Cutie Pooks

$275.00

My little rescue pup has been by my side for years. I say “pup” even though he’s almost eight now — but small enough that people still mistake him for one. When we got him, we named him Akualele (in Hawaiian, “akua” means god or spirit and “lele” means to jump or fly, which together loosely translates to “fireball”) after watching him zip around doing spinning jumps far higher than his mini size should allow.

He’s notoriously hard to photograph. That’s partly why I’m so happy with how this piece turned out. I snapped the original photo while on a call with my daughter, who’s away at college, and she immediately said it was her favorite picture of him. I knew I had to paint it.

For this portrait, I broke from my usual style and worked in acrylics with bold colors and expressive strokes, finishing with pan pastel pure pigments for the final details. The layered color brings out his adorable expression and captures his gentle spirit.

This one-of-a-kind signed 8×10” original is matted in 11×14” acid free archival matboard and ready to frame. If you’d like a custom hand‑painted portrait of your own cutie, I’d love to create one for you!

My little rescue pup has been by my side for years. I say “pup” even though he’s almost eight now — but small enough that people still mistake him for one. When we got him, we named him Akualele (in Hawaiian, “akua” means god or spirit and “lele” means to jump or fly, which together loosely translates to “fireball”) after watching him zip around doing spinning jumps far higher than his mini size should allow.

He’s notoriously hard to photograph. That’s partly why I’m so happy with how this piece turned out. I snapped the original photo while on a call with my daughter, who’s away at college, and she immediately said it was her favorite picture of him. I knew I had to paint it.

For this portrait, I broke from my usual style and worked in acrylics with bold colors and expressive strokes, finishing with pan pastel pure pigments for the final details. The layered color brings out his adorable expression and captures his gentle spirit.

This one-of-a-kind signed 8×10” original is matted in 11×14” acid free archival matboard and ready to frame. If you’d like a custom hand‑painted portrait of your own cutie, I’d love to create one for you!