Record-setting artist gets extreme

BY WENDY SMITH

He set a Guinness world record, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity, and now, artist Eric Waugh is painting his way to primetime.

This Sunday, the Dollard des Ormeaux resident will wield his brush and help make dreams come true on the two-hour tearjerker finale of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

The popular reality television show, which builds dream homes for needy families during a seven-day production cycle, is a natural fit for the altruistic artist.

More than $600,000 of the money Waugh has raised over the past 12 years has benefited Camp Heartland, a summer camp for children with HIV and AIDS.

So when the producers of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition chose Camp Heartland to wrap up the show’s fourth season, the camp’s administrators telephoned Waugh and asked if he would do something for the episode.

Waugh, who had wanted to contribute to the show for three years, immediately agreed.

He packed up his gear and drove to the campsite, an hour and a half south of Albany, New York. Over the next four days, he got about four hours of sleep. “Sometimes when you watch the show, you find it a little over-the-top. But when you’re involved, you can’t help but want to be over-the-top,” he said, adding that he was completely “engulfed” by the on-set vibe. “The place was teeming with camaraderie.”

The evening before the official “reveal” of the brand-new camp, 300 volunteers, campers and their families gathered around a campfire to trade stories about what Camp Heartland meant to them. Singer Mandy Moore made a surprise appearance. “It was such an emotional time,” Waugh recalled. “Camp Heartland was a life-altering experience for so many of them.”

The fruit of Waugh’s labour was “The Four Seasons of Fun,” a 12-foot by 36-foot mural for the camp’s new recreation centre. “Other than my wedding day and the birth of my children, they were the four most exciting days of my life,” Waugh said of his time on the show.

And there has been no shortage of exciting moments in Waugh’s 20-year career. In 2001, he set a Guinness World Record for the largest painting by a single artist. He has done “live painting” performances to the musical accompaniment of artists like Tony Bennett and Nelly Furtado and raised thousands of dollars for charities including the Starlight Children’s Foundation, The American Cancer Society, and UNICEF. “Out of all the charities I work with, [Camp Heartland] is closest to my heart,” said the husband and father of three.

The producers of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition have already invited Waugh to contribute to future episodes. In the meantime, he has numerous charity gigs lined up. On June 9, he’ll be painting live at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC for The Larry King Cardiac Foundation Fundraising Gala. Regis Philbin will be auctioning off Waugh’s paintings.

The season finale of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs on ABC Sunday, May 20 at 7 p.m./6C. Check your local listing for time of broadcast.

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