By Alesha Capone
When Hoppers Crossing artist and graphic designer Jodie Beckley began painting portraits of her greyhound during lockdown last year, she had no idea that the creative past-time would take off to become a business.
Ms Beckley said she was stood down from her job as a textile designer for seven weeks.
“I was going a bit stir-crazy because I am not good at doing nothing, and I needed a little project,” she said.
In addition to painting pictures of her dog Storm and her sister’s Newfoundland dog McGyver, Ms Beckley created watercolour images of the ex-racing greyhounds she fosters as a volunteer with the Greyhound Adoption Program.
After posting her artworks on social media, Ms Beckley began receiving so many requests from friends and family for custom pictures that she set up Pet Portraits by Copper Designs as an online business.
She has quit her textile designer job, to save on the daily three-hour commute to work, and now paints custom portraits of pets, homes, landscapes and vehicles part-time while also working at Social Artist Werribee.
“Pet Portraits is a great way for me to express myself and be creative,” Ms Beckley said.
She creates the portraits from high-resolution photos sent by clients from across Australia, America, Canada, Sweden and Belgium.
“Definitely dogs are the most popular, followed by cats,” Ms Beckley said,
In addition, she has painted horses, rabbits, guinea pigs and a snake.
Ms Beckley, who is also a volunteer firefighter with the Hoppers Crossing CFA, said she would like to branch out and start painting people in the future.
Details: www.copperdesigns.com.au, facebook.com/copperdesignsart, instagram.com/copperdesigns/
