Prisoner's Work Brings $850 At The Relief Sale

"Innkeeper House With Lean-to Manger" is the third creation Brubaker has donated for the annual Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale, hand crafted from assorted material available inside the Dillwyn Correctional Center.

Here's his written description, a copy of which is shown in the photo above:

It's hard to believe another year has passed and the 2024 Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale auction date has arrived. The creation before you is my contribution to the Lord's work this year. I worked on this project over a period of five months and have put in more than 800 hours of my artistic focus in it, averaging at least six hours a day.

I began crafting nearly four years ago about the time the Covid 19 pandemic hit. The changes it brought to my life's normal routines at that time created a need for releasing my restless, unutilized energy.

Along with this purpose, over the last four years I have also discovered that while I am working on my annual project the process is a great way to share my faith and trust in the Lord as the men around me are drawn to the scene that depicts our Savior's birth, as did last year's project portraying Christ's sacrifice on the cross and the events of Easter weekend. The entire process from start to finish seems to be the most effective way, within my circumstances, to share the gospel with the men I live amongst who desperately need a Savior to transform their lives.

I must acknowledge the many sojourners who make it possible for me to have the means to express my faith in the manner that is before you. It is because of them that I have the means to create the Nativity scene that is my tithe for the year, my sacrifice of time to express my gratitude to the Lord for the gift it is to live under his banner of love, protection and provision in my circumstances.

This year's project consists of the items below, purchased or repurposed, sometimes both. The main substrate for all my creations is the thin cardboard backing that comes on the back of a legal sized paper tablet, 50 sheets of college ruled paper or sketch paper. I purchased more paper than I can use personally and gave it to others in need just so I can craft with the cardboard backs. This year I also salvaged a worn out Scrabble game (destined for the trash) with permission from a staff member and used the letter tiles on the surface of the roof. I also utilized some of the cardboard from the box and the board game, as well as the following:

    2 boxes of craft sticks, roughly 1000 in each box
    60 pink beveled erasers split into 15 stone pieces each
    10 pencils scraped, boiled and split in two for trim
    9 4-oz bottles of Elmer's Glue
    2 containers of cornstarch-based shower powder that is in the figurine plaster, along with sand and Elmers Glue
    1 bottle of Kiwi Brown shoe polish, the liquid used to stain the wood
    20 paper tablet cardboard  pads
    1 sheet of 15" x 20" 140 lb. watercolor artist's paper, the bottom footprint of the build that kept it relatively square
    Acrylic paints, mostly flat black on the bottom of the building
    3 2" length fingernail clippers that were broken by use with which to cut the sticks to length
    Grass makes up the hay bales which are tied with some heavy thread from a worn out cloth belt. This same thread was braided to make the larger animal's tails.
    1 bedroll of the donkey's saddlebag is made out of a clean but aged cloth with some paint applied to the bedroll for a colored pattern, perhaps Jewish in style.
    The stall hinges and the bottom pads on the build are faux leather from an eyeglasses protector I no longer needed.

I must thank the staff here at DWCC for the privilege of purchasing materials necessary for this experience. It is my hope that all the creations here today will honor the God we serve, the one who has given each of us unique talents and ways of expressing them.

Sincerely, B Brubaker