Jackie Ehle loves animals and music, combining the two in her art -- and adding a little of her own special lagniappe -- to create whimsical pet portraits and various other creations.

The winner of this item will receive a 12" x 12" acrylic on canvas portrait of your pet. The winner must provide a photograph of the pet and this is limited to one pet only.

Jackie attended Southeastern Louisiana University as a freshman and then returned to Northern Virginia to continue a focus on art, her lifelong passion. She took classes at Northern Virginia Community College, the Corcoran School of Art, the Smithsonian, and the Alexandria Art League.

She worked for Torpedo Factory artists Marcel, David Cochran, and the late Clay Huffman, all mentors who encouraged her to pursue her art education at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Printmaking from VCU in 1992.

Jackie then moved to New York City where she worked as a docent at both the American Folk Art Museum and the Whitney Museum, where later she worked as a jewelry buyer, and free lance window designer at the Whitney's "Store Next Door."