Creating Art, Celebrating Life!
Mission Statement
Painting for Life is dedicated to illuminating the richest joys and truths about living. We value life and strive to showcase this through our art. We also paint for life, as we will be artists until the day that we die. Finally, we paint for The Way, The Truth, and The Life, as we dedicate all of our work to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gives us Life, as well as the gifts that we share with you.
History
Painting for Life® was founded on July 16, 2004 by husband and wife artists Benjamin Hummel and Cherish Flieder Hummel after a successful fine art show where attendees were looking for more options to purchase art creations in addition to the originals. The brand was born! They started offering their art images on greeting cards, journals, and "artist prints" but were especially successful with a series of archival quality, signed, and numbered giclee prints as well as corporate Christmas cards and custom wedding invitations.
Both of their work can be enjoyed in the collections at Painting for Life. Benjamin, suffers from chronic and debilitating illness, frequently resulting in pain. Painting allows him to deal with his illness and to focus on the blessings of life. Cherish grew up helping her parents raise special needs foster children, and the tender innocence of childhood can be observed through her work.
Watch Benjamin's animated video below to learn more about his liver transplants.
For more videos, subscribe to the Painting for Life® YouTube Channel
About the Artists
Benjamin Hummel has many passions. These passions find their way as themes into his fine art (incidentally, also a passion). As a native of Colorado, these include ideas of the romantic west, as well as baseball, the great outdoors, and the innocence of childhood. Outside of painting fine art to put on gift products and to sell in gallery showings and events, Benjamin’s other great passion includes teaching. He currently teaches at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and has started writing instructional books on drawing, illustration, and picture making. His first book is all about learning how to draw folds and is available on this very site!
When he is not teaching, Benjamin’s other full time job is that of an illustrator. He has illustrated for numerous children’s books, YA chapter books, magazines, textbooks, and interactive animations for presentations and websites. You can see his robust illustration portfolio at HummelIllustrations.com.
But Benjamin’s story is in his struggle. He was born with a very aggressive auto-immune disorder eventually diagnosed as IBD-PSC. Since six, he has had hundreds of hospital stays. By the time he was 15, he received two liver transplants. Even now, his struggle continues as the doctors battle as treatments fail over time and new therapies are required. Benjamin deals with all of the other emotions anybody else would, but he is determined that through these challenges, he will do what he can to live with a Supernatural Joy and to make every good moment he has on this earth count. There are moments of pure pain, but his Faith in Christ carries him through. He has become an inspiration to many, as he battles every day with a smile on his face, making beautiful creations that the world can enjoy. He documents his struggles visually in illustrations and animations on his personal Instagram account (@hummelillustration) using the hashtag #autoimmunediseasessuck.
As you can imagine, medical expenses can be overwhelming. Any print, gallery bin item, original, or gift product that is sold goes a long way to help offset these costs. Your support is very much appreciated.
Cherish Flieder is a licensed illustrator and designer whose work explores a variety of visual themes with a touch of optimistic realism and playful whimsy. She licenses her art brand Something to Cherish® to a variety of manufacturers and her creative patterns and designs have been seen on ribbons, handbags, greeting cards and washi tape. Her work has been featured in international art licensing magazines Total Art Licensing and Art Buyer. Check out her work and follow her design blog at SomethingToCherish.com.