Two sisters, one very spoilt dog, and a whole lot of paint.
Pull up a chair. This one starts with a Shih Tzu.
It all started with a rather specific request.
Hi, I'm Ari, the older sister. A while ago, I asked my younger sister, Yuthika, to paint my child. And by child, I mean our very spoilt Shih Tzu, Vaayu.
Now, Yuthika has always been a little rebellious when it comes to taking instructions from her older sibling. So instead of painting a regular pet portrait, she decided to put Vaayu in the world of Girl with a Pearl Earring.
And honestly? It worked.
We loved how funny, unexpected and ridiculously cute it turned out. We kept looking at it. We kept showing it to people. And we kept coming back to one thought: why should famous paintings have all the human subjects? Our pets deserve a little art history moment too.
Five months later, we found ourselves starting Fur the Love of Art.
Meet the team (all three of us)
Ari
The one who asked for a normal portrait and got art history instead. Handles the chats, the questions and most of the cheering from the sidelines.
Yuthika
The painter. Has never once followed her older sister's instructions, which turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to this business.
Vaayu
A very spoilt Shih Tzu and the reason any of this exists. Has never said thank you for his portrait. We've stopped expecting it.
Why we do this
We're two sisters who love animals, enjoy a good painting and think our pets deserve a place on the wall just as much as anyone else in the family photo.
Today, we paint all sorts of pets. Dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, hamsters, guinea pigs and whoever else has managed to steal your heart. Every portrait is painted by hand on canvas, with care and plenty of attention to the little details that make your pet yours: the wonky ear, the patch over one eye, the look they give you when dinner is late.
We're still figuring things out as we go. We still share creative opinions (and, yes, disagreements). We're still completely obsessed with Vaayu. And we still get a little giddy every time someone sends us a photo of their pet and says, "can you paint this face?"
We can. We'd love to.
Welcome to Fur the Love of Art.
We're really glad you're here. Make yourself at home. Mind the fur.
Yuthika would like it on record that she was right. Ari would like it on record that it was her idea.
Vaayu with a Pearl Earring. Vermeer, eat your heart out.Ari, older sister, proud dog mum