Artist Barbara Burnaby will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her work to the Donna Langley Jeffrey Fund of the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council. -Submitted photo

The art of "Newfoundland Wild," being exhibited at the Polyanna Art and Antique Gallery until Nov. 20, is being sold in support of the Donna Langley Jeffrey Fund of the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council.

The sale is the first such fundraiser assisted by the gallery (located at 214 Duckworth St.), according to owner Dick Green.

The idea came from Barbara Burnaby, the artist whose work is featured in the show.

"It is working out well," said Green of the show's success to date. He has previously shown Burnaby's work and said he had personally eyed one of the current show's paintings, titled "Trinity Reflections," but it was sold during the opening night.

That does not mean he has written off something for his own collection. There are 23 pieces in the show, said Green. Whether painting or a printed fabric quilt or jacket, they all capture the theme of "Newfoundland Wild."

"There's 'Mary's Garden' and that one is fantastic," he said of one painting, explaining 'Mary' is Burnaby's next-door neighbour Mary Pratt.

Yet, while her work may be inspired by something as close as next door, Burnaby said she has seen and been inspired by locations discovered across the island in her provincial travels, including travels as a Tidy Towns competition judge this past summer.

"The rocks here are gorgeous and so are the colours at every time of year, in the wild smaller plants that grow," said Burnaby, who is originally from Toronto.

"I take a lot of photographs and they're available to me then when I think of starting something new," she said.

"Sometimes I work outdoors, but we don't have the weather for that too often."

While she thinks ahead for her painting and prints and has been featured in local gallery shows,

Burnaby said her work in visual art is still "for fun."

Day-to-day, she is busy volunteering full-time with the Refugee Immigrant and Advisory Council and the Coalition on Richer Diversity. She has been a volunteer since 2004/2005.

"But my whole career had been working with immigrants," said Burnaby, who moved to Newfoundland from Toronto in 2000.

Burnaby was asked why she would volunteer so much of her time and why she would provide her artistic works for a fundraiser.

The answer, said Burnaby, is in what the organization means to refugees, who have come to Newfoundland from countries such as Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Burundi and the Sudan.

"There's so much that people have to adjust to," said Burnaby. "And if they've come from really traumatized situations, they've got their whole lives to put back together."

The council assists non-government-sponsored refugees (often sponsored by church groups) in completing the paperwork-filled immigration process and helps them find their place in a new country.

The council then introduces refugees to programs provided by the Association for New Canadians.

It also provides crisis intervention and counseling, family reunifications, translation services and job skills assessments.

Not all of the proceeds of the Polyanna art fundraiser will go to the fund. "We do have to cover the costs (of the show)," Burnaby said. "(But,) it's well more than half goes to the fund."

The Barbara Burnaby exhibition at Polyanna Art and Antique Gallery continues until Friday.

Anyone unable to make it to the show but still inter-ested in donating to the fund, can donate at the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council website (http://riac.ca/).

afitzpatrick@thetelegram.com