Come see my shelter pet drawings at Bica Coffeehouse in Oakland!

"my" foster baby

Somehow, through Facebook, I found this dynamic little group called "No Kill Oakland" which was started up by some dynamic, funny, kind people.  I've been so impressed by their passion, practicality, and smarts in approaching the issues of shelter dogs, especially in the wake of ongoing dramas at Oakland Animal Services.

When they posted about "the Hippo" and how he needed out of the shelter immediately or was at risk of euthanasia (mostly due to having some mange), I volunteered to foster.  Since I'm an obsessive sketching maniac, I had to sketch this dog while he was here.  (It's the rule - if you stay here, you're my model.  My niece is getting used to it.)  It turned out this dog was really named Raider and we found his original family and that's a whole other long (great) story.  It was a such a gratifying experience - at least for me.  My dog Grayson thought it was bogus.

So next thing I learn is that the dynamo outfit behind "No Kill Oakland" is launching an organization called "People, Animals, Love and Support East Bay." (PALS East Bay)

One of them said, hey, I have a friend with an awesome coffeehouse in Oakland, how about we do a show of your drawings of shelter dogs there?  I said, 'yes please' and the coffeehouse owners said 'yes please' and before I knew it, the drawings were done and up!  It was truly one of those flow-y moments in life when everything just clicks together without me forcing it.  So great.

My drawings up at Bica Coffeehouse, Oakland

The coffeehouse in question is the lovely Bica Coffeehouse right nextdoor to Trader Joe's and across from the Rockridge BART Station.  When you go, try the chai - it's the best I've ever had.  They grind their own spices for it, so it's not the syrup-based disaster you may have experienced other places. Oh, how I am drooling just writing this - gotta get over there for my soy chai latte pronto!

See a little preview abut the show here:
http://www.palseastbay.org/shelter-pet-artwork-by-kate-merriman.html

Liberty, still waiting for a forever home at Oakland Animal Services

All the proceeds of the sale of these original drawings will go to support PALS.  I also have prints available via my Zazzle store and 1/2 the proceeds of those will go to PALS too.    Mostly I hope to raise awareness of what high-quality, lovable animals there are at the shelter and encourage people to "adopt, not shop!"