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

 

Dancing's loss is the art world's gain with artist Carol Fucci

     Carol Fucci studied art at LSU but spent her working career in another artistic medium, the dance. She taught dancing in her own studio, Dance with Carol, for thirty-five years. When the youngest of her five children left the nest for college, she found herself with time on her hands.

Carol Fucci with a work in progress in her back yard

     “We had a lot of wall space in here that didn’t have any art on it,” she says of her Northshore home. She and her husband Eddie visited some friends who had decorated their home with several big, beautiful paintings. Carol and Eddie decided to do the same.

     “Then I looked at the price of big pieces of art,” she laughs. “I thought maybe I should paint my own big pieces of art.” Reasoning that the results would be in her own home and not subject to public scrutiny, she began recalling her college classes. When Carol returned to painting five years ago, she found the lessons coming back as clearly as if the classes had been only weeks ago instead of decades. Family and friends gave her kudos for her work. Her topics were people in her life, favorite places and things and subjects suggested by loved ones. Soon people were requesting art for their homes.

     “The very first time that a piece of art left my home and went to someone else, it was very traumatic for me,” she remembers, “because your art becomes like one of your children…It was very tough to do.” She overcame the feeling and now regularly paints beautiful portraits and scenes on commission, to the delight of satisfied clients everywhere. 

     About a year ago, Eddie suggested she try to sell some of her paintings. Her earliest sales were paintings of the world of ballet, a world she knows well. She sold them at her dance studio and gained the confidence to approach galleries with her work. Her art hangs in several galleries, including Artists’ Galleries de Juneau, where she is the Artist of the Month for October 2016. The gallery, in Historic Olde Towne Slidell, displays several of her works.

     Carol might still be dancing full time and painting for a hobby had a hip injury not sidelined her in the last year. A total hip replacement surgery led her to sell her dance studio and focus on the visual arts side of her art. 

     Responsive to the public’s desires, she has paintings hanging in restaurants throughout the Northshore as well as the galleries. She participates in the Mandeville Arts and Crafts Farmers Market on Saturday mornings in Mandeville. In addition to the “big, beautiful pieces” she initially set out to paint, Carol also paints smaller pieces of iconic local images. Another popular item is her souvenir state road maps, typical maps with the addition of a pertinent image over a special location. 

     Dearest to her heart though are the commission paintings of children. Based on photos provided by the person ordering the image, she brings the child to pulsating life with the perfection of aspect and setting only a painting can provide.

     To contact Carol, visit her website or visit Artists’ Galleries de Juneau, 2143 First Street, Slidell, LA. She will be featured at the October Third Thursday celebration at the gallery on October 20 between 5 and 7 p.m.

© 2016 Mary Beth Magee