PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A celebrity best known for Dirty Jobs is helping one local pet artist clean up by putting the spotlight on her work.
“If I get tears, that’s a good thing because usually, I’ve hit it right on the head,” Lynne Simone told ABC Action News' Erik Waxler.
Simone has been an artist most of her life and always loved painting animals. But a couple of years ago, her career took off when she painted Freddy, the dog belonging to TV host Mike Rowe, best known for the show "Dirty Jobs."
Rowe eventually got the painting, then posted about it on social media.
“It was such a catalyst. No pun intended," Simone said.
After Rowe's post, hundreds of requests for the newly popular pet portraits Simone put together. Her brush has been going ever since.
“I start with a bunch of reference photos, and I’ll pick the one that translates the best onto canvas,” Simone said of her method.
She said the key to a successful pet portrait starts with the eyes.
“I do firmly believe that if you don’t get the eyes correctly, you have a little wiggle room if you are doing a Boxer because usually, they are going in two different directions," Simone said. "But for the most part, animals, that is their soul and you are connecting with them that way.”
Simone said every one of her portraits has a story and an emotional connection that will be around long after those dogs and cats are gone.
“That’s why I feel like it’s a bit of my mission being here is to make something that people have to carry on that feeling,” Simone said.
