Artist's pet project is painting animals

     By Damon Hodge
     View staff writer
      Painter Terese DiMartino always gets feedback from her subjects.
      Woof! Meow! Hiss!
      Call it pet affirmation.
      For most of her life, the former fashion designer has painted animal portraits. Name it and she's framed it -- from pooches to pigeons, cats to cockatiels, rabbits to raccoons, salamanders to snakes, even a kimono dragon.
      Pet Portraits, the fledgling company DiMartino operates for her home, traces its roots to her New Jersey childhood when she fell in love with animals during visits to the Bronx Zoo and drew stick figures of everything in sight.
      "It was always a goal of mine -- not only to paint but to paint pictures of animals and make a living doing it," said DiMartino, 46.
      For as little as $100, owners can get a no-maintenance version of their beloved pet. Postcards of that pampered pooch or coddled cat are also available.
      "People go crazy when they see the portraits," DiMartino said.
      Tish Lidji gasped when she saw portraits of her five cocker spaniels.
      "She captured each dog's personality and their facial," she said.
      Pet Portraits blends DiMartino's passion for animals and art. At 5, she got her first pet, a rabbit named Peter. At 10, two Saint Bernards joined the family. More dogs, rabbits, birds, hampsters and horses came later.
      "I was always bringing something home -- salamanders, birds, rabbits, crickets, frogs," she said.
      Today, her brood includes Topper, a parrot; Zais, a cockatiel; parakeets Budge and Bridgit; a box turtle named Lightning; and a pond full of koi and calico fish.
      DiMartino took up drawing at age 3, using her father's drafting equipment to draw stick figures -- Emiddio DiMartino was an electrical mechanic engineer with Bell Laboratories.
      "On family trips, while everyone was sleeping, I would be the only one up and I would draw everything," DiMartino said.
      At 9, the family moved to a town outside Newark, N.J., where a neighbor introduced her to sketching and painting.
      "I saw Kiki (the neighbor) painting a landscape one day and I asked her could she teach me to paint," DiMartino said. "I drew a dog in pencil. She was so impressed, she suggested I draw it in oils on a canvas. She showed me how to mix colors and shadow. She encouraged me to enter a local competition. I won."
      DiMartino studied art on her own for two to three hours a day and took classes in high school, completing her first mural of a zodiac sign during her junior year at a private Catholic high school.
      She earned an associates degree in fashion merchandising in 1972 from Wales Merchandising College in Dallas and landed work as a clothes model and designer of men's apparel. She worked briefly in the fashion industry upon returning to New Jersey in 1974, then opened Sir W. & E Saddlery, which specialized in English and Western saddles and accessories.
      "There weren't any saddle stores nearby, plus I'd always loved horses," she said, recalling her first stint with horseback riding at 7.
      She attended horse-riding school though high school and worked as a stable hand for neighbors. She bought her first two horses in 1974, training them for jumping and rodeo barrel racing. She attended the 1992 Kentucky Derby, calling it a "dream come true."
      When business was slow, she painted portraits of her pets. The requests streamed in after she painted a portrait of seven thoroughbreds for her neighbor. Soon, revenue from the paintings surpassed store sales.
      DiMartino came to Las Vegas in 1977 to help in the family restaurant, Di Martino's Italian Restaurant. For the next 17 years, she worked as a cashier, waitress, cook, manager and owner. In the interim, she studied graphic design under noted instructor Steve Lesnick and delved into murals, fabric painting, fauxing and hand-painting frames and furniture.
      Her love for animals led to a year's work in a local pet store specializing in exotic animals and two years assisting a veterinarian with horse surgery and rehabilitation. She recently began devoting the lion's share of her time to Pet Portraits.
      Pet paintings aren't uncommon. An Internet search revealed nearly two dozen Web sites offering to immortalize your pet's mug. DiMartino said owners often attach human qualities to their pets, making them integral parts of the family.
      "They love seeing their pets in pictures," she said.
      DiMartino works mainly from snapshots. On occasion she's visited pet owners or snapped her own pictures of the animals. Using pastels allows for quicker turnaround -- usually one to two days. And she says she doesn't sacrifice detail.
      Lionel Faison was thrilled with a portrait of his Lhasa apso.
      "If you saw the dog and saw the picture on the poster and the picture on the huge chalk rendition (he bought), it's all the same. She captured everything," Faison said. "The lady is very good. Her love of animals transcends her work."
      Those interested can contact Terese DiMartino at 658-7257.