Robyn Millar

Remember Laika from last week? This is her very close pal named Nika (who sadly has passed over the Rainbow Bridge).

Laika’s mum asked if I could paint two 5″x7″ portraits with detailed backgrounds to give as Christmas gifts to family, which I thought was very sweet! One features a close up of Nika against a treed backdrop, and the other shows Laika cuddling up next to the sweet Doberman. I just love the happy doggie smiles in each. Their family had an early Christmas gathering over the weekend and I just found out that the paintings were opened last night, so I got the green light to share pix early which is exciting 🙂

Now that I think about it, these are actually my first 5×7’s to date! I’m considering offering this small scale size in my regular line up now – what do you think? (To view full images of each of these pieces, please visit my Pet Portrait Portfolio page.)

A client contacted me recently to paint a portrait of her beautiful Golden Retriever pup Laika. And I was touched to find out that she ordered the painting as her son’s first birthday gift, which is so sweet! <3 . She mentioned that she wanted his first birthday present to be a memorable one, and something that he can enjoy for many years in the future as well. I feel so honoured that she selected me to be a part of such a sentimental bday gift. 🙂

Today, her special little guy turns 1 – Happy birthday baby boy M!

(To view the full image of Laika’s painting, please visit my Pet Portrait Portfolio page)

Stewie’s pet portrait painting got to head to its home here in Calgary yesterday, which is exciting! I just couldn’t wait to share this pic 🙂 .

In the fall a client contacted me to paint her dear Boston Terrier / Bull Terrier Cross pup who had passed away very suddenly last December when he was only 3 yrs old 🙁 .

“He was a lovely brindle and one of his ears stayed up and the other didn’t as you can see”

He’s so adorable. We went with a 12″x12″ canvas to coordinate with an existing painting she had of her Pug who also passed away in the same year. She showed me that portrait, which had a detailed fabric pattern in the background, so that I could mix a red that best compliments it as they were going to be hanging on the wall together. Now that I think of it, I believe this is my first pet portrait with a red background!! I’m so glad she requested it, I definitely love how it pops! What do you think?

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If you are familiar with Sleep Rover Doggie Hotel & Daycare here in Calgary, then you will definitely recognize these little (well, big!) sweeties!!! When Joyce (owner of S.R.) and I initially chatted about painting a custom Pet Portrait of her and her husband’s pack of 5 dogs, she had one simple request:

“I’d love one of them all smiling except Thor – cuz he looks funny smiling lol.”

That of course is meant with all the love in the world haha! And I’m not gonna lie, it cracked me right up & I was in full agreement all at once haha! I do very much love his serious face.

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– A Very Canine Christmas Market – 

WHEN: Dec 8th (Sunday) from 11am-5pm

WHERE: Sit Happens! Companion Dog Training, 2333 – 18 Avenue NE, Calgary AB

I’m excited to share that I am participating in this year’s “A VERY CANINE CHRISTMAS MARKET” here in Calgary on December 8th 2013! This event features all things doggie with a variety of booths from local dog-related businesses, offering items for sale as well as information talks. So if you are in the Calgary area and wish to pop by, please do! We’d love to see you, and answer any questions you may have 🙂 .

Side note – I hear that you are allowed to bring your dogs with you to this market as well! But only if they are comfortable in this type of environment, don’t want to stress them out of course! (And I imagine leashes are required).

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‘Bailey‘ here (8″x8″, acrylic on canvas) is my latest Pet Portrait piece, which went home this weekend:

When her mom contacted me she let me know that her beloved pup was getting on in years and she wanted to have a painting done of her. Sadly, Bailey passed away shortly after. 🙁

We looked through various photos of this sweet little Lhasa Apso X, and this shot in particular (with her front paws up / stretching out to say hello) best reflected how they saw and will always remember little Bailey. We also opted to keep the wood and gravel background detail in the painting too which complimented the pose very nicely (vs doing a close up crop of the face against a solid colour background).

Shortly after taking the painting home, Bailey’s mom sent me a note to say how much she and her husband love their keepsake, which is so exciting to hear! I hope it can continue to bring them smiles & happy memories for many years to come.

I’m excited to announce that I now offer blank greeting cards, yay! With four designs to choose from, featuring a selection of paintings from my Pet Portrait series.

(From left to right we have: “Luke” the Snowshoe Cat, “Fritz” the Dachshund, “Bruno” the Beagle, and “Nanook” the Husky.)

Card details
– 5″x5″ in size
– blank inside (perfect for any occasion!)
– comes with a 100% recycled kraft coloured envelope
– packaged in a biodegradable clear sleeve for protection

These puppies (& kitty 😉 ) are available now & sold individually for $6 each, or the full set of four can be purchased for $20+gst. Please get in touch if you would like some and I’d be happy to help!

Another first for my Minimalist Portrait series – twin sisters painted together on one canvas! Last year I painted my first twins in this black & white style (each on their own canvases though) …and funnily enough also on purple backgrounds! Anyway, I really enjoy making this series, and I was super excited to work on this piece featuring adorable 3yr old twin girls:

So much cuteness! Today I got to deliver this painting, and found out that it is going to be a birthday gift for them this weekend 🙂 I hope they like it!

And on an unrelated yet related note, lol:
I couldn’t for the life of me get a photo of the painting to reflect the proper purple of the background! Or when the purple was right, the white was way off then. It can be that I’m just camera challenged (I just have a regular point & shoot Canon), but this does happen to me any time I try to photograph purple, no matter what camera setting I try. And it only happens with purple! So if you have tips or suggestions on this particular dilemma, please do share I’d love some advice on this!!!

Today I got to deliver a painting of these two little sweeties:

This 20″x10″ piece was painted as a special memento from a group of friends/co-workers to the doggies’ owner as a surprise gift. When I was asked to paint this for them, they let me know that Kaycee (on the left) had very sadly passed away recently:

“We had a tragedy at our workplace where a dog that I call the mascot of the office, who is here all day everyday had been attacked and killed by another dog. Needless to say the whole store is crushed especially the owner. We thought a painting would make the perfect gift to the owner and as a tribute to the dog in our store.”

Such a terrible situation!! Poor little doggy… and I feel so bad that they had experienced this sadness.

For the painting they also asked if I could incorporate a second pup on the same canvas (Keera, on the right), who was also an office pup there (who had passed away from old age a few years prior):

“It would be really special if we could have them both in the painting.”

I’m so touched that I was asked to paint this very sentimental piece for them. And it made me so happy when I received an email, very shortly after the art left my hands, that the owner loved the painting and it made everyone at the store smile. Here’s hoping that this painting can bring them smiles for many years to come. 🙂

…And because these little faces are just too cute not to share, here are a couple of close up pix: