People do strange things to relax. My friend Leslie knits and watches John Wayne movies. Another friend, Jessica, cooks bread (she says the kneading process lowers her blood pressure). Johnny relaxes by building things out of wood. I like to paint medieval-style illuminated manuscripts. I know, it’s an unusual hobby, but the hyper-repetitive nature of the work (repeating a tiny design over and over) and the miniature detailing of pinkie-sized figures puts me in a calm place.

How I got started on that in the first place is a long and arduous story, so I’ll spare you the details. I’d rather tell you about my latest project. It’s bread pudding. Or at least the recipe for it, taken from a 14th century English recipe book. I made it into an art piece for the silent auction at the Empty Bowls event this coming Sunday. I did the calligraphy in the “black hand” Gothic style and illustrated it with miniature scenes of medieval folk preparing the pudding (making the wine, collecting the eggs, threshing the wheat, etc.).

Johnny made an auction item, too, a framed mirror crafted out of salvaged wood that he gleaned from this area — oak from the old bookshelves in the UWG library, a broken mahogany chair that he got from cousin Abby’s antique store, and pine from an old door that he found at the dump. It’s a piece constructed out of west Georgia history.

There are lots of artists that are contributing work to the silent auction. Randy Ayers has donated some beautiful raiku pottery — a feast of turquoise and copper. Seth Fitts will be offering one of his wonderful mystical landscapes. Carol Boyd made some adorable felt baby booties and Debra Cobia is giving a stunning labradoite, jasper and sterling silver necklace. Sally Austin will be donating a beautiful art piece of fiber, wire and acrylic paints. And Don McWhorter is bringing a piece of his world-renown pottery.

In total, over 30 artists and craftsmen have donated their best work to feed their hungry neighbors.

These folks aren’t the only ones who’ve been crafty, getting ready for the big day. People all over our community have been making bowls in preparation. All year long, groups of Scouts, students, and churches have been making bowls — a thousand of them in total – that will help raise money for the soup kitchen. The bowls are a rainbow of colored glazes and range anywhere from simple pinch pots to complexly designed slab pots. The makers’ ages range from 5 to 85 and all of them have pitched in their creative gifts.

Why? We know our efforts are going to a good cause. The Carroll County Soup Kitchen serves more than 3,000 hot meals each month, often to elderly people on fixed incomes. And we all want to do what we can to make sure that continues.

If you haven’t ever been to the Empty Bowls event, consider joining us for lunch. For a minimum ten-dollar donation you get a handmade ceramic bowl, delicious soup and bread made by local restaurants and individuals, a live music show, and lots of elbow rubbing with local artists and like-minded individuals who also care about feeding the hungry in our community.

The music this year will have an international flavor. Lisdoonvarna (a Celtic band) will give us a lively start, and then David Pippin and his band offer a fiery treat of Spanish jazz guitar (I’ve heard them and let me tell you, they are exceptional). Sol Tree plays next with their original song stylings and the Central High Chorus finishes up the afternoon, sharing their young talent for our listening pleasure. It promises to be a musical treat.

If you come, please keep in mind, Empty Bowls is trying to be more “green” by requesting that we all bring a soup spoon, a cup for water, and a cloth napkin of our own to use at the event. This saves on paper products and saves on cost so that the money donated can be used directly at the soup kitchen. Also, carpool if you can.

The ninth annual Carroll County Empty Bowls event will be held on Sunday, Feb. 24, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Carroll County Ag Center at 900 Newnan Road. The silent auction closes at 2 p.m. For more information about the organization, you can check out their website at www.carrollcountyemptybowls.org.

About the illuminated manuscript page. I finally finished it. After 15 hours of glorious miniscule painting I’m done. How did it come out? I’ll let you be the judge. You can see it on my Facebook page (where I post all the minutia of my existence) or better yet, come and see it in person at the Empty Bowls event on Sunday.

Gentry, a Carroll County resident, writes a weekly column for the Times-Georgian.