Precious pets portrayed by artist Lisa Brook

Artist Lisa Brook began creating her whimsical pet portraits in 2003 on the advice of her mother.

Lisa Brook at Artists' Galleries de Juneau with samples of her whimsical pet portraits.

“My mom and I sat down one day and I was growing tired of doing visual merchandising,” she explains. She wanted to paint. Mom had a solution. “She said ‘Why don’t you do pet portraits?’” 

Brook’s first portrait was, fittingly, of her mother’s dog Drake. She hasn’t stopped painting pets since. Some things change along the way. The paintings may be highly colorful or very neutral, depending on the personality of the pet and its owner, and the resource photos available.

“I have so much fun with each one,” she notes, adding “They’re all different.” She tries to get to know the pet and its human in an effort to best capture the personalities involved.

She expresses her art in many ways: on purses, jewelry and household décor, as well as traditional canvas paintings. Brook takes joy in every species, and has painted nearly every kind of pet imaginable. Her favorite subject, however, is her own Dalmatian, Muzzy. They shared fifteen years together and her deep relationship with the dog allowed her a degree of connection beyond many of her subjects.

Brook works in all sizes, from miniatures to 3-dimensional cutouts. She’s painted on all sorts of surfaces, too. Perhaps her oddest request was for a painting on a mailbox.

With a degree in graphic design, she began her work in visual merchandising for department stores. Now she uses those same skills to celebrate the special relationship between pets and owners. Her work hangs at Artists’ Galleries de Juneau, 2143 First St., in Olde Towne Slidell, LA, where she will be celebrated as the Artist of the Month for November 2016. For other examples of her work or to commission a portrait, visit her Facebook page: Custom Pet Portraits By Lisa.

© 2016 Mary Beth Magee

 

A modern look for the human form comes from artist Wayne Boudreaux

 

Photo courtesy Wayne Boudreaux

     For artist Wayne Boudreaux, expression takes the form of acrylic on canvas as he creates human form pictures to delight the public. Any size canvas can find a place on his easel as he shares with the public the images of things seen over a lifetime.

     He hasn’t always worked full time as an artist. Three years ago, he began applying the skills he learned in younger years at University of New Orleans in earnest. With his retirement came a desire to stay occupied, and he turned back to art to help him “stay busy,” as he puts it.

     Boudreaux spent his youth in New Orleans, living in many neighborhoods over the years but he now calls Slidell home. The 68-year-old’s work focuses primarily on the female form, doing them in “a modern style, mildly geometric…and natural shapes.”

     “I try to present the human form in a positive way, in a modern shape,” he says, as he shares his philosophy of art. 

     His work hangs in the St. Tammany Art Association gallery in Covington as well as Artists’ Galleries de Juneau in Slidell's Olde Towne, where he is the September 2016 Artist of the Month. Tent shows also play a role in his art business. He has entered several competitions including some in Slidell and has won at the prestigious Art in the Pass competition in Pass Christian, MS. 

     “This year, I was accepted in the Covington Three River Art Festival,” he declares.

Boudreaux creates his paintings on spec, declining to get involved in commission work which he perceives as being “too much like a job.” He wants to keep his unstructured approach, painting images which move him. This approach allows him to create paintings which generally sell around $350.00, although he has painted pictures which sold as high as $1200.00.

     “I’m enjoying it. It’s doing what I want it to do,” he says about his art. “It gives me something challenging, something that I like doing…It’s been very interesting.”

Artists' Galleries de Juneau

2143 First Street

Slidell, LA 

985-326-8286