NANAIMO -- Andrea Thomas of Nanaimo has recently painted several pieces of art that relate to the ongoing pandemic, and she is now auctioning them all off to raise money for local charities.

She got the idea to create COVID-19 themed paintings as a form of therapy to make her feel less alone when she had to quarantine herself after coming down with symptoms of the virus in mid-March.

“Once I started to feel a little bit better, I had to be home anyway,” said Thomas. “I couldn’t even go out to get groceries, so I thought, well, I may as well get painting and keep myself sane.”

The art-enthusiast turned her dining room into an art studio and started with a heart painting, which was inspired by the Hearts in the Window movement.

Thomas has done 12 paintings altogether, and each one took about a day to create.

The 16x20 paintings are all currently up for auction online and the money raised will go to the Community Response Fund setup through the Nanaimo Foundation.

The response fund is setup to help various local charities in Nanaimo that are dealing with COVID-19 related struggles.

The starting bid for each painting is set at $200 and will go up in $25 increments.

The online auction goes till May 15th. The paintings and auction can be viewed online here.

Further information about the Nanaimo Foundation and Andrea Thomas can be found online here.