Service Dogs Alabama

ART UNLEASHED SPOTLIGHT: “The Faithful Feast”
What would you put on the table if your dog were the guest of honor?
That question inspired North Carolina artist Lucy Camp to create “The Faithful Feast.”
Lucy’s favorite subjects to paint are tablescapes—fruits, vegetables, flowers, place settings and found objects gathered together in colorful scenes celebrating food, hospitality and time spent around the table.
But for this painting, she imagined something different:
What would a tablescape for a dog look like?
Lucy and her husband recently adopted a French Pointer and have had fun exploring foods they can add to her routine, including sweet potatoes, salmon and blueberries.
Although apparently their new family member would like it officially noted that blueberries are not her favorite.
That experience inspired this whimsical feast created especially for our most faithful companions.
Lucy is based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and is known for bright, whimsical still lifes filled with lively color, loose lines and playful compositions. Her work celebrates the beauty in everyday moments and the joy of gathering together.
🐾 Title: “The Faithful Feast”
🎨 Medium: Acrylic & oil sticks on paper
📏 Size: 23" x 30"
👩‍🎨 Artist: Lucy Camp | Winston-Salem, NC
🌐 Website: lucycampart.com
Bidding is open now!
🔗 The auction link is in the comments. Set up your bidding profile and start bidding!

ART UNLEASHED SPOTLIGHT: “Nova”

Some people just have a heart for animals. Lynne Burford is definitely one of those people.

Lynne runs Little Star Chihuahua Rescue out of her own home, dedicating her time and heart to four-legged companions. In fact, Lynne readily admits she may love the four-legged variety a little more than the two-legged ones!

She also paints, a gift she says was passed down to her from her mother—and one that continues to bring her great joy.

For Art Unleashed, Lynne turned that gift toward one of our own: Service Dog in Training Nova.

This sweet little 5" x 7" acrylic portrait, simply titled “Nova,” may be small, but it represents a wonderful connection between two people and organizations devoted to giving dogs the opportunity to make a difference.

We love having Nova represented in this year's Art Unleashed collection, and we're grateful to Lynne for sharing both her talent and her very big heart with Service Dogs Alabama.

🐾 Title: “Nova”
🎨 Medium: Acrylic
📏 Size: 5" x 7"
👩‍🎨 Artist: Lynne Burford
🐕 Subject: SDA Service Dog in Training Nova

Bidding is OPEN!

🔗 The auction link is in the comments. Make sure your bidding profile is set up, find your favorites, and start bidding!

ART UNLEASHED SPOTLIGHT: “Poodle”
Sometimes the best portraits begin with simply loving the subject.
“Poodle” is an 8" x 8" oil painting by Libby Weatherly, featuring a friend’s much-loved dog.
Libby has been painting for about eight years, primarily as a hobby and mostly for friends and family. Dogs—and occasionally cats—are favorite subjects.
For Libby, the joy is in capturing the animals people love and turning a familiar face into something they can keep forever.
She also has another creative eye behind the lens: Libby is a photographer, too!
Small, sweet and full of personality, “Poodle” would be an easy original to find a special spot for in almost any home.
🐾 Title: “Poodle”
🎨 Medium: Oil on board
📏 Size: 8" x 8"
👩‍🎨 Artist: Libby Weatherly
Bidding is open now!
🔗 The auction link is in the comments. Set up your bidding profile now so you can start bidding!

OUR FINAL ART UNLEASHED SPOTLIGHT!
We’ve introduced you to paintings, watercolors, pastels, colored pencils, mixed media and more—but we couldn’t wrap up our Art Unleashed spotlights without something you can actually hang on your door!
SDA volunteer Maren Settle created and donated TWO handmade wreaths for this year’s auction!
And while Maren didn’t have much to say about their creation, we have it on very good authority that both were thoroughly inspected and officially approved by master artist and quality-control supervisor on four paws, Ophelia.
Ophelia takes her responsibilities very seriously. We assume.
Maren has been part of the SDA family for three years, socializing and puppy raising while attending Troy University. She recently graduated and is now pursuing her master’s degree while working as an Academic Advisor & Life Skills Coordinator with Troy Athletics. Through all of that, she has continued giving her time to SDA—and currently has Ophelia as her service dog in training.
These two wreaths are one more example of the many different talents our volunteers bring to this mission.
🎀 Two handmade wreaths
👩‍🎨 Created by: Maren Settle
🐾 Inspected & approved by: Ophelia
And with that, our Art Unleashed Spotlights are complete!
Now there’s only one thing left to do…
GET READY TO BID!
🔗 Bidding opens tomorrow October 3! The auction link is in the comments. Visit it now and set up your bidding profile, browse all the incredible pieces we’ve shared, and start deciding which ones you hope to take home!
Every bid supports the work of Service Dogs Alabama and helps us continue raising, training and placing extraordinary dogs with the people who need them.

It’s almost DogGone time!

The SDA team is hard at work getting everything ready for the DogGone Walk-a-Thon! Booths are going up, finishing touches are happening, and the excitement is building!

We can’t wait to welcome everyone to campus and get our steps in. See you at DogGone Walk-a-thon!

ART UNLEASHED SPOTLIGHT: “Kirby’s Gift”
This one is more than a painting. It’s a brand-new chapter.
Emily Donovan is a Service Dogs Alabama recipient, and very recently we placed Kirby with her as successor to her beloved service dog, Kenzie.
Kirby wasted absolutely no time stepping into his new role. He and Emily are already becoming an incredible team, and Emily says Kirby has brought joy, freedom, independence, peace, life and loyalty back into her world.
And she put all of that into this painting.
“Kirby’s Gift” begins with Kirby’s own paw print, then bursts outward with flowers, color and happiness—an 8" x 24" acrylic representation of everything this new partnership has already brought into Emily’s life.
There’s another pretty amazing part of Emily’s story, too.
After a seizure and the recovery period that follows, Emily often gets what we like to think of as her creative power-up. Inspiration hits, and she paints, crafts and creates. It’s an unexpected silver lining, and creativity has become part of her recovery.
This time, that creativity combined with Kirby’s paw print and a whole lot of happiness to create something especially meaningful for Art Unleashed.
🐾 Title: “Kirby’s Gift”
🎨 Artist: Emily Donovan, SDA Recipient
🐕 With a little help from: Kirby
🎨 Medium: Acrylic on canvas with Kirby’s paw print
📏 Size: 8" x 24"
This is what Art Unleashed is all about: dogs, people, art—and the incredible things that can happen when they all come together.
Bidding opens October 3!
🔗 The auction link is in the comments. Set up your bidding profile now so you’ll be ready to bid!

ART UNLEASHED SPOTLIGHT: “The Dog Lover”
Apparently one piece for Art Unleashed just wasn’t enough for artist Delaina Lane.
After learning more about Service Dogs Alabama and our dogs, Delaina was so moved by the mission that she was inspired to create and donate a second original painting!
And this one is for anyone whose love of dogs has slowly—or not so slowly—taken over the house.
“The Dog Lover” is a cozy living room scene filled with little details to discover. A person relaxes on the sofa reading the paper. Above the fireplace hangs a version of Sir Edwin Landseer’s famous painting “Doubtful Crumbs,” featuring a St. Bernard. And in the foreground? A dog’s paw rests rather purposefully on a stack of dog-themed books.
Has the dog already picked out what everyone is reading next? We think so.
At 12" x 12", this acrylic on canvas feels warm, clever and wonderfully familiar. Look closely and you’ll keep finding little reminders that this is most definitely the home of a dog lover.
We are incredibly grateful to Delaina for being so inspired by our mission that she created another piece especially to help support our dogs.
🐾 Title: “The Dog Lover”
🎨 Medium: Acrylic on canvas
📏 Size: 12" x 12"
👩‍🎨 Artist: Delaina Lane
Bidding opens October 3!
🔗 The auction link is in the comments. Set up your bidding profile now so you’ll be ready to bid!

ART UNLEASHED SPOTLIGHT: “A Husky Beauty”
Those eyes!
They’re what first caught artist Laura Timares’ attention—and it’s easy to see why.
Each of this gorgeous Husky’s eyes holds a different combination of aqua and blue, and together they create a truly magnificent face. Laura captured that striking gaze in her oil painting, appropriately titled “A Husky Beauty.”
Laura enjoys painting portraits of both people and pets, as well as nature and landscapes. Her style blends impressionism with realism, allowing her to capture a recognizable likeness while still bringing movement, color and personality to her work.
Her artistic roots run in the family. Laura was influenced by her mother’s lively impressionistic style, and she has continued developing a style all her own. She was recently honored with the Mountain Brook Emerging Artist Best in Show Award and is a member of the Mountain Brook Art Association and Cahaba Art Association.
🐾 Title: “A Husky Beauty”
🎨 Medium: Oil on canvas, framed
📏 Framed Size: 12" × 15"
👩‍🎨 Artist: Laura Timares
📱 Instagram: .timares.art
Take a closer look at those eyes—and then visit Laura’s Instagram to see more of her beautiful work!
Bidding opens October 3! 🎉
🔗 The auction link is in the comments. Set up your bidding profile now so you’ll be ready to bid when Art Unleashed opens!

ART UNLEASHED SPOTLIGHT: Greg Shelton
A yellow Lab in camouflage? We’re pretty sure our SDA crowd is going to like this one!
Local artist Greg Shelton of Dadeville, Alabama, donated a print of his incredibly detailed colored-pencil drawing featuring a yellow Lab in camouflage.
And Greg’s journey into art may be almost as interesting as the piece itself!
Greg spent 34 years as a high school teacher, teaching science and coaching basketball. Three years after retiring, he visited a gallery and saw colored-pencil artwork he was convinced had to be paintings. When he learned they were actually drawings, he decided to give colored pencils a try.
That very night, he bought pencils, paper and a book titled How to Draw Anything in 15 Minutes.
According to Greg, “The title is a lie.”
But it gave him enough information to get started. That was June 2020, and Greg has been largely self-taught ever since. He says he is grateful to have discovered a second love and passion in art—and looking at the detail he can create with colored pencils, we’re glad he picked up that first set!
🐾 Artwork: Yellow Lab in Camouflage
🎨 Original Medium: Colored Pencil
🖼️ Auction Piece: Print, 8”x10”
👨‍🎨 Artist: Greg Shelton | Dadeville, AL
📱 Instagram:
Be sure to check out Greg’s Instagram to see more of his colored-pencil, graphite and custom artwork!
Bidding opens October 3!
🔗 The auction link is in the comments. Set up your bidding profile now so you’ll be ready to bid when Art Unleashed opens!