Daily project helps artist and charities

CHAPEL HILL -- Sharon Stevens' whispered promise to her dying mother has become a sort of daily visual diary, an artistic expression of the feelings of loss, separation, comfort, peace and joy she sometimes struggles to express in words.

Every day for the past 12 months, Stevens has created a piece of art -- an acrylic, oil or watercolor painting, a collage, a photograph, a graphic print -- as a tribute to her mom, who died of breast cancer, and her father, felled by a heart attack four months later.

"I didn't know where this would take me," Stevens said this week as the project came to a close. "I just knew I felt compelled to do something. I told my mother, 'I'm gonna do something big for you.' At the time I had no idea how I would make good on that promise."

Her mother died of breast cancer in September 2007. It wasn't until that December, when Stevens was sitting at her kitchen table in Chapel Hill and began doodling, that she decided how she could honor her mom.

She was up until 3 the next morning figuring it all out: Create a piece of art a day, set up a Web site on which to display it, sell the pieces and raise money for charities she and her mother believed in.

Bonding through art

Art was a strong link between mother and daughter.

Stevens, 35, can remember her mother pulling pens and markers from her purse at restaurants, and the two making canvasses of paper scraps. They went to museums together. When Stevens was furnishing her first apartment, she and her mother created tile mosaics on tabletops.

Trained as a chemical engineer and skilled in the production of Web sites and graphic arts, Stevens could mix professional artists' tints with her children's sparkle paints, scan the finished product and post it on ArtforMyMom.com.

The real challenge came in coming up with a new idea each day and the time to execute it.

"As big a deal as this has been for me, it has impacted my whole family," Stevens said.

Friends and family

Her husband, Bruce, embraced the project and helped Stevens find time to work, looking after their 3-year-old twins on weekends. Her oldest daughter, 5, learned to work quietly at the other end of the table in the dining room, which became Stevens' studio.

Friends became regular visitors to the Web site, impressed by Stevens' creativity and her discipline.

"It's truly remarkable that every day, she's creating something new and different, and she finds inspiration in so many different ways," said Betsey Elbogen, who has known Stevens for years through their work in the Chapel Hill Service League, one of the charities that will benefit from the art sales. "Through Sharon's art, you see her in such a different way. Her work conveys something about herself that you don't normally see. I think it's very liberating for her."

More grief

Shortly after she started the project, Stevens' father died of a heart attack, compounding her grief. She continued to create, even during the time she spent in Virginia cleaning out her parents' home.

So far, about 60 of the pieces have sold to raise money for the charities.

The style of the pieces varies widely. Many are abstract, based on loopy, swirling doodles. Stevens loves to draw faces, and there are a few landscapes.

'A part of my life'

Each piece is visible on the Web site, with a note about its size and the medium used to produce it. Some cite the inspiration, such as stepping outside on a starry night or looking through family photographs.

"It's an amazing way of grieving," said Stevens' friend and neighbor, Joanna Simoni.

Her last piece Thursday -- an exclamation mark with her mother as the point -- leaves Stevens with mixed emotions.

"I'm excited to be done," she said, "but kind of sad to be leaving behind something that has been such a part of my life."

For her next project, she plans to repaint the dining room.