doggie drama...part 2
....so on Saturday Alice went in for her follow up appointment at Roscoe Village Animal Hospital (see doggie drama...part 1)...while there, I mentioned to the vet that Gracie had been sick several times over the last 24 hours with obvious signs that she had chewed up and consumed 1/2 of a large, black 'extreme' kong. She said to keep an eye on her and play it by ear...within 2 hours of being back home, things coming out the other end indicated something more serious, so we took her in. They did an exam and xray and it was not good news - pieces of the kong were blocking her lower intestine. They sent us to the Animal Emergency Treatment Center on Belmont for immediate retrieval of what turned out to be the most expensive 3 pieces of kong we would ever see!
Luckily there were no complications and she is at home healing up, her incision is at least 8" long. No more kongs for Gracie, someone suggested deer antlers for pit mixes - got one and she loves it. Here are some photos from the 'canine infirmary': all the drugs for the 2 dogs and...oh yes, in the baggie are the 3 very pricey pieces of retrieved kong! (kind of strange though, only one was black the other two were tan colored...maybe her stomach acid bleached them?)
The staff at AETC were great, and they loved sweet Gracie (who looks much smaller than 60 pounds with that cone on her head). I was taken aback walking into their beautiful contemporary hopital to see all this vacant wall space - whose art do you think would go perfectly in this pet ER? (where people definitely need a reason to smile!) Could have outfitted the place if we had done a trade for the surgery!
doggie drama...part 1
I guess 'part 1' is not an accurate statement, the real drama started back in February with Alice having seizures, it was very scary to witness. I'm happy to say they are now under control with Potassium Bromide - her diagnois was Canine Epilepsy. Now that she's adjusted to the drugs she's been pretty much herself agian - with the exception of a little problem with one of her toes that has grown to be a bigger problem....the photos are from last week, I called it her Easter Paw, the i.v. bag was given to us as her official rain gear. She has now downgraded to a sock and 'whirlpool spa treatments' twice a day...these entail filling a rubber surgical glove with an anti-bacterial solution, inserting her paw and pumping on the fingers of the glove...and voila, the canine paw spa is born!
Stay tuned for Part II - it's a doozie...
...doesn't look so big in my garage.
Now that all the craziness is over with moving this 'hibiscus bird bath' around, I look forward to putting some art on it...hope to start painting this week! (In Bloom Art Project)
Artists will also be embellishing frogs (above) and benches (below)...should be a fun show when it's all out on display in May!
...and it won't fit through the studio door!
Drove out to Westmont yesterday to pick up the fiberglass hibiscus bird bath I've been commissioned to paint for the In Bloom Public Art Project on display at Oak Brook Center this summer...I knew it probably would not fit in the truck with the topper. Luckily an angel stepped in and was able to help us hoist it up to the roof and we bungeed it down. Made for a suspenseful ride back into the city on the expressways. Upon arrival at my studio, it came down off the truck easily, but no matter how we angled it, just would not fit through the door! It's currently sitting in my entryway...I had thoughts of painting it out there but am leery of vandalism, so will most likely port it home to my garage to paint. Stay tuned!
4 Legged visitors to the studio...lead to exciting news!
This little cutie is Jack, he came to the studio back in January with Susan who brought her dogTuesday's portrait in to be featured in the 190 North tv shoot which will air this Sunday!
I also got to meetBarkley whose portrait I did back in December, his owner Tom brought his piece in to be featured as well.
A glimpse of February...
Kitchenwindow
It flew by....sharing a few photos here, seems March is upon us. During & after the big Chicago Blizzard of 2011...
Shovel
Alice and Gracie...
My trucks casting shadows on a sunny afternoon at the studio:
A photo from our real estsate listing, our home just went on the market. It's a lovely place, if you know anyone in Chicago looking, please send them this link and have them contact me. Starting a new chapter in my life, seems the only thing we can truly count on is change...I'm doing my best to embrace it with grace.
Homeless Pets Inspire Art by Chicago 7th Graders...
Back in October I volunteered to do an art project with Friends of Audubon School to help raise money for educational programs. This school has no budget for art so it was a treat for the kids and I also got a chance to share awareness about all the homeless pets out there. These nineteen 7th Graders certainly rose to the occasion. Using Petfinder.com to search for homeless dogs in the Audubon zip code, I found over 5,300 within a 100 mile radius. I printed out photos/descriptions/adoption information for 19 dogs and gave one to each student to use as their subject. They each painted their dog’s portrait on a 6x6 inch piece of cardboard and attaching tags with their particular dog’s name onto the painting. I mounted the paintings on wood panels and they have been on display at Starbucks since early November. They will be auctioned off to raise money for the school next Wednesday, December 8th. You are welcome to view them and even bid on line at the links below. Thanks to Amanda Shell to helping out on painting day!
Bid on 'Adopt A Friend For Life!'
The administrators liked the kids' work so much they used it for the promotional materials for the Auction Fundraiser. Follow the links to see all the other wonderful art available for bidding by kids who worked with other artist volunteers.
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