The war in Ukraine has taken over the airwaves and the plight of the refugees has touched all of our hearts. We wanted and needed to do something.
We hoped to raise £10,000 through the sale of Sunflowers for Ukraine, to support the DEC in providing food, water, shelter, healthcare and protection to those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
During the first UK lockdown the Jackson Foundation raised funds to show our support for the NHS with the Kurt Jackson limited edition etching Flowers for the NHS, which sold out in a matter of hours.
Sunflowers for Ukraine is a fundraiser similar in spirit that looks to help our fellow human beings most affected by the current conflict.
Thanks to your generosity, together we have managed to sell the complete run of these limited edition etchings within 46 minutes of them being announced. Sunflowers for Ukraine sold out before we even had time to post the original story announcing their sale on this website!!!
The sunflower is the national symbol of Ukraine, and Kurt remembered a series of drawings he made in a sunflower field back in 2015 – charcoal sketches drawn under the hot summer sun standing in the dry soil of France. He also found a short poem (below) penned at the same time to which he has added a new verse.
One of these drawings has now become the basis for an etching with added drypoint produced in a limited edition of fifty printed by Kurt and Caroline Jackson to raise funds for Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal to help those fleeing the devastation brought on by the invasion of Ukraine.
Each copy of Sunflowers for the Ukraine sold will generate £200 for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
- £30 of which could provide essential hygiene supplies for three people for one month.
- £50 of which could provide blankets for four families.
- £100 of which could provide emergency food for two families for one month.
Your support will make a difference!
——
From Scilly to France to Ukraine (2015 to 2022) by Kurt Jackson
Standing
Drawing in this sunflower field
Planted in the French soil
In the heat and dust
My white ankles
Beneath brown legs
Gleam
Like white socks
With bramble scratches
Carried from Scilly seascapes
Beacons for the horseflies of France.
And now I look at these drawn heart-shaped leaves
See the sharp black teeth shaped
Of petals and stalks
In these cold days of love and hate
With war lapping against the borders
War filling the airwaves
And wish for the return of those calm, blue skies
And yellow flowering fields.
——
Sunflowers for Ukraine – Item Details
- This item is a preorder and will be dispatched week beginning 21st March 2022.
- £205 of which £200 will go to DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
- Soft-ground etching and drypoint
- Plate size 18.5 x 12cm
- Paper size 22 x 17cm
- Signed and hand-numbered edition of 50
- Unframed