Pet Portraits - Dogs, Cats, Animals, Landscape Paintings - Foxgloves by Isabel Clark

Isabel Clark BA (Honours) Fine Art

Pet Portraits of Dogs, Cats & Animals in oils on canvas or watercolours

by Isabel Clark Paintings Make Very Special Gifts or Cards

Contact Name and Address:-

Isabel Clark - Proprietor, 24 Goodman Way, Tile Hill Village, Coventry  CV4 9UF England - Tel: 024 76462885

I just need  a CLEAR photo of your pet dogs, cats, ponies, horses, birds or any other pet animals, persons or places,

to create a unique and special gift.

If you do not have any clear, close up photos of your pet, take some NOW.

My Work

1992 - 2003

I am a qualified artist working from home in oils, watercolours and occasionally pencil.

Having many pets of my own I know just how precious they are to us and what a special gift a portrait of a beloved pet is. Even more so when our pet has sadly died. Many of my commissions are memorials to much loved pets and they are a lasting tribute to a lost friend.

My greatest hates are the concreting over of our rapidly decreasing countryside, dangerous littering which damages wildlife, political correctness and political interference in the minutiae of our personal lives, overwhelming surveillance of this Country's people, denigration of our wonderful country's history by MPs who think it is their right to milk the expenses system or even fiddle it, and above all the EU. I consider the EU a corrupt organisation which has wrought havoc on much of our Country's industries, farming and fishing, with MEPs who are too often just riding the Brussels gravy train and only seem to give a token representation of this Country's interests.

Now back to my paintings  -  I have many requests for pet portraits as Christmas gifts. If this is the case, please do get your pet portraits orders in well before December. I would hate to have to turn anybody down because it was too late. In fact, if you want the pet portrait for Christmas, send the order in right away.  The important thing is to get that important Christmas order in for your Pet Portraits so you are at the front of the queue.

The majority of my commissions for pet portraits come through the mail and from many parts of the world - the USA, Canada, Australia, Continental Europe, Eire, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and my own country, England.

I need at least one CLEAR photograph of the subject you wish me to paint. The clarity of the photo is crucial to the quality of the finished portrait. A 6"x4" photo is quite large enough, so long as the subject is just about filling the frame and is clear and in focus. I need to see the small details of the subject so that the original and unique character of your pet, person or place is retained in the finished portrait.

Although I have painted for as long as I can remember, I obtained a BA (Honours) Degree in Fine Art from The Lanchester Polytechnic (Coventry University) in 1982, and have been working as a professional artist for many years now, painting pet portraits of dogs, cats and all animals.

I care very much about animal welfare, the natural environment and the sympathetic care of my Country's heritage. I love England and feel very passionately about the urgent need to care for the English countryside with it's various wildlife and wildlife habitats. It is only by caring for their habitats that some of our most pressured wild animals, birds and plants have any chance of flourishing. We should all do our best to alleviate some of the harm man has done and try to prevent further harm.

I had a wild mallard duck for many years after she had been swept away from her mother in a violent storm. My son, who was about 13 years old, told the River Warden about the tiny duckling's plight, and was told him that he could have the duckling if he could get her as she would die without her mother. So, of course, what did my son do? Yes, he jumped into the river fully clothed and plucked her out of the water.

During the years we had "Me-Too", she went almost everywhere with us. I am afraid she had no idea she was a duck and cuddled up with the dogs to sleep.

My son Paul is now grown and he lives just around the corner from me, with my two young grandsons, Daniel and Jacob.

Within a few yards of my home are woods and fields and the dogs have great fun romping through the trees and meadows.

In 2007 we also acquired Borage, an English Springer Spaniel.  We just looked after him during the day at first but his owner realised that he was very fond of Skye and Breeze and did not like being away from them and they also had a very demanding job, with not much time to spare, so I think he is ours too now.

On 31 August 2008, Skye broke her cruciate ligament and was not able to walk on that leg.  We had her booked in for an operation on 8 September 2008, to overcome the problem of the broken cruciate ligament, a TPLO.  This involved cutting through the bone and re-aligning it with the lower limb, then screwing a plate on.  During the surgery, they found she had also damaged her cartilage and they had to remove about half of it.  Unfortunately, this means she will eventually have arthritis in that knee but the operation appears to have gone well and he was a good vet. 

However, just after her operation, when the vet and nurse tried to make their post-op check, Skye was too scared would not let them near her leg and eventually landed on her back scrabbling, absolutely terrified.  In the end, the vet phoned me up and explained they were having problems checking her as she was too distressed.  I asked, "Would you like us to come and pick her up?"  I have never heard such relief in a person's voice.  Well, we picked her up after the vet had given her a pain-killing injection to last that first night and Skye seems to have progressed very nicely since then. Skye recovered well from this operation although her wiggly walk is now very pronounced.

2008 - 2009

In July 2009 Skye broke her other cruciate ligament in her right leg and we are going through the same procedure as in 2008.  See Skye's page.

Unfortunately, this year  we lost both our Guinea Pigs.  Even the vet did not know what they had.  However, one day Tommy and Tufty the Guinea Pigs were fine so far as anybody could tell.  The following day they looked a little quiet but only seemed a bit off.  However, I made an appointment as early as I could at the vets which was the following day.  By this time (the 2nd day of them appearing not quite right) the Guinea Pigs had deteriorated terribly overnight and Tufty died while the vet was examining him.  Tommy died at home despite having antibiotics and everything the vet could dose him with.   If anybody can give me a clue as to what catastrophe befell these lovely little boys, I would be most grateful.

After a while we felt we could offer a couple of Guinea Pigs a home with all new cages etc in case of any unknown infectious problem from our previous pigs being on their equipment.  So, Pip and Squeak arrived.  Two males aged 8 weeks.  Well, the store said they were both males.  However, we now know that Pip is definitely a little girl so we may well have some little ones in a month or so.  I was a bit annoyed at the error as Pip is such a young pig.  I just hope she manages everything OK if she is indeed pregnant.  They are now separated until we can get Squeak neutered.

We still have Rosa, the cat, whose sister Tansy we lost some years back.  Rosa is getting on a bit but, apart from total deafness and a little senility, her health seems fine at the moment.

Most of the fish in the garden pond also seem very well but, unfortunately, Fred, a large goldfish aged about 8 years old has disappeared.  His partner Freda is still there but there is no sign of Fred.  I do not know what happened to him, whether a Heron has had him, (they do fly overhead) or a neighbour's cat or even one of my own pets.  Anyway, he is not there anymore.

Pip the Guinea Pig did not get pregnant.  We split them up in time.  Now they are living happily together squeaking and pop-corning.

2010 - 2012

1st August 2012 - Rosa has had to stay at the Vet's overnight.  She was fine just 2 days before.  Walking around, going outside and climbing onto our laps.  Then, yesterday, 31st July, she refused her food and did not move about much. I did manage to get her to drink some water a couple of times.  She does sometimes have an "off" day but, when we got up this morning she was still just lying there.  She is 18.5 years old now so we could not leave it any longer.

The Vet believes her kidneys are most likely the problem. Levels of something or other are a little higher than they would like.  I hope not but I should find out when I phone them up tomorrow Thursday 2nd August 2012.

There is no death. the stars go down to rise upon some other shore. And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown, they shine for ever more.
 - John Luckey McCreery -

The nearby pond is also home to more animals, mallard ducks, moorhens, frogs, toads, Great Crested Newts, Smooth Newts, Stickle-back fish, minnows, water boatmen and a myriad assorted other water creatures and insects, some of which are quite rare.

One of my greatest pleasures is wandering through the meadows with my dogs, sketchbook in hand, watching the English spring scenery pass on into summer and autumn and then watch the autumn leaves fall before the first snows of winter. Nobody has to be rich to enjoy these pleasures but how poor are those who can find no pleasure in them.

Please do not hesitate to contact me for further details or samples of my work, or if you have any query or just want a chat.

If  you want a really unusual and special gift for a pet or animal lover for Christmas, Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Easter, Anniversaries, Retirements, Presentations or any other celebration, a portrait of a beloved pet is always a unique and very welcome gift. Whether it is a dog painting, cat painting, horse painting, wild animal painting, bird painting, child or adult human painting or a painting of someone's home and garden, it will bring delight and surprise to the recipient.