Rusty's portrait was recently featured in The New York Times
A Moment I’m Still Taking In
Over the past few days, I was included in a feature in The New York Times about pet portraiture and the deep connection we share with our animals.
Seeing a portrait I created held in the home it belongs to, and reading the words that followed, is something I’m still taking in.
A thought I keep coming back to is this: I wish I could tell my 10-year old self, a Swedish girl who had just sold her first painting, that one day her art would be on the homepage of The New York Times… and beyond.
The Meaning Behind the Work
The feature speaks to something I have always believed:
That these portraits are more than art.
They are a way of continuing a relationship.
A way of honoring presence.
A way of holding onto something deeply loved.
Where This Work Lives
Messages and notes began arriving over the past few days… from collectors, from friends, from people I haven’t spoken to in years.
Childhood friends.
Colleagues from earlier chapters of my life.
People who have, in their own way, been part of this journey.
There has been so much kindness.
So much encouragement.
And I’ve found myself sitting with it, feeling deeply grateful, and at moments, quietly overwhelmed in the most beautiful way.
It has reminded me of something I have always known:
This work does not live in isolation.
It lives in your homes.
In your stories.
In the quiet moments when you walk past a portrait and feel something shift.
In the memories that stay present.
What I didn’t expect, and what has surprised me over the past few days, is the way it also lives in the people who have known me.
People who have been part of this journey, whether closely or from afar, across different times and places.
The Feature
If you’d like to read the full piece, The New Family Portrait Has Four Legs and a Tail, you can find it here:
With Gratitude
Thank you to Dorie Chevlen for writing such a thoughtful and beautifully observed piece, and for including my work.
And to Larry and Tonya Smith for sharing Rusty’s story and the love you carry for him. It means more than I can say.
The photograph of them with Rusty’s portrait was captured so beautifully by Erich Martin.
I’m deeply grateful to every collector who has trusted me to paint their beloved, and to those who continue to share my work with others who may need it.
I’m still taking it all in.
