Mango and his family raise money for a charitable cause! Over the last ten years PAWS/LA (Pets Are Wonderful Support in Los Angeles) has held an annual fund-raising Pet Art auction. PAWS/LA provides pet care services for low-income seniors and people who are suffering debilitating, life-threatening or terminal diseases allowing them the comfort of continuing to live with their pets throughout their ordeal. PAWS/LA provides the daily care the animals need and, when and if it becomes necessary, finds new homes for the pets. Over the last eight years we have donated pet art to the auctions with either Mango, a member of Mango’s family or art inspired by Mango, Bubbles or Peaches as the subject. We have been pleased that there has been a wiling audience for our art! After Pet Art 10 in 2008, PAWS/LA decided to take new directions in fund-raising and will not be holding future art auctions. Mango, always the good citizen, will be donating art to other animal rescue groups fund-raising efforts in the future.
Here is a review of the art donated to the past PAWS/LA auctions (click on the links to see the art and the full description - each opens in it's own window):
On November 1, 2007 the Pet Art 9 "Rock the Catsbah" event was held once again at the historic Avalon Hollywood theater where the Beatles had their first west coast appearance in 1964. This year there was five pieces up for auction: "Fancy Faucet Drink" a photo of Bubbles enjoying a drink from a faucet, "Peach Whap!" a color photo of Mango and Peaches in a tussle, "Squid and Lady Frances Duncombe" a fanciful print of the classic 1778 Thomas Gainsborough painting if the Lady had an Aby with her, "Squid and Madame X" a print of the classic 1884 John Singer Sargent painting updated to include her Aby, and finally "Squid in Van Gogh's Bedroom" a gicleé print of this classic Van Gogh painting with his fine Aby.
The Pet Art 8 "Whisker a Go-Go" event with it's 1960s go-go Carnaby Street/paisley patterned theme was held at the historic Avalon Hollywood theater in the shadow of the historic Capitol Records building. For some reason no website was prepared for this auction by PAWS/LA, however, Mango was well represented in the auction and all pieces did quite well.
The Pet Art 7 event was held at the beautifully restored Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the site of the first Academy Awards ceremony held in 1929. The bidding was quite restrained this year (perhaps from donor burn-out from so many natural disasters this year?) and some good art pieces regrettably went without a bid. That, fortunately, was not the case with ours. "Metro Pets" a giclée print of a collection of Paris Metro (subway) passes with the portraits of rescued cats who now have good homes, "Sacred Rats at Karni Mata Temple" a color photo Bev took while in India at the Hindu temple Karne Mata that celebrates ancestor's spirits whom they believe have returned as rats, and "A Fireside Cat" a giclée print of our dear, departed Danté who warmed his face and chest with the fire before napping in front of the fireplace for hours. Many bidders spent a lot of time contemplating the rat picture which ultimately sold for $200
Pet Art 6 was held on November 7, 2004 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel "Mango Veggie Sclupture" a digital color print of a whimsical portrait of a vegitable-like Mango with a vegitable sculpture created by our friend Helena Dbaly, "Aby New Year" a conception of a kitty New Year's Eve party, and "Danté's Inferno" a giclée print of our dear Danté who spent many happy hours before the fireplace each winter and the functional art pieces "Kitty Miranda T-Shirt and Biscuit Tin".
The November 9, 2003 Pet Art 5 was held at the historic Music Box Theater in Hollywood, California. "Mango the Corn Chomper II" was seriously upstaged by Peaches' "Kitty Miranda" this year when her picture got bid up to $550! When the picture got to $550, Bev made a deal with the competing bidders that she'd supply PAWS/LA with another copy of the picture so both would get one at $550 so that no one got outbid. Everybody left happy! One more entry was "Bubbles & Flowers" with Mango's housemate in a sweet pose.
"Mango the Corn Chomper I" was the star of the October 27, 2002 Pet Art 4. At the auction held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, "Corn Chomper" was bid up to an astounding $500! To say the least, everyone was very pleased. A lovely portrait titled "Squid with Van Gogh's Sunflowers" with Squid as part of a traditional Van Gogh painting was also included in the auction. One suprise from PetArt 4 wasn't disclosed by the PAWS/LA staff until just before Pet Art 5. The prints of "Mango the Corn Chomper I & II" were donated at the same time, however, the decision was made to hold Chomper II for Pet Art 5. The suprise is that the buyer of Chomper I wanted Chomper II after seeing it and bought it for $500 too! Mango's grand total for PetArt 4 is an amazing $1,000.
Mango's participation in the PAWS/LA auctions started with October 21, 2001 Pet Art 3. A color print of "Mango the Toast Thief" was sold for $155. At the completion of the auction, a bidder who had been outbid for the picture asked if another copy could be obtained at the cost of the winning bid. Of course we accomodated that request! Two fine Squid Art pieces were also donated; Stonehenge with Squid becoming "Squidhenge" and a new spin on the classic Cezanne painting "Still Life with Apples" becoming "Squid with Apples".
Friends of Mango: If you have a photo of your cat doing something "Mango-like" and want it shared with the world please e-mail it to us along with his or her name, the story behind the picture, your name and where you are in the world. Keep the resolution fairly high so we have a good image to work with. Mango appreciates seeing his fellow felines "misbehaving" (it makes him look normal!).
Scroll Line Message: Want your language added to the status line scroll? E-mail a translation of the English description of Mango (or as close as you can come) into your language and we will add it to the scroll. Sorry, though, the only language fonts (the character set) we can support is for Western European languages.
The scroll message reads: "It's Mango Madness! The home of the world's most rambunctious and loveable Abyssinian cat!"