ARTISIT’S INSPIRATION

By Phaedra Bond

I have been personally touched by The Pixel Fund, a truly incredible community of humans and rescue dogs.  My relationship with Pixel began in July 2013, when I was approached as a dog trainer to give an evaluation of a difficult situation a Pixel dog had found herself in.  The young dog that was brought to me, Marni, had lived a rough life on the streets and subsequently had some strong survival skills.  One talent she had learned was to quickly and assertively defend herself from any dog she met, even if it was a dog that acted friendly towards her.  She simply couldn’t tell the difference between a safe and unsafe situation and had learned the hard way that she had to take care of herself.   As a result, she did not do well in foster care or in the homes that had taken a chance on her.  During her evaluation, Marni even had a snap at my hand.  But what Pixel and I saw in Marni, who had birthed her pups in a shelter while waiting on death row, was courage, spunk, tenacity and intelligence.  We agreed that we would dedicate ourselves to her training and rehabilitation, knowing that it would be a rough and challenging journey for all of us.   Marni persevered in overcoming her bad habits and not only found a loving family, but also found a satisfying life as a service dog to her new mom.  What began as an adventure for Marni brought into my life an entirely new family.

I have met a fantastic group of people and dogs in my continued work with The Pixel Fund.  I’ve lived with, rehabilitated and trained some of the dogs that need some extra help before they find their homes.  I’ve met giving and compassionate foster families and their foster dogs that need new coping skills on their way to finding their homes.  I’ve met caring, kind, committed families with their newly adopted dogs that just need a bit of charm school in order to help them reach their greatest potential in a human world.   Each time I meet a Pixel person or dog, I am simply blown away by the intensity and purity of love and commitment.

My heart has been forever touched by The Pixel community and “their” dogs who are trying so hard to be good in the hopes of finding home.  These dogs suffer a journey that is rough and filled with peril. Some have been discarded, some abandoned, some lost without a family who cared to find them and some have lived a life in the woods or on the streets and have never had a home.

This piece of art is intended to depict the story of rescue dogs as Pixel saves them and helps them find home.  The darkened and banged up pieces show the rough times and the painful times for the dogs; the shiny ones show the moments where the dogs have had those simple things they crave:  food, shelter, and kindness.   The small “bowls” represent the safe and secure times when the dogs are saved by Pixel and when they are so lovingly cared for in foster care and in transit.  Each bright crystal bead represents that limitless potential in every dog and the brightness that it brings to the human heart.  Every turn in the links of the bracelet represent the many people and family pets that help a dog overcome their bad times to reach that potential.

Finally, the heart center of the bracelet represents their loving and generous family and celebrates the very magical moment when the dog is “Finally Home.”

Handcrafted one of a kind item for The Pixel Fund Animal Rescue