PENNINGTON, N.J.- , Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of artists from around the world have united to raise tens of thousands of dollars in tsunami relief. Organized through WetCanvas.com, a global art community, over 400 works of art were created and donated to benefit tsunami victims.

"Artists everywhere feel compelled to reach out through their art and confront the overpowering anguish and incomprehensible loss the waves left in their wake," said WetCanvas! community leader Kerri Eustice. "Our contribution will soon surpass $15,000, and we hope to reach $20,000 by the end of February. We are so pleased that Dick Blick, the art supplier, generously donated $5,000 to UNICEF in matching funds as part of the project.

"We began the project on December 31 because artists desperately needed an outlet to express their support for the tsunami victims, but I never imagined the magnitude of the response that would follow in the next 5 weeks," Kerri says. Over 400 works of art were donated by artists from more than a dozen countries.

The artwork donated varies from depictions of a wall of water emerging from a calm sea to abstract interpretations of anguish and fear to candlelight vigils and expressions of hope. Reflecting the fact that over 50,000 victims of the tragedy were children, many of the works depict the young, from paintings of a child's eyes gazing into the tsunami to children desperately clutching their mother's hands.

"Much of the art put me in tears," Kerri notes. "But I am grateful that as artists we were able to express our sorrow over this tragedy and do our small part to lend a helping hand."