Friday, October 20, 2006

Ultrasounds, X-rays and Art

We ruled out hypertension, diabetes, and a few other things at the vet's office this morning. The drops seem to be working, and the vet actually thought her retinas were starting to reattach. Woo hoo! Which is good, but still mystifiying. The source of the troubles could still be one or two types of cancer, so we have chest x-rays and an abdominal ultrasound for Bella ahead of us, then probably oral steroids. I feel like I see a light at the end of the DOOM! tunnel, though.

However, I wanted to ask my commenters for an opinion on something before I do it. I am thinking about holding an art sale to raise money for Bella. I know. I have mixed feelings about it, since it feels like "cyberbegging" and there are so many worthy causes with a global reach that do extremely significant work out there. Here's what I'm thinking.

Joel and I MIGHT put together a webpage of all of our favorite nature, landscapes, personal vision fine art photography. (You can see a lot of our work from Yosemite, as well as my lighthouse photos, in the Picture Book section below. That's the kind of stuff I mean) Then we would charge fair price for it, which we only do now in a select number of venues. All of the money will go toward the cost of Bella's return to health (over $1,000 and still rapidly climbing), and a portion of it (say 5%? 10%?) will also go to the Humane Society at New Rochelle, which I continually describe here as the Best Animal Shelter Ever.

Also, if I've taken photos of you and /or your family members, pets, new babies, outings, wedding, trip to NH, etc., and you've been kicking around the idea of getting a framed, matted print for someone as a Christmas/Hanukkah present, here would be your chance to do that, help my sweet mutt, and do a little something extra for homeless animals.

Does this sound totally tacky to you guys? What do you think? Would you prefer to be left off a mass email that I MIGHT send out with this?



Bella is snoring right now. Loudly. :)

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Ha. I love her doggles.
I want in on that photo action. There are actually a couple of photos of Gaby I can think of right now that I'd like matted and framed to give to family members for Christmas. (because I am lazy and everyone loves The Cuteness) And there were some of Joel's from his trip this summe that I really liked, and would be interested in.
Also, will answer your e-mail shortly once I finish the campaign finance story that is killing me softly. Have new anxiety to share. Better yet, maybe I'll just call you.

Anonymous said...

I think it's a fabulous idea! :) I would very much want to be on that email. Nikki and I keep talking about how we need art for our walls and how cool it would be to have friends' work up, so it sounds perfect to me! Probably can't do it right this second with our financial situation being what it is, but I would definitely do it once you know, I returned to that thing called employment full time!

Anonymous said...

I think it's a great idea except the part about charging fair prices for your images. You should figure out what you think the fair price is and double (maybe triple) it.

I'm not saying this to be funny. I actually think that's what you should do. SW was selling one of his prints at a gallery he has in LA for $20,000. Granted it's a 40x50 cebachrome printed by a master printer from an original transparency, but still.

Oh, and why do you seem hesitant about making money from your fine art photography? How is that bad? And why even mention that the money is for a sick dog? The pictures will sell themselves.

Luke

Anonymous said...

And by the way, that picture of Bella wearing goggles (doggles?) had me rolling on the floor...

Anonymous said...

It's not tacky and it's certainly not begging, it's just entrepreneurial (sp?). I can't think of anything off the top of my head that I'd buy, but I'm also at the point where the only room I'm decorating right now is a nursery. But hey, you never know. I do already have one of your photos (well, I took it, but you jazzed it up) hanging in our front hall, and it's one of my favorites.

Oh, and at some point, I will want "professional" baby photos, and I will totally pay you for that. Maybe BlogHer next year? Or maybe you and Joel need a little Pacific NW vacation? (I realize that doesn't help you at all with the current vet bill, but you can count it as future income.)

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I forgot to add: so glad to hear that Bella's eyes are getting better. I know you probably aren't ready to stop holding your breath just yet, but that's great news.

Anonymous said...

put me on the email.

Anonymous said...

I keep thinking that I wish I could do somthing to help the sweet Bella pup. I'd be all about buying some of your work- especially because I think 19 months of blank walls in the home of 2 visual arts people is kind of lame. :)