Last Saturday evening, the Delaware County Humane Society (http://www.hsdcohio.org) held their annual fundraiser, the Fur Ball, at the Medallion Club in Westerville. I was honored to have a portrait commission offered at their live auction. It is my understanding that it made a healthy amount of $$$ for the humane society, which makes me very happy. Some very nice and thoughtful portrait customers of mine made the experience remarkably easy for me by doing all the legwork and setup and using their own portraits as samples. All I had to do was say, "Okay," and it was done, which was great because I am swept up in the chaos of details that happens when you are preparing to put your life on hold for a little while, as I am preparing for some major surgery soon. If that is what it feels like to delegate, I like it! They and the folks from the humane society did a great job with the display, and I appreciate their efforts! I also appreciate the bidding that took place, and many thanks to the winning bidder. I look forward to creating a really special portrait for you!

Thanks for the photo Jason!

If you're looking for something to do this Saturday (Nov. 1) and you like the idea of possibly winning a basket stuffed with fun things for dog lovers, including a mini portrait of your dog painted by me, then you should come to the holiday bazaar at the Westerville Community United Church of Christ  between 9 am and 3 pm. They have dozens of vendors selling handmade goods, a bake sale, a raffle of amazing baskets, kids photos with Santa, and lunch. It costs $2 to get in, but you get a raffle ticket for the basket of your choice for that, plus you can buy more raffle tickets for (I think) a buck apiece. Show up between noon and 2 pm, and I'll be working the door to take your admission and urge you to spend generously on raffle tickets. Here's a link to the website that has all the info:
www.westervillecucc.org. I hope you'll think about stopping by! 

First of all, thanks to everyone who stopped by in Worthington at the Market Day event. I would like to order that weather for every other outside festival I participate in from now through infinity. Perfect! It was a great day all the way around.

Next, I want to show you the necklace I donated to the Central Ohio Greyhound Rescue organization. Their fundraiser is today, and they have a reunion picnic and silent auction to raise $$$ so they can keep finding homes for these beautiful dogs. You can find information about the event and rescued greyhounds at their website:  www.centralohiogreyhound.org. Even though the event is a "reunion picnic," I doubt that you are required to have adopted one to stop by the event and meet some of the awesome pooches and maybe lay some dollars down at the silent auction, or just make a little donation.

Not only are greyhounds awesome because they are beautiful, gentle dogs, but they have a universal blood type, so they are very desirable blood donors. That's right, a greyhound may save your dog's life someday, if your dog ever needs a blood transfusion due to an accident or surgery or some other nightmare. When I was taking Sophie to Ohio State for her radiation treatments, we were there every day for a number of weeks. On Fridays, the waiting room was always loaded with greyhounds. It's not surprising to see greyhounds in the waiting room on any day, because OSU has on ongoing project studying greyhounds, but Fridays are blood donation days, and there are lots of greyhounds doing their part for the canine blood bank. So, I think it's a good thing to support greyhounds even if you don't have one. They take a lot of misuse from people (racing), and give a lot of goodness back (blood donation), so these dogs, and the people who rescue them are really special. Thanks to all of you (both human and canine) for all you do!

Here's the necklace:

I hope you'll go bid on it. If you miss the bid and still want one, I'm happy to make one just for you. And I would even make a donation to the Central Ohio Greyhound Organization for each one ordered before the end of October. Go greyhounds!

Have you ever wanted a portrait of your pet, but didn't feel like paying more than a couple dollars for it? Saturday, November 2, could be your lucky day. Here's what you do: Go to the Holly Day Bazaar at the Westerville Community United Church of Christ between 9 AM and 3 PM. You'll pay $2 at the door to get in, and you will be given a raffle ticket. Take your raffle ticket and find the baskets that are being raffled. Look for the Dog Lover basket--you can't miss it--it's huge and it's filled with all kinds of things you and your dog will like (Teddy-tested and Maggie-approved) including--ta da!--a little matted deal-i-o that entitles you to redeem it for a framed and matted  9" by 12" commissioned portrait or your pet (doesn't even have to be a dog). If you want a larger portrait, I'll let you apply your portrait prize (that's $175) toward a bigger picture. Want a better chance at winning? Then dig deep, go crazy, buy a bunch of additional tickets, and stuff the box. I bet there'll be a bunch of other awesome raffle baskets, too, so you'll want a few tickets to toss around. After you finish admiring the raffle baskets, go ahead and find something to eat, because you've earned it and there'll be lots of food opportunities awaiting you. This church knows how to feed people. Besides, you need to fuel up for the shopping frenzy that awaits you. Lots of vendors of hand made goods--and Christmas is less than two months away. You need this shopping opportunity. How do you find this place? It's at the corner of County Line Road and Spring Road in Westerville. Here's a link to some more information:  http://www.westervillecucc.org/upcoming-events. I hope you check it out!

Last Saturday, Canine Companions for Independence hosted Dogfest. I made the 'triever and bone necklace for them to raffle or auction off during their fundraiser. I hope it arrived in time....I wrote down that they needed the item by the 12th of October, but the little secretary in my brain kept telling me that the event wasn't until the end of the month, like the 20th-something. Ugh. I think it made it, but it was unintentionally right up to the wire. Sorry CCI--didn't mean to take you right to the edge. 

Also last Saturday, I participated as a judge for a pet parade at Sunrise Senior Living in Bexley. What a delightful bunch of pets, and what a nice group of people. 

When they called to invite me to participate, they explained that they are a totally pet-friendly residence. The senior residents are allowed to keep a pet, the facility has three resident pets, family members are encouraged to bring pets to visit, and it's a pet-friendly workplace for employees who want to bring their pet to work. You can't get much better than that, can you? I was so impressed by the way they recognized the value of pets in the lives of their residents that I was really happy to go and be a part of their event, and I'm so glad I did.

There were several participating pets, all of which were adorable and well-behaved and well-socialized. They were all winners!

This sweet guy is Chucky, and he is the official resident dog (and, for last Saturday, the town sheriff). He stole my heart with his calm and affectionate greeting as soon as we walked in to the building. What I did not realize upon meeting him was that he is blind. The vet who tends to Chucky was one of the other judges, and he told us that about six months ago, Chucky lost his vision when his retinas detached. (He also told us another story about Chuck that had to do with his propensity to steal food from the residents' rooms when he was on a restrictive diet. Turns out that not everything he stole and ate was actually food. I won't go into detail, but dogs will be dogs, and I love you anyway, Chucky.) Chucky started out as a pilot dog-in-training (the other judge was from Pilot Dogs--so cool!) but was a little too laid back for a career as a guide dog, so he was adopted by a senior resident at Sunrise. When that resident passed away, Chucky stayed on as the resident dog, and he's perfect for the job. I think he found his true calling. 

Just a quick note about an upcoming event... the Wedgewood Holiday Boutique...I am a participating vendor this year. It takes place at the Wedgewood Country Club in Powell on Thursday, October 24 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. There is a $10 admission fee, which goes to support People in Need of Delaware County and buys you access to over 40 vendors, a generous table of hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar. So, give a little, nosh a little, and shop a lot! Check out the flyer below:

Did you know that we have a premier facility for training assistance dogs right here in central Ohio?  We do! Canine Companions for Independence has a regional facility in Delaware, Ohio. They're having a fundraiser in October, and I'm sending this cute little guy to represent Two Dog Studio and raise a little cash for a really neat organization. Good people, good dogs. Good job!