If Concord artist Gloria Najecki is going to paint that special dog in your life, you better be prepared to open up.
Najecki is a talker and expects the same chattiness out of her clients. Because it isn’t merely about transferring a photograph on to a canvas for her. It’s about finding what’s most memorable about your four-legged friend and capturing that moment.
“I’ll say ‘what’s the story behind this moment?,’ ” said Najecki. “I’m not just copying details. I’m getting to the essence of the moment. I want to work with people to bring their vision to life. Nobody hires me to paint just a dog.”
While her business name, Gloria Paints Dogs, may lead you to believe she is only interested in canine companions, Najecki has done work with cats, horses and even people. And not just those you see on the internet that look like animals.
“I’m really up for just about anything,” she said. “But it’s a collaboration. I love people telling me a story.”
But for Najecki to paint your pet, she needs to know why. She wants to find out what makes your bond so special and see it first hand. That’s why she will ask to meet you and photograph your pet. Think of it as an interview without a job or paycheck at the end of it.
“My whole life I’ve been a story teller,” said Najecki. “So it’s important that I understand what the person sees in it.”
It all started with her American bulldog, Trucker. Najecki rescued him from the Merrimack County SPCA, where she volunteered, and it was as if the two were meant for each other. The 8-month-old pup had been written off as untrainable, but Najecki knew better. She saw the good in Trucker and made it a point to share it through her work.
“This animal came to me for a reason, and he brought me to my career,” said Najecki. “He just needed to know someone had his back.”
But after Trucker passed away in 2007, just days shy of his ninth birthday, Najecki had a hard time working. She actually didn’t want to paint anything for quite some time.
Obviously she’s returned to painting since that’s what this story is about, but there is a painting of Trucker that remains in her studio, unfinished. It’s the final tribute to her best friend and she wants it to be perfect, right down to his breathing nose.
“I don’t want to paint fast. I want it to be what it is,” said Najecki. “I think a painting suffers if I don’t take breaks from it.”
Najecki has painted animals for most of her life, but her career truly began when Tucker needed knee surgery. To raise money, she made 500 pins of his head out of artist-grade shrinkable plastic, painting each one by hand. The response was incredible – all 500 sold.
“People would look at the pins and ask if I could do other people’s pets,” said Najecki.
It also turned Trucker into a bit of celebrity.
“He was a pretty famous dog,” said Najecki. “The homeless people knew him and the police knew him.”
Despite the ridiculous amount of time it took, Najecki thought it was a great business idea. She joined a business group, but when the other members saw her first painting of Trucker, Najecki was pointed in a different direction.
“They looked at it and said ‘why don’t you do that,’ ” she said.
At the time, she was using the computers at NHTI and got to know some of the staff. One knew of her work and suggested showing her paintings at the college. When an artist backed out of a show last minute, Najecki got her chance with just a month and a half notice.
“I scrambled. I really had to pull it together,” said Najecki.
She borrowed pieces she had done for friends and painted a few more originals. Najecki worried people would laugh at her work, but it was the exact opposite.
“It was a phenomenal success,” said Najecki. “Then I started getting calls from all over.”
People loved her art, and before she knew it, Najecki had a full-fledged business and was inundated with requests and inquires.
“It took me quite a while to accept I was in business and not just having a good time,” said Najecki.
And she always follow some advice she got from her mom.
“My mom would always say, ‘Gloria, be happy,’ and that’s been my guiding force,” Najecki said.
And about a year and a half ago, she actually stopped taking orders. With 40 in the queue, it was getting to be a little overwhelming. Since there is no exact science to painting, Najecki can get lost in her work. Hopefully she does not have the same problem when walking in the woods.
“I spend way too much time on a painting,” she said.
Najecki has painted for clients as far away as Texas and Florida to complement her large following in the New England states. She is currently taking on new clients, although she has not publicized it too much. Fortunately for her, we won’t tell anyone.
“Somehow people find me,” said Najecki. “I think Facebook is huge.”
People always ask Najecki if she has work for sale, but the answer is unfortunately no, because there is no time for extra painting. She can’t even finish her own stuff.
While the loss of Trucker still hurts, Najecki has found comfort in another rescue, Dozer. He is a 6-year-old, blind American Bulldog she saved from a shelter in Connecticut more than five years ago, who has taken over the modeling duties.
It’s Najecki’s passion for animals that brought her to this point. It’s why she shares her stories of Trucker and Dozer with just about anybody who will listen. And it’s why she wants to hear why your pet means so much to you.
To learn more about Najecki’s business, visit gloriapaintsdogs.com.
