It’s never too early to start doing good deeds for others. Adults should always be role models for children and the youth, but sometimes those roles are easily reversed. A young boy did just that – showing that an early age one can do more to uplift others. In the case of kindhearted 9-year-old Russian boy Pavel Abramov, he decided that he would take up the cause of helping animals.
Pavel is an inspiring story of someone who decided to use his talent to reach out to those in need. The young artist from the small city of Arzamas in Nizhny Novgorod decided to use his love for painting into helping animals, by exchanging his artwork for animal food and supplies, which are then donated to a local shelter.
Pavel had this wonderful idea for helping animals when his family lost one of their own pets, which hit the family quite hard. He also began to grow concerned over the situation of stray animals wandering in the city. He felt compelled to help, which resulted in a project called “Kind Paintbrush,” which Pavel built with his mother, Ekaterina Bolshakova.
The project started as a way to honor the memory of their pet, Barsik, but has since evolved into a creative and generous way of helping animals.
This isn’t even the first time that mother and son have volunteered their time to a worthy endeavor. The two manage a group on the Russian social media site VK called, “What [is] a little volunteer is capable of?” The project aims to prove that if one individual can bring positive change, then others will be inspired to follow.
They work on their own time and effort, with no support from other organizations, and no staff to help them in their activities. They are simply motivated by their empathy, huge heart, and willingness to use their skills for helping animals.
Only one animal shelter, housing over 100 dogs, exists in Arzamas, and Pavel is its youngest volunteer. To support the shelter, Pavel translates images of real pets of owners into wonderful portraits, and in return, he is paid with food such as porridge, meat, or beef bones, medicine, bandages, household supplies, accessories, and other needs of the shelter, in exchange for his whimsical and often lifelike paintings.
He is always eager to meet the owners of his furry models, and he knows each name of the pets he has painted. He is often touched by stories of pets that have been rescued from the streets, which makes him even more motivated to paint portraits and help more animals.
This stimulating project has already grown beyond Arzamas city. Pavel has become quite a sensation, particularly among animal lovers, that people all over Russia have been in touch to have portraits of their pets made. Requests for paintings of their pets have also come from abroad, and Pavel’s work has already been brought to Spain and Germany.
“Our family is proud of his wonderful project. His days are scheduled to minutes, he wants to do absolutely everything, there is just not enough time,” said Ekaterina.
Pavel’s dreams for the future are still tied to helping animals. He plans to become an architect when he grows up and build a big animal shelter. But for now, he will do as much as he can with his art and love for animals.
Below are some of Pavel’s stunning works of art:
