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Humanity ... with four
legs By Kathy Jennings If you buy a painting of a dog at Gallery 344 at Friday night's Art Hop, you'll help a real dog. The gallery will donate a percentage of the sales of local artist Joe Brown's dog paintings to the Kalamazoo Humane Society. It will also donate money collected from the raffle of two of his dog paintings, with raffle tickets being sold for $5 apiece. The event is called ``Going to the Dogs,'' and it's set for 5 to 9 p.m. at the gallery, located at 344 N. Rose St. Brown started painting dogs when the owner of The Perfect Pear Gallery in Chicago, a dog lover and pug owner, requested them. Since then, he's had dog cartoons published in A Dog Fancy, The Saturday Evening Post, Family Digest and other magazines. ``The rule of the dog paintings is that they are fun and colorful,'' Brown said, so he has a lot of fun creating them. What are we to make of dogs with pipes, eye patches and inquisitive expressions? ``The question is, do our dogs have our personalities or do we have theirs?'' Brown said. ``Some of the dogs definitely resemble some of my friends and family. ``People see different things in my dogs. Some see people they know. Some are reminded of past pets and the memories that go with them. Some just like them because they make them smile.'' When he brought the pastel drawings to Gallery 344 owner Cherri Emery, they decided to have a show that would benefit the Kalamazoo Humane Society. ``I think as much enjoyment as our animals give us, we should give something back to them,'' he said. If Friday's event is successful, Emery said, it could become an annual one for the gallery.
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