It's the dog days of summer at Sisters Art Works

The dog days of summer may mean 90 degrees in the shade outside, but inside at Sisters Art Works, it's just dogs and more dogs.

From dog dishes, sculpture, paintings and trays, The Dog Show is staged to honor man's best friend and to support Sisters Furry Friends program, which donates food and spay/neuter certificates to pets in need.

The pet food program for the Sisters area began in 1993, in conjunction with Sisters Kiwanis Food Share program. Donated proceeds from The Dog Show will help provide pet food to Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank year-round.

The show is set to run August 1-31.

On August 1, from 4 to 7 p.m., "whine and treats" will be served at Sisters Art Works, 204 W. Adams Ave. Visitors will also be able to meet the artists. This show contains fine art, so while dogs might otherwise be welcome, at this show they are only welcome outside. The toys some of the sculpted dogs are playing with might be too tempting.

Kathy Deggendorfer, owner of Sisters Art Works, has been painting her daughter's dog Yello in her artwork for years. Yello travels with Miss Dotty, running errands, in her blue pickup truck. He has made his way onto the quilts of Deggendorfer's artistic collaborator, Tonye Belinda Phillips, popular Sisters quilter and author. Deggendorfer and Phillips create combined works of art, half painting and half quilt. Each tells a story.

"I have to paint the dog on a daily basis before I can move on to paint other things," Deggendorfer confesses.

Curator for the event, John Simpkins, another artist whose office is at Sisters Art Works, also has a close attachment to his dog, who comes with him daily to his studio, comforting him as he paints.

Simpkins started painting dogs after a recent trip to Bali. The dogs of Bali don't look at you like normal dogs. People there don't treat dogs like they get treated here. They are not loved or always treated kindly. As a result, the dogs look at people with suspicion. Some Europeans are trying to get better treatment for the Balinese dogs. He feels he can help by painting them.

Every show has its important people behind the scenes. Deggendorfer was both surprised and grateful when Laurence Dyer showed up with completed pillars for the show. The pillars display the standing pieces, sculpture and ceramics.

Display, says Simpkins, can be as important a part of a show as the paintings themselves. He wants the art to speak in the way it is displayed.

Look for the art of Deborah Sether, Bridget McGinn, Rick Bartoe, Brian Vegtor, Corrine Vegter, Bill Earhardt, John Simpkins, Kathy Deggendorfer and Paul Alan Bennett among others at The Dog Show.

A portion of the proceeds from the show will be donated to Furry Friends.