Reena Ahluwalia painting to support African miners

A hyper-realistic tanzanite painting by Toronto-based jewellery designer and artist Reena Ahluwalia is set take centre stage at an upcoming charity raffle.

Valued at $6000, the custom-made, hand-painted canvas was donated by Ahluwalia to Roger Dery of Roger Dery Gem Design in celebration of his 40 years in business and 40 trips to Africa. All proceeds from the raffle will be gifted to Gem Legacy, a non-profit organization dedicated to children, education, and entrepreneurship initiatives in East African coloured gemstone mining communities.

Specifically, the funds will support the group’s ‘Miner Toolkit’ initiative, which provides artisanal miners with the tools needed to ensure safe and effective mining.

“My 40 years in the gem business have been my hobby, my job, and my ministry, and I am excited to give back to the industry that has given so much to me,” Dery says. “Miners are my heroes—they spend their lives mining the gems I am honoured to facet. This is my tribute back to them: to put the right mining tools in their hands to ensure their mining is safe and successful.”

Ahluwalia’s circular, curved-edge painting depicts a tanzanite Dery faceted in his ‘signature round’ design.

“When Roger reached out to me to create a custom painting and shared the impact of Gem Legacy, I immediately got onboard,” Ahluwalia says. “I always strive to create art that can touch people’s lives positively and make a tangible difference. I am honoured my ‘Gem Legacy’ painting is able to contribute toward raising funds.”

In addition to the hand-painted canvas, two limited edition museum-quality canvas prints (valued at $800 each) will be available as second- and third-place prizes.

The raffle runs Oct. 1 to 18. To enter, click here.

To view the process of creating the painting, check out the video below, courtesy Reena Ahluwalia.