Community

Up For Pups is a community of artists using our talents to support animal welfare causes. Contact us if you’d like to get in touch with any of these artists or book shows in a town near you.

We are also looking for artists to join our community. As they say, education is the pathway to enlightenment. What better way to educate people about animal welfare issues than through sharing ones creativity?

Kyla Duffy

An aerialist, editor, and foster mom, Kyla Duffy has blended all of her passions to create Don’t Kill Bill: A Dog Lover’s Night Out. This stage show, which includes the sharing of heartwarming stories about adopted dogs and an aerial fabric performance, will begin touring the country in 2011. It’s purpose is to raise awareness about purebred rescue, puppy mills, and the love and joy adopted dogs bring to their new homes. This show is available for corporate events, expos, etc. Read what The Bark magazine has to say about it here.

Click here for Don’t Kill Bill: A Dog Lover’s Night Out tour information and tickets.

Marilyn Milano:

Milano’s Love Has Many Faces is a Freedom Solutions Recording Plan (FSRP) album, meaning it is being created through a process that saves the artist money by taking budgeting and planning to the next step. The plan, developed by Loren Weisman, relies on the artist’s willingness to invest a significant portion of her time in the entire development and promotion process. Artists following this plan give a percentage of album sales to a charity or organization they believe in while also raising funds from donors or investors to avoid the pitfalls of industry control. This process creates a clear plan from preproduction to release, while simultaneously empowering the artist with the knowledge, the tools and the skills to become self-sustaining and self-sufficient.

Love Has Many Faces begins with “Take Me to Your Heart,” a song written from the perspective of a shelter animal waiting for someone to love. The second song, “Safe Harbor,” is an instrumental depicting the transition from the animal in the shelter into a safe and loving home. “You’re Home Free” describes the joy of a family who has adopted a new dog. “Daffodils,” written for Susan Michaels, founder of Pasado’s Safe Haven, was composed in memory of her beloved pet, Chomper, who passed away in 2008. It expresses the sorrow one feels when losing a beloved family friend. “Sanctuary,” another instrumental, again speaks to a safe place of love and comfort. Finally, “Love Has Many Faces,” an anthem to rescue, expresses why rescue is so important and why those who care about animals must carry on until there are no more homeless pets.

Susan A. Becker

Artist Susan Becker create intimate, intense animal portraiture that interprets a pet’s sense of dignity, their unique personality, and their feelings of joy, desire, or even sorrow, so that each furry individual can be celebrated and cherished, both in the moment, and for life. Her imagery celebrates a special presence, an inner spark that connects to ours, which brings joy to animal lovers, raises funds for animal rescue, and inspires others to learn about and protect our precious friends.

Portraying these personalities is Backer’s passion. Through use of intense oil color, unusual texture (often with palette knife), and a slight sense of motion, she develops an individual essence and sense of spirit in each portrait. Her trick is to create the eyes first, as she feels that instantly creates another being to celebrate and play with her – a very personal and sensual experience. According to Becker, “It feels as if I come to know each individual intimately, bonding in the hours we spend together in creative process. I fall in love with every animal I paint.”

Backer’s paintings have been exhibited in Colorado at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, Lakewood Cultural Center, Mt. Vernon Country Club, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Evergreen Library, Red Rocks Community College, Cat Care Society in Lakewood, Whole Foods at Denver West, and The Empty Bottle Wine Shop on Old South Pearl Street in Denver. Over 100 commissioned paintings are in private collections throughout the country.

Marilyn Shafer Bush

Marilyn Shafer Bush has been painting animals for over 25 years. She finds them to be an inspiration and loves to paint their personalities. She paints all animals, but her favorite subjects are dogs because she feels their eyes tell such stories, which she loves to capture them in paint.

Marilyn adopted a three-pound, four-year-old puppy mill survivor named Anabel from Main Line Animal Rescue (MLAR). Anabel was a breeder dog who was severely abused by the miller until MLAR rescued her and she became a member of Marilyn’s family. Inspired by Anabel, Marilyn decided to donate a percent of profits from her pet portraits to MLAR to help with their puppy mill rescues. Marilyn encourages you to open your home and heart to a homeless dog or cat because she believes it will be one of the most rewarding things you do.

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