Rescued
April, 2007

When people ignore the value of living creatures, be they human, animal or the living Earth (shades of Al Gore), they disengage a portion of their own psyche from the tenderness of love. It is easy to become "hardened" to the plight of other humans, while so often ignoring or even enabling the plight of other helpless creatures by treating them as "objects" and not as the living things that God created and entrusted to our care.

My artwork for this Underground Railroad event was created to be symbolic of "Rescue." Rescuing implies "safety." One of my major personal endeavors is the rescue of racing Greyhounds from the dreadful conditions and treatment of Greyhounds at race tracks throughout the world. They are confined in crates up to 22 hours a day, released only to relieve themselves or to race, profiting the owner. No concern is given to their pitiful condition. When they are no longer profitable they are permanently discarded, sometimes in a dreadful manner.

Some people who find refuge in the Underground railroad perhaps have been restrained to lives of confinement within a physical or an emotional "cage" of sorts. The Underground Railroad provides a "rescue" and a safe haven for these victims.

My Greyhound artwork is meant to be symbolic of the rescue of all living creatures. When you wear the necklace (it can be removed from the mounting and replaced at will) you can consider it representative of the valued safety of all living things, human or otherwise.

Materials included in "Rescued:"

The Necklace:
Handmade Chinese ceramic beads, Blue Adventurine beads, Carved Bone beads, glass seed beads, papier m?chˇ Greyhound heads and round beads, silver plated findings.

The Picture:
Metal frame, handmade paste paper and handcolored photos (UV protected) of my rescued Greyhound, Hootie -- who won every race he ran until the last three. He was rescued at age 4 by Greyhounds of Eastern Michigan (GEM). He is 7 years in these pictures. He has learned how to "smile" and to play with toys.

Hootie represents peace and freedom for all

Comissioned by the Saginaw, MI. Underground RailRoad Fund Raiser, April 2007 and in the collection of Rodney Parrott, Saginaw, MI