German Shepherd Dog

I finished this portrait of Foxy, a sweet German Shepherd,  a while ago and am just now getting it uploaded here.  Seems that the time flies by, and I realize that I am not attending to this blog as regularly as I should.  But I digress...

The completed portrait of Foxy, the German Shepherd Dog.

A while ago I held a contest to win a pet portrait.  The rules were simple, post a photo of your pet to my Facebook page and whichever photo inspired me to paint, would win!  Well here is the original winning photo:

The original reference photo for Foxy's portrait

 I just love GSD's.  They are so loyal, faithful and sweet that I couldn't resist this photo.

As with all of my commissions, I spoke at length with the winner about the portrait throughout the process.  It may sound corny, but I love to hear stories about the pets that I am painting.  I want to know their temperament and anything that helps me get to know the soul of the animal.  I really think that it helps me connect with the animal and, in turn, create a better portrait.  She requested a 16"x 20" canvas and she wanted a green background in reference to the plant beside Foxy in the original photo.  As I neared completion of the portrait, I showed it to her again, and she thought that Foxy's coat needed to be a bit darker than she appears in the original reference photo. When all adjustments were made, this is the finished portrait and she was quite happy with the results!

Here is a detail of Foxy's eyes.  I truly believe that a pet portrait is all about the eyes...once I get the eyes right, the whole portrait comes together...This dog is such a sweet, gentle soul who would do anything for her people.  What do you think?

A detail of Foxy's eyes -
the window to the soul...

A funny thing happened after I gave this portrait to Foxy's family...They told me that they had to move the portrait from its original spot because Foxy's doggy sibling, Oscar the Pug, kept barking at it.  I guess it looked real enough to him!

As always, if you are interested in ordering a pet portrait or any painted project, please don't hesitate to contact me.  Thanks for looking!

Chiweenie Portrait

Painted Mine! by Jenny Mehler 

Yes.   It's a Chiweenie.  

Do you know this dog breed?  It's a chihuahua and dachshund mix.  This is a portrait that I painted of Ivy, my neighbor's new puppy.  Ivy is the sweetest little puppy EVER!  She always comes running over to say hello with a happy little smile on her face.  Once, she was running so fast that her little legs couldn't keep up with her and she did a full-on summersault!  So CUTE!

Anyway, I digress...  Ivy belongs to my neighbor's ten-year-old daughter and they got her when she was just a few weeks old, just barely old enough to be away from her mother.  She was so tiny!  My neighbor took a photo of Ivy sitting in a shoe right after they got her and she asked me to paint it for her daughter for Christmas.  We both decided that the black shoe  just wasn't cute enough, so I changed up the colors (just a little bit! <wink>  blue, pink and purple - YES!)

Painted Mine! by Jenny Mehler

This portrait is painted on an 8x10 canvas painted with acrylic paints.  Ivy has grown up a bit now, but she is still the sweetest little puppy ever!

And my neighbor's daughter was so excited with this gift that was custom-painted just for her...


Please contact me about commissioning a custom painted pet portrait just for you (or as a gift for your favorite animal lover).  In addition to canvas, I also paint customized Christmas ornaments, photo frames, etc.

Pet Portraits

One of the things that I really LOVE doing is painting (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before).  I also love animals.  So, one of the things I really enjoy is PAINTING PET PORTRAITS for other animal lovers!   

I have been steadily adding to my portfolio as new commissions come in and 

am ready to share a few of them with you...  

Bear, a Newfoundland mix, was painted for Deb and Kyle K.  as a memorial after 
he lost his battle with cancer.  
Bear was described as a "valiant protector" and I added this custom tag in the shape of a shield, 
as a symbolic reminder of his devotion to his loving family.  

This portrait was painted for Nancy and Don R. as a tribute to their beloved Killian.

This is a portrait of Princess, an American Eskimo dog, was  commissioned by Amanda S. and Kris R.
as a gift for his Aunt Sue.   I customized this tag for her.

This painting of "Puppers" was commissioned by Michelle W. and Steve  N. as a gift for his Mother.    

I work from photos that people have taken of their pets and I always ask for a description of their pets before I begin work.   I want to know about the animal's personality and what makes them special to their people.  It may sound corny, but I keep these descriptions in my mind while I am painting and I think that it really helps me "capture" their personality on canvas.  My customers always have the choice of background colors and I love to add personalized details to the portraits when appropriate.  One of my favorite ways to do this is by adding a custom dog tag or pet tag with their name.  Usually the tag somehow relates to the personality of the pet.  Perfect examples of this are the tags I made for Bear and Princess!  

Hello, Blog! It's Me, Jenny.

Okay, first things first.  Let me admit that I am in total awe of the amazing people out here in blogland  who are completing amazing projects!  I have been losing sleep, literally, thinking of all those projects out there just waiting for me.   Do you do that too?  


Here's a little bit about me...


I have always loved all things creative and am definitely a diy-er.  My husband shakes his head and gives me that look whenever I see something in the store and say "I could do that" or "We could buy it and paint it - then it would be awesome!".    We moved into our first home about 5 years ago, painted and decorated a little, but mostly, I am now ready to re-paint and re-decorate.   But, like most people, I need to do it on a budget.  I have Pottery Barn dreams on a thrift store budget...


We have 3 boys and now that they are getting bigger I have a little more time to devote to home projects.   I discovered blogger and have become totally addicted!  The problem is, the more I see, the more I want to do!  Will there ever be enough time to do these projects I have my eyes on?   


Mostly, I am just so excited to be out here, in the same universe as all these incredible, creative people.   It's a bit scary, though, kind of like going back to school and really wanting to sit with the cool kids and hoping that they like me...


The boys are calling me now to go out and play in the snow - that's how things go around here...Just when I start something, the boys go and decide that they need me.  Not that I mind (too much) of course!  So, good - bye for now.  I hope to hear from some of you soon.