Center Valley fundraiser offers portraits of rescue animals

QUILCENE — Artist Julie Read will show and sell paintings from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday to benefit the Center Valley Animal Rescue in Quilcene.

The exhibit, said Read in a news release, is part of the Summer Celebration at Center Valley Animal Rescue (CVAR), 11900 Center Road.

The paintings are portraits of animals CVAR has rescued. Most of the animals are current residents, available for adoption.

“I am pretty excited about my little exhibit, as it features animals who have had a hard life and are now on the mend and looking for new homes,” Read said.

The paintings she sells will benefit the shelter. There are 12 paintings in all. Each is 8-inches-by-10-inches and costs $300.

For each painting, $200 will go to CVAR.

Read also will sell greeting cards with the animal images for $3 each.

The exhibit will feature the painting with short story about that specific animal alongside for the viewers to see.

In addition there will be tours, gift basket raffles, snacks and animals of all varieties to meet.

Read offered information about two of her paintings.

Tatanka, she said, is a baby buffalo which barely survived his first days.

Born in May to one of several malnourished bison taken into the care of Center Valley Animal Rescue, he was premature and unable to suckle.

His mother doted over her baby, but Tatanka needed intensive care. He received blood transfusions and started to take a bottle. This little guy has been fighting hard to live, and is now learning to gallop and play like a feisty little bison should, she said.

Read said Maybelle is “a fine swine” available for adoption at CVAR. She came to the rescue after a county seizure.

Very thin upon arrival, she needed to be brought up to a healthy weight. She’s survived an issue with her mammary glands and is 8 years old.

For information about the exhibit and Summer Celebration, contact CVAR at 360-765-0598.