08/24/2024
The story of Have A Heart Build A Dream
If you’re from Macomb you are probably very familiar with the wildly successful Rocky On Parade program. If not, google it! I was excited to sponsor one of the original dogs back in 2013… an alpha (big) dog with a 4 seasons theme. The original artist, Allison Hulslander, covered Rocky with scenes across a country landscape over a typical year. From spring to summer to fall and winter Rocky faded along the seasons. I added my special touch to his design and collected actual footprints from rescued pets. They were incorporated into the clouds and signed. I’ve loved this dog more than any of the other 3 I’ve sponsored! (But I love them all!)
Secretly, I thought, I want to paint one someday…but I am definitely not an artist and I couldn’t possibly do a Rocky justice. 4 rounds of Rocky on Parade have come and gone and the grand finale round 5 is just about to launch.
My original Rocky has been loved, ridden, peed on (he lives at a vet clinic), photographed, dressed up, and even taken on a few trips (yep, we packed him up and took him to the Ag show at WIU twice). At round 4 I started thinking about a redo and I had an idea! But could I possibly pull it off?
So, this summer, I decided to take him home to see what I could do. I didn’t tell anyone in case it was a flop…and I didn’t think anyone would notice he was missing. And then the calls started coming in. WHERE IS ROCKY??? At that point I figured I had to commit to fully rehabbing Rocky. So I put my plan out there.
Three months later… I’ve sanded and sanded and sanded. I’ve fixed cracks and holes with bondo. I’ve done a few coats of primer. And I painted and painted and painted. And now he’s done!
Each heart is drawn, colored, and placed by hand using only 4 colors and white for the whole dog. He fades from one color to another much like the 4 seasons fade over a year. And, yes, each heart has flaws and imperfections, as does their alignment. (And that drives the perfectionist in me nuts!). But they are just like the pets that we love and cherish…flaws and all. Each front toe nail has a small piece of the original design, 2 for each season, in honor of Allison, the original artist.
So what does this have to do with the animal shelter? The McDonough County Animal Shelter building is much like my original Rocky…old and worn out. The humane society has been dreaming of a new shelter and trying to raise funds for several years. And while they are getting close to their original goal, the prices for construction have escalated.
And that is where YOU come in! Each heart on Rocky is available for sponsorship. For a donation to the shelter building fund I will add the name of your pet to a heart. 100 percent of what is donated goes to the building fund. And when the building is done, I will donate Rocky to the shelter where he can hopefully spend another 11 years being loved and ridden and photographed and dressed up… (and hopefully not peed on).
I now dream of meeting a big goal with my Rocky redo. I dream of raising an amount of funds for the humane society to commit to breaking ground. My question for you is will you HAVE A HEART BUILD A DREAM?
Karen Blakeley DVM, MPH, and
Mediocre artist 🙂
See Have A Heart Build A Dream on GoFundMe
