Mary Lynn Blasutta’s fashionable illustrations celebrate the pet set.
Blasutta’s art has gone to the dogs, literally! Just ask Tito and Amigo, her Chihuahua and Bijon, who Blasutta says are the inspiration for her most current works: whimsical, retro-looking images of fashionable ladies and their timeless pets. “Everyone can relate to a dog or a cat,” says the South Hampton artist, and apparently those who know style agree.
Blasutta recently illustrated the cover of the “The Book,” Neiman Marcus’s Catalog, as well as the invitation to the opening of the new Los Angeles Nordstrom Store. Although she enjoys the work she does for advertising, Blasutta gets the most fulfillment from doing her cut paper collages. She starts with a sketch, draws a 6×6 template, and then folds and pastes a variety of handmade and old paper, as well as paper she collects from specialty stores, to the template. The resulting image is a textured, nearly 3-dimensional design in the likeness of a perky pet. But don’t expect Blasutta to do a portrait of your own four-legged best friend. Creating a cut paper collage is a long and laborious process that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to portraiture.
“I know how people are about their pets,” said Blasutta, who admits she might be able to get a dog’s spots in the right place, but is afraid she won’t be able to capture a dog’s personality using paper and paste. But don’t fret, although Fido probably won’t be posing like the Mona Lisa, nor is he allowed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which owns one of her illustrations, he is considered to be a first class guest at a ritzy doggy hotel in Baton Rouge called the Petz Plaza which owns a large collection of Blasutta’s prints. Her dog images grace the walls of the hotel’s lobby as well as the doggy suites. You can enjoy Blasutta’s cut paper collages, too; they are available for sale off of her website, www.blasutta.com.
– Sara Stillman
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