Blue dogs and green cats

I have been an artist since I was three. I am 58 years old so I have used my hands to create for a long time.
In October 2009 one of my closest friends asked me to paint her husband Gary's dog, Uncle Bob, for his birthday. Instantly I thought, "I wonder what color she wants him painted?" I had been thinking about George Rodrigue, an artist from New Iberia Louisiana that I used to watch paint in New Orleans. {more about George later}.
I painted a small oil of Uncle Bob on canvas. When Mary Anne tried to pay me I said, "Why don't you just donate something to the Animal Shelter in Bob or Gary's name. Our Shelter needed funds. She agreed and told some friends about it. Friends told friends. The movement has grown. I have reconnected with old friends after being away from Georgia for nearly 30 years, made new friends, stretched my painting abilities and have most importantly, taken care of animals.
I have recently agreed to paint animals for 100% donations until June 1,2011. After that I will have a set price and 10% will be donated to The Animal Shelter.
I still paint landscapes, still life's, and portraits that are for sale but this project was a little serendipity that fell out of the sky and into my lap.
I promised you a little story about George Rodrigue. George is the famous Cajun artist that created The Blue Dog. I lived in New Orleans for a long time, starting in 1972. I watched George grow as an artist as he first painted on the streets and then finally got a little studio in The French Quarter. I loved his little dog Tiffany that he described as his "loup garou". Loup Garou is an old cajun werewolf. It was always funny to me to thin of a werewolf named Tiffany. I always meant to pick up one of his paintings. The most expensive were maybe 100 dollars.  Now I would have to sell my house to afford one!
I have learned that sometimes my instinct  is pretty good. I should have bought one of George Rodrigue's paintings.
My friend Mary Anne learned that a dog that is memorialized in paint is not always a grateful animal. Uncle Bob ate the front seat of her brand new car as she ran into a store on a cool day!