Inspiration

Here is a new print just added to my shop.
You'll recognize him as O'Malley - the hero of
my last post.

The first picture is his "baby" picture.
Taken a month after he moved in with us.

Title: - "I Was A Wild Boy"





In the second picture, he is all grown up.
He is my daily inspiration and one of the reasons that we started volunteering at the pound.


When I look at his first picture (see the skinny little kitten on the tire - below) and then I look at him now - healthy, sleek, confident (well fed) it's feel really great to know that I kept my promises to him. He's kept all of his too!

Title: "One of The Lucky Ones"

.....the Rest of the Story

.....and here he is today!

When I was finally able to get close enough to touch him - he absolutely freaked out. I don't think he had ever experienced human touch. He hid behind that dumpster and wouldn't come out for the next couple of days. I just kept on talking away to him when I put out the food (and he kept on eating it after I left!!!!)

But he was a very curious little kitty and pretty soon he was eating out of my hand. We brought him home and it didn't take long for him to fill out. He soon became my shadow and now he follows me from room to room. One of his endearing personality traits - he really studies you - just look into those golden eyes!!!!

O'Malley the Alley Cat

I am sitting here at the computer tonight with my wild boy O'Malley curled up on my lap - purring his little heart out. There is a storm outside - cold rain, booming thunder, flashing lightning but he knows that he's safe and warm inside with me. He didn't always have it so good -

O'Malley the Alley Cat is one of our rescue pets. He's lived with us for about 3 years. We discovered him when he was 6 to 7 weeks old - living out of the dumpster and scrap tires behind the business complex.

He was terrified of human beings. Every day at 4 o'clock - I would go out to feed him. The first couple of days, he would not come out into the open. But eventually he began to get used to me. I would talk to him and promise him that he would have a good home and that all kittens deserve to have full tummies and lots of toys to play with. Every day, I would put the food bowl closer to where I stood. It took two weeks to get close enough to touch him. I'll finish the rest of the story tomorrow.........................

Funny Face

This silly little cat is one of the new residents at the shelter. Even though we live in Arizona, it is still winter here - cold and damp - the shelter continually needs donations of blankets and animal beds to help provide some comfort against the chill. I can only imagine what it must be like in other parts of the country where you are going through snow and ice and wind chill factors that make my teeth chatter.

If you have extra blankets, towels, rugs....... please consider donating them to your local shelters to help the animals through the cold.

If you live in the Mesa,Tempe,Gilbert area - we are accepting donation drop offs at our business - just send me an email for directions.

Celebrating a Victory!!!!

"The Rescue of Lady Gwen"

Here is our latest print celebrating a great victory - it is now listed in our etsy shop - http://pawprintsproject.etsy.com- our thanks to the wonderful person that adopted this sweet girl. You're awesome! Read her story below....

Lady Gwen Is Rescued

A couple of weeks ago, Matt & I took a photo of this incredibly sweet and gentle dog in the pound. She had been picked up as a stray and was awaiting her fate at the shelter.

We named her Lady Gwen and posted her picture on the county adoption website and also on a great site http://dogsindanger.com/- when you have time, please explore this website. They are doing an awesome job.

I was checking out the pets section on our local Craigslist this week and this headline pops out - "Lady Gwen only has until Friday to live!" It was her. The posting said that she had developed kennel cough and was scheduled to be euthanized on Friday unless she was adopted. My heart just broke, I said a prayer for her - she deserved so much more than life had offered so far. Later in the day, I checked on her and found that she had been adopted! Matt & I were thrilled, relieved and encouraged by the news. Never let go of hope!!

Something New to Learn

The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity - learning new things, juggling projects but it is finally all starting to come together. This new blog in another piece of the puzzle and I hope that it will be a good way to help spread the word about our project.

My husband, Matt & I have been volunteering at our local animal shelter - it is the second largest animal shelter in the country. They take in over 50,000 homeless dogs & cats each year. The work is endless, the need for help is tremendous and we applaud the employees there for their dedication and commitment to these animals.

We have been helping by taking pictures of the adoptable cats and dogs. The pictures are then posted on the county website http://maricopa.gov/pets in the hopes of finding homes for them. And yes, it is hard to not take them all home - some of them really touch your heart. Like the little yellow cat that stood up and wrapped his paws around my neck and didn't want to let go. Please take a look - you may just find a special friend there.

These animal portraits were amazing and I began to work with them to turn them into artwork. I use my digital paintbrush to create pop art prints of these shelter animals. In January, Matt & I opened up a shop on http://pawprintsproject.etsy.com/ offering limited edition prints. Etsy is a wonderful website offering artwork and handmade items from artists and craftspeople all over the world. Please take a look at all the incredible work at http://etsy.com/

We named our shop - The Paw Prints Project and are donating 10% of all sales to the Maricopa County Animal Shelter to help provide comfort and support to the homeless animals.

We'd like to share our tales from the pound and hope that you'll check back often. We'll be posting new stories and offering new artwork every week.