Tuscaloosa artist Emily Mitchell is running out of space on her walls. Every room in her home is decorated with lifelike paintings of flowers, pottery, landscapes and, most notably, dogs and cats.
Emily Mitchell, a retired school librarian, has been commissioning pet portraits to benefit animal rescue groups for 12 years. Word of mouth and fliers in veterinarian offices have spread knowledge of her work, and the response from pet owners is usually the same: “That looks just like him!”
“One hundred percent of the commission from my pet portraits goes to pet adoption groups,” Mitchell said.
Before she starts a portrait, Mitchell asks for 5-10 photos of the pet to try to get an idea of its best characteristics.
“I try to go to their house and visit the pet in person to verify how it looks,” she said. “One photo does not tell the whole story.”
Mitchell said art is a good way to help a charity cause. Her husband Fred Mitchell said her work makes art lovers and pet lovers smile and even cry sometimes.
“She won’t tell you, but she’s seen grown men cry over these paintings,” Fred Mitchell said. “One man cried because he didn’t think it’d be that good. The portrait wasn’t even a memorial. He just didn’t think it’d be that good.”
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Her love of animals runs deep, as she and her husband fostered animals for 30 years. The Mitchells sometimes fostered six pets at a time, taking dogs and cats for vet appointments, caring for them in their home and screening potential permanent homes.
“It’s important when you adopt a dog out to check the home. Sometimes people have other motives,” Emily Mitchell said. “It’s dangerous to offer a dog free to a good home because it might be a death sentence for that dog.”
Mitchell now focuses on her portrait commissions and other work with adoptions groups. She is slated to paint a mural for the Humane Society of West Alabama and is on the committee for T-Town Unleashed, a new dog park in Tuscaloosa.
On March 2 and March 9, Mitchell will host a pet portrait workshop at the Kentuck Art Center. She is a frequent exhibitor at the Kentuck Art Fair, but this will be her first teaching experience.
Executive Director of Kentuck Art Center Shweta Gamble said Kentuck has already received a lot of interest in the class.
“We are delighted Emily wanted to teach it,” Gamble said. “Emily will provide the drawings on the canvas as a starting point, so it will be focused on painting and a great class for any level of painter.”
Mitchell asked the Humane Society if she could highlight one cat and one dog for her workshop. She chose Ella the cat (March 2) and Jack the dog (March 9).
“Ella is 8 years old. Older cats are more difficult to adopt out, but they have their perks,” she said. “Older cats’ personalities are already formed. You know you’ll get a ladylike cat and no curtain climber.”
Mitchell said her sessions would pay close attention to the eyes, fur and expressions of Ella and Jack.
“Ella will make a video appearance during his workshop, and Jack will attend his workshop,” she said. “Seeing the animals live will help capture the reality of them in the portrait. My ultimate goal is for people to go home and paint their own pets.”
The workshops will be from 9 a.m. to noon on their respective days. Registration costs $35 per session, and a portion of the proceeds from the workshops will go to the Humane Society of West Alabama. To register, call the Kentuck office at (205)-758-1257 or email [email protected] by Feb. 23.
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