About the Artist

Debbie Miller Stonebraker has always loved animals, especially dogs.  Her talent was apparent early in her life. Her kindergarten teacher told her mother that Debbie was going to be an artist. Her understanding of animals and her artistic ability combine to help her create some of the most realistic dog art out there.  Her work has been described as hauntingly beautiful.

Deb was introduced to labrador retrievers in 1971 when she purchased a black lab puppy for her boyfriend (now husband of 32 years). Since the first lab, Skeeter, there will always be at least one lab around the house. Deb and husband Craig, and son Cody are avid outdoorsmen.  They live in Missouri near the Mississippi River where duck hunting and fishing are favorite sports.

The Stonebrakers currently have three labs and a mixed breed rescue.  Reba is 9, a fox red female who is also blind.  Josie is a light yellow 5 year old female who has OCD in the hocks.  Buddy is the rescue who showed up at their farm, and is of questionable origin.  ;0)    In 1999, they lost their 13 1/2 year old yellow female, Sunni,  On Jan. 21, 2010, Debbie and son Cody released their old lab, Thunder, to the Rainbow Bridge. He would have been 16 years old on June 8.  Recently, an adorable little chocolate gal named Darby has joined the Stonebraker family.  Darby has big paws to fill, and hopefully she'll enjoy hunting, and be even somewhere close to the retriever that her siblings have been.

Debbie's proudest achievement in her artistic career is that she was chosen to do the official portrait of Sirius, the yellow lab bomb sniffing police dog who perished in the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.  She and her son Cody, friend Chris Eck, and friends from Labsr4u  were present in Liberty Park NJ for the presentation of the official portrait to Officer David Lim and the NYNJPAPD.  The portrait now hangs in the Port Authority Police Headquarters building.

Much of her work is done in soft pastel and/or Prismacolor colored pencils on ultra-suede matboard.  The medium lends itself to animal portraiture in that the softness of the fur and the depth of the eyes is conveyed. The best selling size is 9x12" and is $300.  Larger sizes are available on a limited basis.  The price for a single animal in the larger sizing is $700, and for each additional animal, $400.  The size of the finished piece ranges from 16x20 up, depending on the number of animals and the desired background. Backgrounds are extra.  US shipping is included.

Debbie also offers watercolor portraits in a 9x12" format. They are priced at $300 for one pet, and $200 for each additional pet. With 2 animals, the size of the portrait is 12x16".  Backgrounds are once again extra.