This artwork was donated to our charity fund and will be one of the lots at the auction. 
The proceeds from this lot will be used to support the four-legged friends who are under the care of the Rubizh Brigade. 
Sargeant and Kipish, and many other dogs, along with our defenders, are standing up for our country.
Join us and make your contribution to support the animals that need our help.

This is Jessie's story, as told by the sculpture's author, Alina Ryabatyagova. 

"It all didn't start with the sculpture, and not even with me, but with a small puppy named Jessi. Some sources claim that someone gave her to my parents as a gift, others say that my parents bought her for $25. But that's not important, by the time I was born, Jessi had peacefully lived her dog life for two years, and continued to do so afterwards, only now she felt responsible for me. My father told me about my first meeting with her. I was just a few days old, I was put to sleep, and Jessi came over, gently sniffed my hand, and licked it. Probably then she realized that I was there to stay... And from that moment on, she always watched over me. Outside, Jessi wouldn't let anyone near me, barking at all the passersby. Later, she became a mother, and I really enjoyed interacting with her puppies, she didn’t mind... Growing up, I learned to take care of her. Gradually, walking her became my responsibility. Reflecting on those moments, I am amazed at how much animals understand; they just can't speak, or they speak, but not like us. I think my love for animals started with Jessi. Who knows, maybe if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have chosen to become an animal sculptor.

The sculpture "Jessi" became one of the works created at a turning point. By then, I already had the necessary knowledge to make sculptures and knew I wanted to develop in animal art, but I still didn’t fully understand what my art was about. I was just beginning to work with stone and bronze. And this was my first work made in bronze, I wanted it to be something special. I always carry a sketchbook with me to be able to sketch in case I suddenly come up with something interesting. And in that sketchbook, I keep a childhood photo with Jessi. And once, seeing that photo, I remembered that I once thought about how wonderful it would be to have a sculpture of my beloved pet... In two weeks, I sculpted her and within a month, I had a bronze sculpture. Unfortunately, I don't have a good-quality photo of Jessi, I don't remember her in such detail to sculpt from memory, so I didn’t strive for portrait likeness. I imagined how she would look in another reality and decided to add a third eye as a symbol of the transition to that other reality. The sculpture "Jessi" embodies the childhood impression of a dog that simply lived its ordinary dog life."