pet portraits

My rescued cat Jethro is full of personality and extremely willing to pose for endless photos (he loves attention!). This is the first of my nine portraits of Jethro, each using a different art medium on a 3.5″ x 3.5″ Claybord™ Tile, created and manufactured by Ampersand Art Supply. For this painting I chose a limited palette of primary colors, letting them mix randomly on the smooth surface to create beautiful hues. Claybord has the unique feature of allowing dried … Read More

Pet lovers everywhere know that their companions’ lives are too short. Over many years, I’ve painted more than three dozen pet portraits. My first three pet portraits (shown below) were done in charcoal in 1980, of my own first pets, Cleo, Ernie, and Pluto. Paintings of my own dogs and cats trigger precious memories, especially after the pets have died. I am grateful to be able to do this for other pet owners as well. My portrait of Mango was … Read More

Dog portraits are one of my favorite subjects, so when I was commissioned to paint beautiful Bandit it was a delight. We decided on an acrylic painting on an 8×10 canvas. My customer Erin sent me a few reference photos and I was immediately drawn to the one with the tilted head (#1 in my photo collage shown below). But on closer inspection, I didn’t particularly like the glare on Bandit’s nose and the reflections in his eyes, caused either … Read More

I had a 4″ x 9″ black Scratchbord panel just waiting for the right inspiration, and my photo of a gorgeous young Persian kitty named Roger got me started. I liked his colorful eyes, tuffs of fur, and pink nose. His upward gaze had me pondering what to add that would appear to be attracting his attention – while simultaneously creating a work of art more interesting than merely a cat portrait. Scratchboards are ideal for creating linear textures and, … Read More

I just learned that my painting “Heart To Heart” won another very special award in the 2019 Oak Ridge Open Show (which ended in November)… the “Open Show Viewer’s Choice Award.” This award is tabulated at the end of the show, by the votes from those who viewed the show during its display for over two months. This black Scratchbord® was one of my two paintings in the show and won an award from the judge – “Sorghum Maker” was … Read More

An art idea hit me like a bullet one day – how about an alpaca painting? I love painting animals, alpacas are adorable, people love alpacas… I should have thought of this long ago! A friend had told me about her pet alpacas a while back, so I contacted her and asked if I could visit for photos. Right away, Beth invited me to come by, and we chose a lovely sunny afternoon. Three alpacas were in the fenced area: … Read More

  When I opened a new package of three little Aquabord™ panels, I thought I was trying a new painting surface… a thin layer of fine white kaolin clay on a hardboard with a pebbly texture, heralded as ideal for use with watercolors. The surface absorbs watercolor pigment similarly to cold-pressed (textured) watercolor paper, but the paint can be easily removed. It’s sometimes known as scratchboard, and when I was a kid we created our own by covering heavy paper … Read More

This dog portrait is unlike my usual “head-shot.” My friend Jenny messaged me with a photo, sadly saying her daughter-in-law Lindsey’s dog Bree had just died at age 15. She asked if I could do a painting from the photo, as a surprise for Lindsey. I was grateful for the opportunity and eager to tackle the interesting pose. Unfortunately, the backlighting which helped to capture a dramatic pose simultaneously knocked out the details in the shadows. The photo was small … Read More

I’ve just completed one of two commissioned pet portraits I’ve been creating simultaneously. This one is of my ‘god-dog’ who is named Lonesome. He is the most timid dog I’ve ever met, always slipping off to the security of his dog bed when guests are at his house. My husband Rick took it as a personal challenge to convince Lonesome that it was safe to let Rick get close. It took a little while, but they eventually bonded. Our eldest … Read More

  For an excitable little dog, he’s been very patient. Watson joined our family in January 2015 and I’ve finally finished his portrait, which I started months ago… painting is my moonlighting job, so life often gets in the way! We adopted Watson from the local shelter where he had been surrendered by his owners just before Christmas. He was estimated to be about 11 months old. We figured we better not change his name, since he seemed to know … Read More