One Monday night in January I was leaving for work when I found a stray dog in a red halter next to the dangerous main road by my house. I parked my car and he came to me so I coaxed him back to my patio, gave him food and water, and rushed off to my job as a fire dancer at the Marriott (www.flightsoffire.com).
Before leaving, I noticed that an oil painting of Frenchman's Bay from my "Beautiful on the Edges - the Beaches of St Thomas" series was drying on my storage box by the door. I Quickly moved it up onto of a kayak where I thought it would remain safely out of harm's way. I returned three hours latter to find the young male dog still there, but he'd managed to climb up and knock my painting down and walk all over it. There was also a nice collection of oil paint paw prints around my patio. Luckily through facebook postings I located the dog's owner and they had a happy reunion later that night. It turns out that Spike is an escape artist which resulted in his adventure and his ability to climb up and knock my painting down. The next morning I was faced with a decision about what to do with the painting. I had worked on it on location and the the show needed to be hung in 3 days. It didn't seem feasible to repair it in time so I set it aside. The next day i had the inspiration to put the painting in my show at a discounted price witsh the proceeds for the sale being split between the Mango Tango Art Gallery and the Humane Society of St Thomas. The painting sold to a local dog and cat enthusiast and a $250 donation will be made to the Pet With Wings program which helps place unwanted island dogs in homes on the mainland. I think things worked out Purrrrfectly!