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Pet Portraits An Artist's Tale Artist, Ellen Silverberg, has found what makes her happy: painting your pet. With a degree in painting from Cooper Union in the 1960's, the aspiring young painter forged out into the world and found herself sidetracked. "The reality was I had to make a living," says Silverberg, "and I didn't paint." She had an art gallery in Manhattan for 20 years and just eight years ago decided to leave her native urban environment for easier living. Silverberg moved to the Hamptons but found herself again working for someone else. One day, she decided to change her life. "I gave up the job two weeks before Christmas and I said, 'I'm 53 years old and I finally want to do something that I really love doing,'" says Silverberg. "When I first started painting again, I painted what I really loved," she says. "I really love animals. It's great -I'm happy with what I'm doing for the first time in my life." Silverberg had done a painting of Ziggy, her 6 � year old rescued mixed breed dog, and friends and family responded with enthusiasm, asking her to paint their beloved pets. "I created a website where people could learn how to commission my work," says Silverberg, "and that became a business." Silverberg calls her decision to move to East Hampton a, "life lengthening decision." Aside from its positive impact on her own life, the move, according to Silverberg, was beneficial for Ziggy as well. "It's a wonderful life for a dog," she says. "It's his backyard and he lets us use it." Silverberg works well with the pets she paints and with the people who commission her work. She likes to spend time with her subjects, getting to know their personalities and their distinctive expressions and behaviors. She works from photographs and will take them herself or, preferably, use images provided by her clients. "Nobody knows their animals like the person who lives with them," says Silverberg. Portraits run from $600 to several thousand depending on the size and nature of the work. So far, clients have commissioned pieces for their own pleasure, but Silverberg suspects that her paintings will become popular gifts during the holiday season. Still, most of her clients will be calling on her services for themselves. "The ultimate expression of love for your animal is to have a painting of it," she says. Log onto www.paintedpetportraits.com for information on how to commission your pet portrait. |
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