How can an artist make a difference? The story of my mom's dog portraits

Inspiration is a mysterious phenomenon, it may induce you to do really great things, but you never know in advance when it will hit you and when it will leave you. 

Here's the way from mere fun to art made by my mom Olga within about a year. Wishing to help dogs in an animal shelter, she learnt drawing and painting from scratch. And today she takes orders from people to collect money for charity.

It all started from painting boxes for entertainment. One is still in my bedroom, with the portrait on my cat on its top. But when my mum got seriously involved in the activity of Robert's Dog Sanctuary in Cyprus (located not far from the city of Paphos) as a sponsor and a volunteer, she once made a painted box with the pictures of the dogs she loved most. Naturally, she first copied them from the photographs she made during her visits to the shelter, and even this was a challenge for someone who had never tried drawing before.

And this is what mom does now - both on T-shirts and on ceramics. People somehow associated with the dog shelter ask her to paint a picture of their pets, thus donating money for the shelter expenses. The plates and shirts with the shelter animals are sold during monthly Dog Walks, when everyone is invited to walk the animals and to play with them. They are put on charity auctions, bringing joy to people and helping cover the dogs' everyday needs. What can be the best source of motivation?

Those eyes. Though I'm a keen cat lover, I'm touched to the depth of my soul.