Wednesday, 8 September, 2010

Dear Pharaoh Hound Enthusiasts,

We are very honored and pleased to be able to share with you a wonderful event, in hopes that you will want to participate in the opportunity to acquire an exquisite and unique work of art by Cape Cod artist, Ro Morrissey. Margie and I commissioned Mrs. Morrissey to create a special piece for silent auction at the PHCA National/Eastern Specialty event, as a fundraising endeavor for the Canine Health Information Center, or C.H.I.C.

As many of you already know, Margie and I feel especially committed to promoting and advancing the good works of CHIC, in hopes that our breed’s participation will contribute over the years to supporting productive science and breed health in the long term. It is very exciting to read and learn of the important role that CHIC is playing in the service of that goal, and certainly we would like to help secure the funds within our organization so that we can continue to support CHIC collection clinics, educational programs, and research outreach.

Mrs. Morrissey has created a breathtaking, mixed-media, art quilt that was inspired by images that she has seen of pharaoh hounds hunting in Malta. Including elements, with permission, from a photo taken by Jan Scotland of Germany, of dogs belonging to Peter Gatt of Malta, and using inspiration provided by many images of that area, she worked for months to find and select appropriate fabrics for what would become the art quilt. Then, months were spent assembling and working the design, integrating various fabrics, textures, stitching, and images. The result is a masterpiece of color and representation of a scene that has often existed only in our minds as we imagine the versatile pharaoh hound, kelb tal fenek, moving gracefully and athletically over the Maltese terrain in stealth pursuit of game.

This piece, so appropriately named “The Malta Hunt”, by Ro Morrissey (2010), is, matted and framed, 25” wide by 19” tall, and has been professionally, custom matted and framed by The Frame Center of Orleans, Massachusetts. The glass is a non-glare glass that will protect the piece for years to come, and provides for a beautiful viewing of the artwork. This work, with framing, is valued at $750.00, and is being donated in full to the PHCA for this CHIC fundraising event. All proceeds from this auction item will be donated to the PHCA, where the fund will be designated specifically for future CHIC related events, including collection clinics, and educational outreach.

A photo image of the "The Malta Hunt" is included in this post, at the end.

“The Malta Hunt” will be offered by silent auction beginning now, via email. Then, the piece will first be presented for viewing and silent bidding on Saturday, September 18, 2010 at the PHCA National Specialty Awards Banquet. Bidding, which opens today, Wednesday, 9/8/2010, will begin at $200.00, and bids may be increased in $50.00 increments, whether online or in person.

You may bid on this piece in advance of the silent auction by emailing Rebecca Stephens at RStephens4@aol.com with your bid. Please type “Art Quilt CHIC Auction” in the subject line of your email, and in your email, please include: your first and last names, phone number, and your bid amount. I will enter bids in the order that they are received. I will reply to all emails with notification of whether your bid amount is entered, or whether you have been outbid by another, and of course, you may then submit another bid online. Online bidding will be available until Friday, 9/17, at midnight, when online bidding will close. Please do not email with additional online bids after midnight on Friday, 9/17.

On the evening of Sunday, 9/19, the piece will be again be displayed, at the Eastern Specialty dinner, along with the silent auction bid sheet. Those in attendance on Saturday and Sunday nights can bid in person. It is suggested that if you are not going to be able to attend, you contact someone who will be there, and who may be able to be your “proxy” bidder for you. Thanks to cell phones, you can stay in touch with them as the bidding progresses, and may increase your bids as desired. We will keep in-person bidding open until after the Eastern specialty dinner on Sunday, 9/19, at which time the bidding will be closed, the Art Quilt CHIC Silent Auction will be closed, and the winning bidder will be notified. At that time, the winning bidder will issue a check for the amount to the PHCA, with ‘CHIC fund’ written on the memo line of the check. If necessary, the art piece will be shipped to the winning bidder, with the cost of shipping covered by us.

We do hope that you will join with us in supporting our breed’s participation in the Canine Health Information Center with your bids for this amazing artwork created by artist Ro Morrissey. In the past few years, Mrs. Morrissey has become a real admirer of pharaoh hounds, and she has done a masterful job of capturing their graceful intensity in this exciting work.

Best wishes,
Rebecca Stephens
Margie Luck
Arja Pharaoh Hounds
Orleans, Massachusetts
RStephens4@aol.com