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When Kim Bartlett approached Arts YOUniverse executive director Kathleen Godwin about helping to raise money for a three-day breast-cancer awareness walk she and a friend are participating in this fall, Godwin hit upon a perfect idea.

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Hope is an ongoing theme in many of the paintings that will be on display tonight at Arts YOUniverse in Wilkes-Barre to raise money for breast-cancer research. This painting is by Jessica Bartlett.

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In the batik painting ‘Girl Power,’ Kim Biggs painted a woman hoisting the world above her head.

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She thought a “bosom” batik painting exhibit would be the ideal way to help raise money.

So Bartlett, of Wilkes-Barre, rounded up a group of friends, and instructor Gwen Harleman volunteered her time to teach the primitive art of batik, which involves the application of hot wax and dye to fabric in a series to achieve a desired effect.

“I said, ‘Just have fun with it, and you’ll see how beautiful it’ll be when it comes out,’ ” Harleman told the women as they painted during her workshop. Most had no experience with the art form.

Bartlett painted “Peggy’s Perfect,” a colorful depiction of a female torso with a sunflower painted where the breast should be. Despite the missing breast, “you’re still perfect” is what it means, Harleman said.

Others painted landscapes, and still others used colorful images to highlight the beauty of a woman’s breast – even if it had at one time or another been stricken with cancer.

The 22 pieces of art work produced will be showcased from 5 to 8 tonight at Arts YOUniverse, and all proceeds from the sales benefit the Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.

“It’s definitely a celebration of women and their bodies,” Harleman said.

Bartlett and her friend Paulette Pietrzykoski each have to raise $2,300 to participate in the walk in Philadelphia in October, so they turned to the downtown art group for help.

“We were the only two that were able to do it this year,” Pietrzykoski said of their group of friends, noting the high cost to participate. “But we’re getting our feet wet, and I think next year there’s going to be more of us.”

While Pietrzykoski has never been personally affected by breast cancer, Bartlett’s mother battled it, making it all that more important of a cause for the women to rally against.

Pietrzykoski’s painting, “Second Base,” shows a hand over a woman’s breast.

“If anything ever happened and I had to have a breast removed, I would miss that touch,” she said.

Most of the titles are creative, yet simple: “One More Day,” “Rays of Hope,” “Tree of Life,” “Amazon Women” and “Inspirational” are just some visitors can see – and buy for anywhere from $50 to $200 – tonight.

“Tapping into their creative energy is what we do here,” Harleman said, noting that titling the painting is best done by the artist, no matter how inexperienced. “For me to name pieces probably wouldn’t sound as fitting.”

Alyssa Getz of Pittston gave her work a simple title. “Inspirational,” she calls her painting of the word “inspiration” atop a batch of flowers.

“Hope,” by Jessica Bartlett, depicts a woman’s torso with the word “Hope” painted in the middle and stars in the spot where the breasts would be.

“Girl Power,” by Kim Biggs, shows a nude woman holding the Earth in her hands above her head, possibly meaning a woman can overcome breast cancer and still take on the world.

“Art is all interpretation,” Harleman said. “There are no mistakes in art. It’s just knowing what to frame.”

Then there’s “Emotional Journey,” by Ann DiGiovine of Bear Creek Township, in which a woman is doing yoga while the words “hope” and “courage” float above her body.

Harleman thinks the paintings represent an optimistic notion that “there is life after breast cancer,” she said.

If you go

What: Bosom Batik painting exhibit

Where: Arts YOUniverse, 47 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre

When: 5-8 tonight

More info: 970-3592