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Once in a while customers send us pictures of a project they created using our wall decals or wall stencils and we just have to know more about it. Then on occasion we get to really know more about the people and in this case pets behind the mural and more times than not are touched by their stories. Recently, Diane H. in Lake Orion, Michigan shared a picture of a wall mural she created showing off her love of her dogs with one of our Dean Russo Wall Stickers at the center of it. We could see right away she was an animal lover and a fan of Dean’s work so we wanted to find out more about what sparked such a great looking animal themed mural.
Diane and her husband Calvin are parents to two daughters, Vanessa and Kasidy. They are also raising 3 dogs and 3 cats who you could say all have a checkered past. Diane was volunteering at the Oakland County Animal Control and Pet Adoption Center in 2012 when Venus, a now four year old pit bull was dumped there. Diane had the responsibility of walking the stray pit bulls. You see pit bulls are not adoptable at the shelter, and can only be pulled by a rescue who then fosters them. Diane instantly fell in love with Venus who she remembers was a joy to walk and loved attention. It took a while but Venus was finally sent to a rescue to be fostered and Diane figured that was the last she’d see of her. But soon, fate had other plans and brought the two of them back together when Venus needed a quiet place to be fostered upon recovering from a double knee surgery. Calvin wasn’t too sure at first but he too fell head over heels for Venus when he saw what a sweet heart she was. Diane and Calvin ended up adopting Venus and she’s been part of the family ever since.
About a year and a half later, Diane found Watson a ten year old fox terrier who was in pretty rough shape while volunteering at the shelter. She took him home thinking it would be a hospice situation but happily after months of TLC and lots of home cooked meals, Watson got stronger. He is now a happy, healthy member of the family too! Floyd, another pit bull Diane met at the shelter, joined the family a little later that year when she was able to temporarily foster him. Of course, as she had pretty much fallen in love with Floyd already, it was no surprise that she decided to keep him after that.
Their three cats are Ashley, a 14 year old they brought home from Bolivia, Sasha, a 6 year old they adopted on impulse at the local PetSmart, and Finn, a 4 year old one eyed cat they took in from the street. They are all a part of this big, loving family as well now.
Diane currently works part-time at a local pet store that sells healthy food and treats for dogs and cats and is still volunteering at the animal shelter when she can. Pet adoption is a very important passion of hers and many of her friends as well. She had previously purchased three Dean Russo prints, including a framed “Lover Not a Biter” print that you can see in the wall mural and a few of his tee-shirts. A friend had the Beware of Pit Bulls Wall Decal on the wall of her pet business and when Diane found out where she got it from, she looked My Wonderful Walls up online. She then purchased two of the In a Perfect World Wall Decals as well as the All You Need is Love Panda Decal from Balázs Solti for her daughter and the Madman’s Sunrise Wall Sticker from Lyle Hatch. One of the dog decals, she actually donated for a friend’s auction to raise funds for her foster dog’s operation which is pretty awesome! But now she needed a plan for what to do with her pit bull wall sticker. She admits she left it sitting on its backing paper for a while because she just wasn’t sure where to put it. Then inspiration struck! Diane says she remembered she had a custom painted picture of her three dogs that she hadn’t hung up yet and thought that the two pieces of art might go good together. From then it on it was a domino effect as she remembered a framed Dean Russo print in her basement, a photo enlargement of one of the dogs and a few other colorful dog pics that might all go together. She had recently taken down some canvas art on her stairwell and had a big blank wall left, so she thought she’d try the seven dog art items there. After rearranging a few times on the floor to get it how she liked it all, she began to put the eclectic pet mural on the wall. We think it looks just wonderful!
Diane tells us she’s bought other wall decals from places like Target before but they didn’t compare to the My Wonderful Walls material. She described our stickers as having a much thicker feeling, a cross between vinyl and fabric and appreciated that there wasn’t a visible border on the wall. She didn’t worry the decal would rip at all and even had to peel the dog sticker off a few times to rearrange it but says it never lost any of its stickiness. Got to love that! Now she tells us she’s bought another Dean Russo wall decal, the In a Perfect World, in size large but is still figuring out where it will go. We can’t wait to see what other projects Diane gets into and wish her and her family all the best!
Whether you’re an animal enthusiast or foster animals in your home, we think you’ll love the Dean Russo Art collection and have many other animal art decals available as well. If pet rescue and adoption is something of interest to you please check out the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals page or your local animal shelter’s website for more information on ways to help.
