Sketch by "Lilly" and Painting by Her Aunt "Nada"
♫ On Wednesday, Nov. 12, many of you may have read a guestbook message from Lilly, in Australia:
Dear Friends of Andre,
My name is Lilly and I am writing this on behalf of my 84 year old aunt, a talented artist. She painted a lovely portrait of Andre, and would love to send it to him. Reason being is, she lost her only daughter in May from cancer, and Mr. Rieu and his music made my cousin’s final days easier to take. Is there some way we can send our heartfelt thanks and artwork to this dear man?
Thank you for your time reading this email.
Sincerely yours, Lilly Antoneavic
♫ We wrote back giving her the address that has been listed on André’s website. We passed along a suggestion that they try to give the artwork to Andre at the concerts, rather than mailing it. We also indicated that we would also like to see the pictures if they wouldn’t mind sharing them with the fans.The story continues …
Huge thank you for your kindness to my request. I was at Mr. Rieu’s concert last night here in Melbourne/Australia and I was in heaven all night. Of course you can have the Digital Pictures of the paintings and my small humble drawing. My aunt is going to his concert tonight Friday 14th and she is hoping to somehow hand the artwork to him. If she fails, then we will send it to Mr. Rieu by snail mail, lol. I was sitting extremely near the stage, I think my Aunt will be able to give Andre the art tonight, Friday November 14Th.
♫ She then sent us digital copies of the artwork, and wrote:
I am glad you like the artwork. Yes, I used a small picture of Andre my friend emailed to me so I can Draw and Paint him. Now that I have discovered the websites, I will have lots of samples from where I can draw and paint this handsome dear man, of course I will ask permission if I wish to paint from YOUR SITE. I also bought a BOOK about Andre and there are lots of nice photos from which I can indulge my passion for portraiture. Both my aunt and I are Portrait Artists.
♫ We told her we would wait until after the Friday concert to post the pictures at the slight chance they would be successful in their presentation. After all, André should be the first to see it, before the public. The next morning, here is her gleeful message!
I AM SO EXCITED! WE HANDED ANDRE OUR ARTWORK OF HIM, HE PERSONALLY TOOK IT FROM OUR HANDS AS WE SURGED THE STAGE AT INTERVAL ETC. I CAN’T BELIEVE IT I AM SO HAPPY I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW, LOL. I HOPE HE LOOKS AT THE ART MY AUNT AND I DID FOR HIM WE LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND BESIDES HIS MUSIC GAVE OUR LOVED ONE SO MUCH JOY DAYS BEFORE SHE DIED IN MAY 28TH 2008 OF CANCER. SHE WAS MY LOVING COUSIN RACHEL, AND SHE WAS ABOUT SAME AGE AS I AM. AGAIN HUGE THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING AND PLEASE YES UPLOAD OUR ART ON THE WEBSITE. HUGS TO YOU AND ALL ANDRE FANS FROM, LILLY AND CATS AND MRS DANON MY DEAR AUNT.
If you would like to see some of the other work Lilly has done, you can go to: http://www.redbubble.com/people/siamesecat
Thank You to Chris T. for the work she did to bring this little story to us!
