Title: "Higher Ground"

Artist: Kaitlin Miller

Medium: Chalk Paint, Wax, Century-Old Re-Purposed Window Pulleys

Dimensions: 60" x 14.5"

Animal depicted is Stephanie King and her puppies, their story is below:

There were multiple dilapidated structures and we were pretty certain that a nursing mom called one of them home for her and her puppies.

The first one was blackened from a fire. Most of the house had already collapsed. Weeds eerily blew in the October wind and we couldn't help thinking it looked like a set to a horror movie. We stepped through the blackened boards and trash, listening for puppies. We didn't see any sign of them, but mom had been seen here several times before. They had to be here somewhere.

We checked every nook and cranny. The boards of the porch were mostly intact, but there was a small gap that looked like it led under the house. We squeezed between the planks and shined the flashlight underneath. Way back at the other end, was mom with her puppies.

They laid in dirt, surrounded by spider webs. Mom didn't seem too concerned about us at first, she even put her head down and went to sleep. We walked back inside to see if there was an easier way to get to them. The floor inside had been wet and was rotted enough for us to pry up. We peeled the wood back and right in front of us were Mom and seven little puppies. She made a run for it, but we never leave a Mom behind.

This ended up taking us hours. We set a trap and drove off. We spotted her multiple times, never even close to the house. What was she doing? We had to wait it out. Our patience paid off and we went back to find her in the trap. We peeled the floor back up, rescued the puppies and loaded them in the jeep.The pups stayed with mom for a couple more weeks then all went to foster homes.

Status: Adopted!

*Due to the fragile nature of this item, it is NOT available for shipping. It is Pick Up Only. If you are the winning bidder, artwork will be available for pick up from the Pine Street Shelter starting Thursday June 11th.