Blog :: Pet portrait paintings, gifts, original art :: Celebrate your pet!

What a dog!

I spotted this little guy at Thrift Town in San Leandro the other day. It was impossible to tell what he was. Obviously mechanical–but what was his purpose? There was no way to tell.
I even conferred with a few of the other Thrift Town patrons. They agreed-what was it?
We all agreed it was adorable.

This past weekend I shared my friend Heather’s birthday with her in Reno, Nevada…
I laughed…I cried. I missed The Guster. My new friend Jennie shared with me tales of her cat who seeks out puddles (can’t be true!). Our cats share a love of getting our attention by enthusiastically shaking closed bathroom doors. I bemoaned, [...]

When I was home visiting my parents the other day, I searched their closets for exciting memorabilia from my childhood. They had one giant box which was filled with artwork over the years by me and my sister.
I found evidence that the work of Van Gogh was an inspiration to me long before my [...]

Yesterday, Will and I conceived of a silly youtube series. The idea was accompanied with a bee in our bonnets, so here, a mere twenty-four hours later, is the premiere of our new web show Hanging with the Gus Man.
Hope you like it!

I was out of town the other weekend visiting my aunts and grandma, and leaving my boyfriend Will and the Guster to fend for themselves back home. Gus, having taken to visiting the outdoors recently (the notable first time), gave Will a little scare which he recounted in an email to me, which I [...]

Every morning I am awakened by the Guster. He’s a morning lover, and always very excited for his breakfast.
This morning he was nowhere to be found. I searched the house. We searched the property. No where.
I know the Guster well, of course. He’s 10 now and he hasn’t been an [...]

(As published on JenniferHeller.com.)
Last January, I concocted a plan. My great friend John was starting up his theatre company, Hella Fresh Theatre. I was in the process of designing his website for him, which features a penguin very prominently. I decided that John absolutely needed an actual penguin mascot to be present [...]

Thumbnail image for How Oscars thank you speeches ought to be!

As the Oscars were wrapping up, I felt like many of the honorees had been leaving something very important out of their thank you’s. I decided to film my own to show them how it’s done!

Fence Cat
Thank you from Jennifer
As our devoted voters noticed, Fence Cat and Weekend were neck and neck until the very end. They both brought in more votes than I ever expected! I even heard through the grapevine of a grandmother who hardly slept–she kept her laptop next to her bed and didn’t [...]

On the website of Modern Dog Magazine!
Andy and Van Gogh My Pet are honored to be featured in their spring issue! Look for us in early March.

Thumbnail image for rescue dog Hunter saves three Haitian girls!

Thanks to Liz for sending this amazing story my way:
Hello Again Everyone,
We have incredibly exciting news……Our dog Hunter, a red and white Border Collie with his handler Bill Monahan just found 3 little girls trapped in a collapsed building. Hunter alerted on the pile and stayed with it until Bill was able to confirm that [...]

As we mourn the Haitian tragedy, I urge us all to consider what we are going to do in the face of a disaster.
It’s important that we all have an out-of-state contact to report to when a disaster happens. This allows someone out of state to keep track of everyone’s safety and [...]

One of my plans for publicizing Van Gogh My Pet was to post LOLCATZ like this one of The Guster on icanhazcheeseburger. I got this one all ready a couple months ago, and then all of a sudden wondered about the terms and conditions on that site. I took the time to read [...]

I had been hoping to do a portrait of Perez Hilton’s dog as a publicity stunt (and cause he’s sooooo cute and I do, in my darkest hearts, love Perez)…
But he already has one.

Mao is Karolina from Oakland’s beloved. Karolina never really even liked cats, until Mao–
unfortunately her roommate’s cat–
charmed her!
Mao is named after none other than Mao Zedong, the Chinese revolutionary, political theorist and Communist leader. According to Karolina, the similarities end there!
Thanks Karolina for that fantastic photo. Mao has that deer-in-the-headlights expression [...]

I have just learned that the contact forms on this site may not have been working. The last time I know one of them worked was last Friday.
Why isn’t anything easy??
If anyone has contacted me and has not heard from me, please resubmit your information or email me directly at yesplease@vangoghmypet.com. I apologize [...]

I’m not sure what to think about this particular pet accessory. Though I have never found The Guster’s behind to be the most attractive, I do know–from putting reindeer antlers on him–that these would never stay on for longer than a minute.
Check out these strange animal ornaments.

I may have gotten a little ahead of myself…
But this is what I said:
“Hi Oprah Show Producers,
I have an inspiring story to share, a fun personality and would love to present lively and colorful portraits of Oprah’s dogs as gifts to Oprah as a guest on the show! I am the artist/owner of a [...]