When a tree taps you on the shoulder to request a favour, would you pretend not to hear or would you take action? That was the dilemma that tormented me for months before I took the leap of faith to create The Sacred Lives of Trees. Their request was this, to provide the opportunity and space for people to express gratitude for the healing and wisdom of trees.

I exhausted all my excuses, it would take a lot of time, I would have to fund myself during that period and what if I failed to grab peoples attention? I was just at the start of my artist life and not many people knew about that about me at the time. I was very good at talking myself out things that seemed risky but that was the 'old' me and I had made a promise to myself that I was going to make my life matter. I surreendered to the trees and took a mighty leap of faith.

My goal, to make a collection of paintings (20 at first) honouring trees within three months and to get the conversation started. It was my most ambitious creative endeavour at that time. I would have to do something extra-ordinary to create awareness for my exhibition launch to avoid all my efforts falling flat.

Expecting the universe to supply support for my project seemed like a gigantic ask. My intuition had been growing stronger in the previous two years and I had grasped, without hesitation, opportunities that had come my way and grew in confidence each time. But this nudging from the trees seemed like a more dangerous dare and here I am telling you about how it all turned out.

In an ideal world, I'd have shown enough talent to attract a wealthy patron so as to spend my time exploring creative thought processes and techniques and creating to my hearts content. In my three month window I needed to get on with the work, funding myself, while I could, with my own savings. I just needed people to know my plan so as to guarentee some, any, support to ensure my efforts would be worthwhile.

I had an idea. What about using crowd-funding to create wider awareness of my exhibition, along with enlisting some financial buy-in? I did some research and decided to use the Fund it platform.

I set up the campaign to offer rewards that served as a pre-purchase of my art, with options for pledging small or larger amounts of funds. Could I really pull this off?

The three weeks of my Fund-it campaign were nerve-wrecking, exciting and amazing. If I didn’t reach the target by the end date, I would get none of the pledged funds. That was the deal. Even though creating awareness was my main reason for using Fund it, it was still important to reach the fund target.

Local radio stations, KCLR 96 FM and Arty Facts KFM, invited me on air to announce my campaign. This helped me to generate a lot of excitement on social media too. All eyes were on me now. There were sleepless nights and I had gigantic butterflies doing rollercoaster rides in my tummy most days.

The Alchemist Appeared

I had tremendous support throughout the campaign from sources I had not anticipated or even known previously. During a busy twitter networking hour, Digital Alchemist Trevor Lorkings, created a stir when he pledged design and supply of 500 promotional cards for my exhibition. These arrived within the week all the way from the UK.

I didn’t know Trevor prior to this. My message about trees and my authentic path had resonated with his own life journey and prompted him to support my campaign. I asked if I could share some of his story on my blog as a thank you and he agreed.

As a result of my article about Trevor, I secured another amazing sponsor. Brenda Bergin, Preneurs Global, contacted me to offer promotional sponsorship for my exhibition. In exchange she asked me to write an article about her cancer journey and how her dream of swimming with turtles in the Carribean, helped her to pull through it all. We had great fun weaving stories and networks together. Brenda put all her energy and enthusiasm into shouting out my show.

The momentum was building at every stage leading to the next level of support. Local author and marketing professional Lorna Sixsmith, The Irish Farmerette, got in touch to provide tips on how to improve my marketing message.

The very generous Teresa Mc Grath, Hypnotherapy Terenure, offered to make and supply the food for my launch night.

The Women’s Inspire Network, a popular twitter group, invited me to be their Star Biz on the last week of my campaign. Thanks to their support #ArtofCaroline trended at number 7 that night. I had supportive messages from all over the country including two celebrity TV Dragons.

A Successful Mission full of Suspense

On the eve of my Fund it target date, I couldn't sleep. With one hour to the deadline I needed €50 to reach the target. Just in time I received a notification to say that an anonymous donor had made the final contribution for that exact amount. It was such a relief, followed by a huge sense of gratitude and achievement.

Thanks to everyone who supported me, especially my 25 funders, I had some buy-in for my artwork, while the campaign itself had put a massive spotlight on my exhibiton and myself. It had been a daring but successful campaign, thrilling at times and definitely worth the effort and determination to make it work.

"I’m grateful to my funders, sponsors and every person who got involved to make this work."

Caroline Cunningham, Artist

The Sacred Lives of Trees honours trees for the contribution they provide for our wellbeing and healing, this collection is about gratitude.

Many of my tree paintings reside in homes around Ireland and beyond. There are a few remaining originals to choose from along with a selection of open and limited edition prints. Enliven your home or work space with colour and healing inspiration by choosing a piece today. Check out the full range in my online gallery. For query’s about your selection I’m here to help.