Meet Desirea Stodart | Pet Portrait Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Desirea Stodart and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Desirea, the decisions we make often shape our story in profound ways. What was one of the most difficult decisions you’ve had to make?
There are a lot of branches to a career in the arts. What type of work you want to do. What type of clients you want to have. What type of brand you want to be. Making those types of decisions has always been the most difficult for me.

I always wanted to be an artist and make a career from it, but the “type” of artist I wanted to be wasn’t always clear. So ‘the most difficult’ decision isn’t a single one, but a collection of small ones that lead me to where I am today. I’ve had to steer away from certain types of art that I found enjoyable in order to find success in other branches. The flip side of that is taking on projects I wasn’t particularly excited about in order to further myself and open up doors to new work and new clientele.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the work I’m doing now, but a successful business needs a certain level of focus. I’ve found that by steering into the small successes, I’ve been able to compound them into bigger ones and grow my brand.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a Canadian realism artist focusing on pets, wildlife, and landscapes. I love using unconventional supports for my work and have done paintings on a lot of interesting items like old barn boards, antique handsaws, canoe paddles, a farm cowbell, and various types of wood. These days I do a lot of my work on round slices of wood with a live edge. These items are often symbolic or important to the people who commission me, which really adds a layer of emotion and depth to the finished product.

A particularly fun example is a series of canoe paddles I did for a family’s cottage. They had a paddle done for each of the five golden retrievers they’ve had and raised at the cottage. Those paddles now hang there as a memorial of beloved family members and cherished memories. Those types of projects represent a lot of who I am as an artist and what I’m trying to accomplish. I’ve grown my brand by capturing the personality of people’s pets or moments in time that they cherish and painting them onto an item they can display and share.

I’m still growing as a business and defining the path I want to tread, and always looking for new challenges. I think getting where I am today was mostly about consistency and putting in the practice to get better. When I was younger I’d go to school all day, and then often come home and work on art from the moment I came through the door until I went to sleep. After high school I’d work my full-time job and then come home and put in even more hours doing commissions or painting personal pieces. In the beginning there were a lot of commissions for family members and friends. Slowly those pieces helped me build a portfolio and hone my skills.

Over the years I evolved into more of a wildlife artist; painting tigers, lions, snow leopards, horses, etc. Which is still a great passion of mine. I started building my portfolio out doing personal work with no commission, or even much hope of selling the finished piece. Then slowly the commissions started to grow and I would get a lot of requests to paint people’s pets. That’s when I knew I was onto something and really pushed into that market. I found a way to capture so many of my own interests (nature, animals, painting) and put that into a product other people also love. Those passions have fueled me to keep going and slowly over the last 5 or so years I’ve grown my client list to heights I never thought possible for what was once a “hobby”.

I was lucky enough to be one of the few who really flourished during COVID amidst the lockdowns and social anxieties. It seemed like people really gravitated towards their pets and their families, all at a time where I was able to 100% focus on art for the first time in my life (since my work was closed for COVID). I spent the majority of 2020 and 2021 out of traditional work and pushed headlong into my art. That combination really worked out well for me and I was able to grow my income to a point where I could successfully keep that momentum going “post COVID”.

Growing so quickly during a time of so much discontent in the world also helped me to shape my brand and perspective. Through my Instagram I share my work, but I also share lessons learned along the way and positivity. A lot of my followers comment about how friendly I am all the time and point out my “Canadian-ness”. So I’ve leaned into that and really embraced the opportunity to spread some happiness whenever I can. My work itself (despite often being in memoriam) is meant to start conversations of joy and happy memories. I’ve been a “friendly Canadian artist” since I was a kid so it’s wonderful to have shaped a brand around that. It requires very little effort to be yourself, and it’s brought me a ton of success!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
**(I’m not sure if this is supposed to be about LA, or where I live? I’ve never been to LA! So I can’t speak to that, but I’ll give it a whirl for Niagara (Where I’m from))**

Niagara is an absolutely incredible place to live! Especially if you like nature. We could go for a hike on the Bruce Trail along the Niagara escarpment, for some incredible views of the vineyards and Lake Ontario. Some small-town shopping along the main street of historic Niagara on the Lake, with a stop at Fort George for a quick hop back to the war of 1812 and early life in Niagara.

A must see for any art lover are the galleries of Edward Spera and Trisha Romance (both incredible Canadian talents local to Niagara!). An obvious stop is the incredible Niagara Falls for some touristy fun and breath taking views. If you’re into engineering we also have the Welland Canal and it’s 8 locks bringing ships up and down between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario (and causing an endless headache for the locals with all those bridges!).

No trip to Niagara should be complete without a stop at the Avondale dairy bar. Unbeatable freshly made ice cream with tons of flavours. A real hidden-gem in the area where most locals have been going their entire lives and happily lining up all the way around the building for their turn! Downtown St.Catharines features a lot of artisanal shops and restaurants. Some of whom even display local artist’s work! A favorite stop for me is always Little Chief & Co. An amazing dog boutique who I’ve had a wonderful partnership with for years.

Niagara has a lot of parks, conservations areas, hiking trails, golf courses, world-class wineries, and of course are sandwiched between two of the worlds largest fresh water lakes! Lets just say if someone was coming to visit for a week, we’d be spending a lot of time outdoors!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A lot of people have helped me along the way. Too many to mention, but family has always been the biggest. I’ve been painting since I was very young and those early years were so important for my confidence and growth. From doing commissioned paintings of my grandparents’ farm, to our family’s annual Christmas card, I always seemed to be working on something a family member had requested. And then they would cherish those pieces and I’d see them on the walls of their homes and watch my own growth everywhere that I went. That type of support was invaluable. The idea that I could not only create something, but that I could create something someone would love and care about. That support all around me growing up created my passion for art and then my husband and his family really helped me to take that passion and see how far I could go.

I met my husband 15 years ago when we were both in High School and ever since then he’s been my biggest supporter. He’s really helped to push me into this as a career and give me the courage to fully commit and embrace my talent. I always wanted to be an artist, but I didn’t know what that path would look like or how I would get there. Together, we’ve overcome many obstacles and are always learning and facing new challenges. We have an amazing partnership and it’s hard to imagine how different my path to success might’ve been without him.

Website: www.desireastodart.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desireastodartartist/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtbyDesireaStodart