nikki solone Where it began……. My mother tells a story of how my pre-school teacher came running up to her when she arrived to pick me up one evening after work. “Just look at this, she exclaimed! This is the most perfect apple I have ever seen in all my years of teaching children.” My mom still has that apple and always told me I had talent – I only knew I enjoyed creating art and it made me happy to make my mom smile. Decisions, decisions….Like many people, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up.   I traveled across the country to South Hadley, Massachusetts to attend Mount Holyoke College, the alma mater of Emily Dickinson.  Being the poor college student that I was, I arrived home for Christmas break my sophomore year without a gift for my mom and her partner. There I sat Christmas Eve wondering what I was going to give them. Since my mom was my biggest fan and always loved my art, I decided the best gift would be portraits of our dogs, Player and Chase. I’ll never forget the smiles on their faces when they unwrapped the portraits on Christmas morning. They thought it was the best gift ever. Their smiles were my gift. And then it happened... When I returned to college after that Christmas, I returned with a purpose. I declared my major in Studio Art. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with a Studio Art degree, but I knew it felt right. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree and moved to Portland, Oregon. It would be a while before I would paint my next pet portrait. This time it was another one of the family dogs, Garbo. Garbo wasn’t just a dog though, she was a member of the family – truly the best dog in the whole world. Sadly, Garbo died shortly after I painted her portrait. However, my mom and her partner have expressed how happy they are to be able to look at Garbo’s portrait every day because it always makes them smile and that they will treasure it always. It was then I decided to start my own pet portrait business. I would use my skill, education and love of animals to create custom portraits of people’s four-legged family members and I would call it Pet PawTraits. I knew I had made the right decision when I was commissioned by a veterinary hospital in Oregon to paint several portraits of their clients’ pets, some of whom were no longer living. The smiles and tears of happiness the portraits brought to the owners of the pets is hard to describe. I can tell you that my heart and soul goes into every painting and it is truly my greatest reward to know my portraits bring happiness and joy. I have relocated to Sacramento to be closer to my family, which of course includes our dogs, and continue to paint custom portraits of people’s four-legged family members and best friends. My greatest joy continues to be the expression on my clients’ faces and to hear them express how much they will treasure the uniqueness of their family member’s personality that I have captured in their portraits. It is my hope that these portraits will bring a smile to your face and invoke happy memories for years to come. - nikki