Quality Pet Portraits by Rochelle Mason

Rochelle's Pet Portraits:
* are original oil paintings on canvas
or soft pastel medium on paper
** use your photographs (which are returned) for reference
* take 2-3 months to complete
* include emailed photos of the finished painting for your input and comments before shipping
* are priced on basis of size and do not include copyright (retained by artist)

You can also commission Rochelle to create an original oil painting from your favorite African safari and eco-tour photographs!

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Wildcats of the World Traveling Exhibit

Focus on Nature Traveling Exhibit

Focus on Nature Column

Fine Art for Sale

Pet Portraits

Workshops

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RMFA Traveling Exhibits & Fine Art
PO Box 554
Volcano, HI 96785
808.769.0756

Rochelle Mason

About the artist, Rochelle Mason:

Since age 7, I knew I wanted to be an artist and paint animals. For years I practiced drawing the family felines and copied interesting photographs found in National Geographic.

At 18, I attended Purdue University's Veterinary Technology program and used the degree to help sick and injured animals. Learning about anatomy was a great help with painting all kinds of animals.

In 1985, I left my family in northwest Indiana and moved to O'ahu, Hawai'i. Here I started my first business venture, Gecko Gallery, painting gecko cartoons, which eventually turned into a line of greeting cards. At the same time I learned professional picture framing, and also fell in love.

In 1987, I followed my heart to the San Francisco Bay Area and shortly thereafter founded R. Mason Fine Arts. I left the geckos behind and began painting companion animals on commission basis. To build a client base I gave painting demonstrations at a local pet boutique.

In 1991, my mission statement became "raising awareness about endangered species through art", with special emphasis on less-romantic animals that get little public attention. I created my first traveling exhibit, California's Endangered Species, which was featured in natural history museums around the state. The series was followed in 1995 in Hawai'i with my second traveling exhibit, Hawai'i's Endangered Species.

From 1992-95, my Arts for the Animals art competition brought awareness about endangered animals and their habitats to school children. I taught many Drawing Animals workshops to the winners' classes around the Bay Area.

Wanting to reach an even larger audience, I began creating a weekly, illustrated column, Focus on Nature: Insight into the Lives of Animals, in 1998. Over the years the column and artwork have been featured in several local and national newspapers and publications.

While living on the coast near San Francisco, I kept busy painting numerous commissioned works, especially for a collector in Japan. I also taught my Workshops for Artists through Point Reyes National Seashore, natural history museums in California and Hawai'i and local community colleges.

Wildcats of the World, my third traveling exhibit, has been touring internationally in natural history museums since 2007. Painting the wildcats helped me grow as an artist and challenged me to paint abstract backgrounds, making the paintings more lively.

With a taste of abstraction to whet my appetite and a sense of freedom to express myself, I am currently working on a series of large abstract oil paintings loosely based on some of the most beautiful designs found in the animal kingdom.

What a fantastic feeling of accomplishment in helping the animals and being able to create something beautiful out of nothing (blank canvas) and make a living at it!

©1998-2011 Rochelle J. Mason. All rights reserved. All artwork on this site has been registered with the United States Copyright Office and may not be reproduced for any reason without written permission from Rochelle Mason.