By Heather Posey
Staff Writer
California Heights resident Donna Flores has been a lifelong artist. From horses to faces and pencil to watercolor and acrylic, Flores knew that art was her life. And now that the 10-year-old girl is all grown up with a little girl of her own, she has taken the opportunity as a stay-at-home mom to reacquaint herself with her first love and make some money off of it.
After teaching art for more than 10 years, Flores took a leave of absence from Milliken High School to take on the full-time job of motherhood. And with her new, flexible schedule, she decided to pursue her dream and become a freelance portrait artist.
“I’ve always had an affinity for drawing faces and decided to start a business doing people and pet portraits,” said Flores.
As of late summer, Flores went into action, starting a Web site displaying her work as an artist specializing in sketching from photographs into black-and-white pencil portraits.
“I always liked black-and-white and realism,” she said. “And I have drawn portraits of pets and babies, even one of Wayne Gretzky for one client.”
Though willing to do art of whatever her clients desire, Flores considers her target audiences pet owners and parents. And with her new business venture less than two years old, many are unaware of her many talents.
“I can combine multiple photos into one cohesive piece of art, making it look like it all came from the same photograph and less like a bunch of different pictures,” said Flores. “I also do sizes no smaller than an 8×10 and the largest piece I’ve done is an 18 x 23.” Flores will do color portraits upon request.
Prices of Flores’s portraits range from $125 to $250 and can take on average 10 to 15 total hours to complete. To view samples of Flores’s portraits visit http://portraits bydj.com or call (562) 230-0593. Clients can also purchase gift certificates for a custom portrait online at www.SwellThings.com.
