Kanien'kehá:ka artist paints cultural details into pet portraits

Tekaronhiahkhwa Standup never thought her family could have pets because of her children's severe allergies but now Tilly, Georgia and Loki — a Boston terrier and two ferrets — are part of the family.

She asked Bruce Boots, an artist she's admired for some time, to immortalize the newest members of the family in a portrait.

Boots, who is from Akwesasne, a Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) territory that straddles the provincial and international boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and New York state, began making pet portraits in 2020. They were originally inspired by an old photo of Bill Murray he saw in a magazine.

"He was in one of those British navy admiral-type things with the epaulettes and everything," Boots said. 

"I was like, 'Oh that looks cool.' And then my sister's dog passed away and she asked me to paint her portrait."

Boots uses traditional elements of Haudenosaunee culture such as a family's clan, Iroquoian beadwork, quillwork, and ribbon shirts to personalize the pet portraits.

Kaniehtiio Horn, an actor from Kahnawake, a Kanien'kehá:ka community south of Montreal, commissioned a portrait of her cat Boodz in 2020. Horn said that at 13, Boodz is on the heftier side and a "grumpy old guy" and Boots was able to capture those details in the portrait.

"He's so good. Like if you look closely to the portraits, they're so incredibly detailed," said Horn.

"People do those portraits already and I just think the way that he does it with the specific Indigenous twist and specifically Haudenosaunee, I thought, was just genius."

Boots has painted about 11 pet portraits so far and currently has a wait list for commissions. Each portrait takes Boots 60 to 70 hours for just one pet — longer if the portrait features multiple pets.

"It's a lot of back and forth with the client," said Boots.

He also paints people and other aspects of Haudenosaunee culture.

Akwiratékha Martin said the inspiration for his dog Ahonhtèn:ton's portrait was an "old timey painting of our warrior beauties."

Boots included elements of the pet's personality in the portrait. Ahonhtèn:ton was painted with a rifle guarding Martin's chickens.

"I like to put like just a little bit of light in their eyes just to give that little bit of emotion because dogs, you look at them and they have such emotional faces," said Boots.

For Boots, getting to see a client's reaction is one of the best parts of the job, second only to his love for painting. Boots said when he delivered Standup's painting to her, "she just beamed."

Standup is also an artist and said she appreciates the level of work that goes into Boot's paintings. She noticed the finer details like the shading, the lighting and Tilly's beaded yoke.

"I really like the traditional clothing aspect of it," Standup said. 

"They're like time pieces."