GLENS FALLS — A creative eye, a steady hand, and a big heart have one New York artist helping pet owners cope with the death of their beloved animal friends. 

When people want their dogs, cats and other pets immortalized, they contact Dave Globerson. He’s able to create gorgeous portraits of every pet in every style imaginable.

Globerson started his art career during the lockdowns in 2020. That’s when most people were spending more time at home with their pets than ever before. When Globerson started accepting art requests, pet portraits were the number one genre.   

With his beautiful talents with a brush and pen, his pet portraits quickly snowballed into a huge, never-ending project.

“Sometimes people will email me and say, ‘My friend just lost their dog. They’re devastated. I’d like to help them. Can you paint this? I’ll give you some photographs.'” Of course, I’m going to say yes,” Globerson said.

Globerson also partners with the Lucky Puppy Rescue pet adoption agency. At their adoption events, he paints in front of an audience at local bars and restaurants. Their next event is taking place on Dec. 8 at Frog Alley Brewing in Schenectady.

Requests for dog paintings are typically pretty straight-forward, Globerson said. However, the cat requests can be very outlandish.

“People come up with the funniest narratives for their cats,” he explained. “I have a cool portrait where I painted them the cats as Japanese-style samurai.”

The response to Globerson’s pet portraits has been overwhelmingly positive. With the deep gratitude he gets from everyone he helps, he said has no plans of stopping.

“It’s nice for me. It’s nice for these people. I’m honoring a life of something that was really meaningful to people, their families, and their friends. It’s a thoughtful gift,” Globerson said. “It’s a really beautiful thing.”

If you or someone you know might be interested in a pet portrait, you can find Dave Globerson at his website.

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