Tinley Collett, a 9-year-old from Magoffin County, started painting and working on honing her art skills last summer, but now she’s using what she’s learned and her God-given talents to raise money for some worthy charities, with her latest works up for auction right now!
Tinley, a third-grade student from Salyersville Grade School, said her grandmother, Angie Gillum, was telling her about what some commonly-known charities do and she had the idea to auction off some of her accumulating artworks to raise money for one of the organizations, first choosing St. Jude’s.
“Mimmy brought up a lot of different charities, but I just kept thinking about the kids with cancer that need help and all the kids that will need help, and felt like that would be a good first charity to help out,” Tinley said.
Gillum took photos of her artworks, with Tinley, her mom and grandmother deciding on the six pieces for the first auction, and she posted them on her Facebook page, accepting bids for a certain amount of time and the paintings going to the highest bidder. Tinley raised $190 with that first auction, and then decided to put in her own $10 from her birthday money to make an even $200 donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“It makes me feel happy that people were donating to charity for the kids with cancer and to know that people actually liked my paintings,” Tinley said.
While art is her favorite subject in school, she said she looks for inspiration by checking out YouTube painting tutorials and following a variety of them to develop her techniques and hone her style.
Acrylic paint is her favorite medium at the moment, though she dabbles in watercolors and sketches, preferring a somewhat realistic style with plenty of bright colors, focusing primarily on portraits, flowers and landscapes, and horses.
“Sometimes I watch the tutorial as I paint and sometimes I like to watch it first and then paint, and I choose colors based on those tutorials, or I like to use a lot of purple because it’s my favorite color,” Tinley explained, also noting that she wants to be self-taught.
With her first charity auction out of the way, Tinley has chosen the Magoffin County Animal Shelter as the next organization to raise funds for, with her pieces online now (search Angie Gillum on Facebook to see the public post and it will also be pinned on the Salyersville Independent Facebook page) and the bidding open through Saturday, April 22.
Tinley told the Independent her goal is to raise $240, which would sponsor the adoption of four dogs and one cat from the Magoffin County Animal Shelter.
Within the first three days, she had raised $220, with her grandmother stating there are at least 16 dogs at the shelter.
“Some of the animals have been there for weeks and need to find forever homes,” Gillum said in a post update. “I’m hopeful she can reach and even exceed her goal.”
Tinley, who will be the first to tell you she loves animals, growing up getting to see her neighbor’s horses and having a dog, cats, a fish and even ducks of her own, said this charity made most sense.
“The shelter is completely full right now, so I’m hoping this will help those dogs find good homes,” Tinley said.
The seven paintings up for auction currently are an array of subject matters, with “For God So Loved the World” depicting Jesus carrying the cross, as well as paintings of flowers, a tree full of cherry blossoms, some sweet treats, and even one featuring her handprint.
“It makes me happy to be able to give to charity and I hope people notice my name in the corner and see who’s done [the painting] and the realism in it,” Tinley said.
While most of her art pieces may be up for grabs in a future charity auction, Tinley said there are certain paintings her mom won’t let her sell.
“She wants to keep some of them and says all the time she wants to make a wall of my art,” Tinley said.
Tinley is the daughter of Steven and Lyndsay Collett.
Be sure to read the Salyersville Independent and follow us on Facebook for updates on Tinley’s future charity auctions. We at the SI can’t wait to see where she goes from here!
