Pawz Portraits, Personalize Pups

Twenty-year-old Indian Trail artist taps her talent to help dogs in need

by Deborah Parkhill Mullis

Artist Elizabeth Forscutt of Indian Trail freely admits her training is limited to a high school art course, reading books from Michael's arts and crafts store and watching how-to videos on YouTube. Not that it matters. Forscutt, 20, who said she's been drawing all her life, has natural ability; especially for capturing everyone's best four-legged friend on canvas.

There's more to her proclivity for painting pups, which recently became her profession, than applying paint to canvas. A mutt with devilishly itchy skin, whose vet bills kept piling up, was the inspiration for Forscutt's new business, Pawz Portraits.

She needs to pay for his expensive prescription and special dog food, so she's begun painting commissioned pet portraits. With the proceeds, she decided to help other dogs with medical needs, too.

Portraits come naturally

Though she's never sought recognition, Forscutt's talent has won awards. In elementary school, she won a poster contest in her hometown of West Islip, N.Y. "It was about recycling," said Forscutt, who was awarded a $100 saving bond for her drawing of a nature scene that included a duck with its neck caught in a plastic six-pack ring quacking for help.

As a high school junior, she received a $100 gift card to an art supply store after winning an art tournament at Weddington High School modeled on TV’s “Survivor” series. “I always enjoyed art as a hobby but I never considered making it a job,” said the afterschool group leader at Weddington Elementary School.

Not until Dante, that is.

Dante is an eight-month old pit-bull/lab mix that stole Forscutt’s heart in the parking lot of the Blakeney PetSmart in January. “He was the only white puppy with funny-looking black markings. He looked like a moo cow,” she said, adding that she and husband, Kevin, adopted the nine-week-old puppy on the spot.

Dante was perfectly content frolicking with his furry pal, Stupes the cat, until about a month ago when a mean itch started making him miserable. Diagnosed with probable food allergies, Dante’s veterinarian put him on medication and expensive prescription dog food. But his white coat is still covered with bright pink splotches from nonstop scratching and Forscutt is still searching for a cure.

Painting for prescriptions

Determined to find funds for Dante’s medical expenses, Forscutt came up with the idea of Pawz Portraits. “I loved animals as a kid – that’s all I used to draw,” she said, explaining how she would borrow ideas from her dad’s National Geographic magazines.

Now she borrows ideas from her customers’ pet photographs. “I try to capture their personalities,” explained Forscutt, who has immortalized a standard poodle, a sheep dog mix, and a Pomeranian/Yorkshire terrier mix and, of course, Dante, in acrylic on canvas. A 30-by-40-inch portrait of an Australian shepherd is currently in the works.

Her experience painting with acrylics comes primarily from being a newlywed on a decorating budget. “My husband said to me, ‘Why would you ever buy art when you can make your own?’” explained Forscutt, whose abstracts, landscapes, portraits and still lifes complement every room in the couple’s house.

Lucy, the 12-year-old Australian Shepherd being immortalized in paint,, belongs to Donna Huges of west Charlotte. "She loves swimming and once hid in our whiskey barrel fish pond while looked all over the place for her," Huges recalled. "The entire time, she was right under our noses, with nothing but her head above water. This painting is a tribute to her family loyalty and love."

Forscutt's tributes to canine-human family ties are on gallery-wrapped canvas and don't need a frame, she noted. Prices range from $150 for a small to $300 for an extra-large portrait (30-by-40-inch) with several sizes in between. Forscutt donates $10 from each sold painting to a dog in need.

Currently she is helping Soco, a Troutman dog that needs ligament surgery on both hind legs. Soco’s surgery and rehabilitation will cost a few thousand dollars, so Forscutt is sponsoring a drawing for 50 percent off one of her custom pet portraits. Anyone who donates $150 or more to help Soco will be entered for a chance to win. Read about Soco at http://www.giveforward.org/soco/

“I absolutely love art and hope this new idea of mine works out so things will start looking up for Dante," Forscutt said. "I love animals, especially dogs, and I will do whatever I can do to make their world and ours a better place."

Forscutt’s art can be seen at http://elf.mosaicglobe.com/tags/Designs. For custom pet portraits, contact her at e.l.f.designs@gmail.

This article was published by Union County Weekly,Volume 4, Number 35, * Aug. 28-Sept. 3, 2009.