes on! Jenny, from LiveLikeYou.com, is holding up the 2010 Auction Catalog.
In the catalog, you could read about my painting, which had been renamed to “Color Envy”: “original acrylic painting of a yellow and green closed tulip by Erica Eriksdotter on gallery wrapped 24”x18” canvas. $445 value.”
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what the final bid was for the painting as I made it back too late! That’s OK though. I’m so proud to have been apart of this event and to help such an important cause.
welcome speaker (far left). She has a very captivating voice.
The 2010 event chair, Sarah Guinan Nixon (in white) standing next to Agnes Nixon, the 2010 Aggie Award recipient (legendary soap opera producer in glittery black dress) together with co-founder, Jill Sorensen (far right) and her friend, Jody (far left).
During the dinner, I had the pleasure of sitting next to (besides Jill!) the wife of Swedish Ambassador Jonas Hafström, Eva Hafström. What a fascinating woman! A police officer since 1982 in Sweden, she was intranet chief editor at the Swedish National Police Board, the central administrative and supervisory authority in Sweden before she and her husband left for the US.
Event chair, Sarah Guinan Nixon has supported her social activist parents throughout her life and also worked extensively in the entertainment industry. Today, she volunteers with several organizations and owns three historic properties on Martha’s Vineyard.
See the head of silvery blond hair in the bottom right corner? That’s Lauren Hutton (!!) – the world-renowned American modeling icon, actress, author, entrepreneur, environmentalist and humanitarian. We sat at the tables next to each other! She auctioned off a dinner and make-over with her and several of the winners friends! It went for several thousands.
Gloria Reuben, famous TV series and movie actress (most notably from ER) held a very compelling speech.
I was so moved by the keynote speaker, Leslie Morgan Steiner, I completely forgot to take a photo! She’s the author of Crazy Love, a New York Times bestseller (she’s also a Washington Post daily columnist). She’s also a victim of domestic violence herlself and she delivered a powerful and brave speech. In short, she spoke about her experience of domestic abuse and read a brief section from her book. It was shocking and definitely left a mark…
Since I’m a devoted fan of the Redskins (read: devoted wife and daughter-in-law of HUGE fans) I asked Clinton Portis for his autograph later in the evening (he’s the only jersey I have! but can’t remember the last time I asked for someone’s authograph). He couldn’t have been nicer as I nervously blurted out things that didn’t make any sense. I guess we all have those moments some times, huh?
If you want to read more about the event, check out Jill Sorensen’s blog post about it, the Washington Post Reliable Source or Examiner. And here are 230 photos from the evening!
Have a wonderful Monday!
e.
