Page 7 - Harnett Life Winter 2018

and 2005 Florida had experienced unusually busy hurri- the art. So, Ken made a piece for the friend, who loved it.
cane seasons. As a bonafide animal lover, Ken was acutely Word soon got around and more people expressed desire
aware that nearly every animal shelter in Florida had suf- for the art. “Key West is an art town” said Ken. “So of
fered hardships due to the storms. He wanted to help, but course, word of the art got around” he added. Soon sev-
how eral people in Key West would be owners of the artworks.
Ken was out riding his bike one sunny day, but the issue of However, Ken had bigger plans.
how to help the animals still weighed heavy on his mind.
His idea was to make enough art to donate to most of the
“I knew I could buy a few bags of food, but based on what shelters in Florida. Then the shelters could auction off the
I could afford that would not go very far” he said. After art and use the proceeds for their needs. After working dili-
returning home Ken was in the process of feeding his own gently to produce the pieces, Ken hit the road with a friend
dogs when the idea struck him. Dog food art! with the goal of visiting all the shelters in the state. Over
the next year Ken visited many of the state’s shelters, not
While the new idea seemed good, Ken knew that testing only donating the artwork, but volunteering time to them
and experimentation would be necessary to make it work. as well.
So, he set about the task of figuring it out. After much trial
and error, he developed a method of coating the dry dog It was during this time Ken received a call from a producer
food with a polyurethane product, allowing it to dry, and from the Rachel Ray show. They wanted him to appear on
then using the pieces to make mosaic patterns of a canvas. her daily talk show to discuss his artwork and talk about
Dog food art was born! Ken made a few experimental piec- his shelter charity work. “When I left home to do the show
es, which were seen by a friend of his mother’s. The friend I had maybe three emails on my computer asking about my
told Ken she had a friend who she knew would simply love art. When I got back I had around three thousand!” Ken

Harnett Life ~ Winter 2018 Page 7