Well we did it! The Art Auction and Pet Adoption event was a lot of fun and all of the paintings sold! In case you haven't been following the story, last year I decided that I was going to paint a portrait of 12 dogs and cats from our local animal shelter, HELP the Animals, Inc. Then we'd have an event to auction off the artwork and donate the proceeds to the shelter. I had planned to do one or two paintings a month starting last January so that I wouldn't be too rushed by the time the auction came around, that plan so didn't happen. I got busy with other projects and before I knew it, July was here and only 1 painting was done! So with the help of my partner Julie doing extra things around the house and running errands, also having understanding and very patient art collectors agreeing to wait for their own pieces to be painted (a special thank you goes to Don, Mariah, Anita, Tracy and my Aunt Anne), I had the time to paint the portraits. Blank canvases quickly began springing to life with bold and vibrant colors, then taking form were my amazing subjects. Duke, Pete, Willy, Ace, Cameo, Finnigan, Tobias, Rusty, Pumkin, Emma, Lucy Lu and Kelsea each now have a 16" x 20" portrait of their beautiful, furry faces on collectors walls. Making special appearances and up for adoption were a few of HELP the Animals dogs including Tobias and Rusty! Unfortunately no dogs were adopted but they did have a fun night out getting their pictures taken so that's a bonus! All in all we raised $1400.00 for the shelter. As this event gets bigger and more people know about it I'm sure the amount raised each year will only grow. At least I hope so otherwise we'll have to take the auction online where I know more money will be raised for this great cause.
The people who work and volunteer at the shelter are truly amazing people. So many give of their time and the work is hard and seemingly never ending. I have a lot of respect for those who work with animals, because without these big-hearted people the animals who rely on them wouldn't have a chance.
I talked to a lot of people at the show who were there to either see what the show was all about, to bid on the paintings or to ask about personal commissions. A couple of people who did win the bids on two paintings were actually art teachers. I found that to be incredibly cool! One is a teacher here in Richmond and the other is a teacher in nearby Centerville. They each had specific reasons for buying a painting. The Richmond teacher (whose name I didn't get) wanted the painting of Willy because her class had actually sponsored his adoption fee. So knowing that all those kids chipped in enough money to help Willy, will now be able to see his painting every day in their classroom is heartwarming. The other teacher in Centerville, (her name is Joy), well she bought the painting of Rusty. She's currently teaching her kids color theory and she's going to use my painting to help show them how it works. How awesome is that?! So here's a picture of me with Rusty and the painting and also me with Tobias and his painting. Plus the people who helped to make it all happen. Oh, and that's the beautiful Adele with the pink ruffles!
