Meet the woman who is keeping your pets' memories alive on canvas

BENGALURU: November last year, Hash, Awanti Agarwala's 15-year-old Labrador, passed away . When Agarwala got married years ago, Hash was the first new member of the family . “It was like an era had ended. We wanted to keep his memory in our home and life forever,“ she says.

Through city-based animal shelter, CARE's Art Affair, Agarwala came across artist Gumi Malhotra's portraits of dogs. That's when she decided to have Malhotra paint a portrait of Hash. “The painting is at the central point of our home. Hash watches us from there, like he always liked to do,“ she says.

Malhotra, 52, who has never studied art, started painting when she was 29.Always drawn to animals, her first painting was of a tiger, copied from an old magazine. An animal lover, she wanted to work on animal welfare and through her talent, help generate funds and create awareness. “For the exhibition, I painted 13 dogs. The aim was to create awareness for animals waiting endlessly for homes, while people bought puppies from breeders.“

Malhotra's art is popular among petparents who prefer a portrait over a photograph. At Rs 10,000 for an A3-size water colour -a chunk of which is donated to CARE -they believe it is a small price.


For artist Gumi Malhotra, the portraits, besides helping pet parents, is a way to heal herself of the loss of the many dogs she had.

Canine behaviour expert, Devisri Sarkar, who also coaches pet-parents, got a portrait of Caesar, her 10-year-old Golden Retriever, who passed away after a battle with brain tumour. “Gumi brought my dog back to life on canvas.When I see the portrait, I feel Caesar is looking at me. It helps me think something through,“ says Sarkar, whose Retriever worked alongside her to help troubled and stressed dogs.

For Malhotra, the portraits, besides helping pet parents, is a way to heal herself of the loss of the many dogs she had. For the portraits, she depends on photographs and the pet's traits as described by the pet parents.