Kathleen Henn can create art from a photo of your dog or cat

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Kathleen Henn is an animal lover and an artist. In her spare time, she creates adorable dog and cat magnets. Each one features a handpainted background, a photo of a dog or a cat and (usually) a funny quote.

I recently bought one of Kathleen’s magnets as a gift for my mother. I was so impressed by her handiwork that I tracked Kathleen down in order to find out a little more about what she does and to see about getting some custom magnets made of our pets.

When I got ahold of her, Kathleen said:

“I love animals, photography, and color, and making magnets brings the three together. I love to see the look on someone’s face when they see their pet memorialized like this.”

Because she personally paints each individual magnet, no two are alike. Each magnet is swathed in four coats of polyurethane for durability, shine, and smooth-to-the-touch texture. Sizes vary but all fit into the palm of the hand.

For more information, see the KC Pet Mags page on Facebook or e-mail Kathleen at kcpetmags@gmail.com.

I can’t wait to see what she does with the pictures I am sending her of Machete, Luke, Scooby and Minnie.

Luckily, for people like me who aren’t naturals with the camera, Kathleen offered the following recommendations for getting a usable shot of your pet:

1. Take the photo outdoors without a flash if possible to avoid eye glow. However, if glowing eyes don’t bother you, they don’t bother me.
2. Always take several photos of your subject.  You will greatly increase your chances of getting at least one that is really excellent.
3. Photos of pets sitting up work better than those where they are laying down.
4. If a pet’s face is partially covered by a blanket, it won’t look good.
5. Blurry photos don’t work because I can’t follow a line to cut, and they don’t make good looking magnets.
6. Photos where an ear is cropped off don’t look good.
7. Do not crop your photos.  If you will get the whole body in the photo, it will give me wiggle-room to crop if necessary.
8. Avoid closeups.
9. Imagine the line around your dog where my scissors will be cutting. An ear that sticks out a bit and then flops down forms a tight, three-sided box-like area that is difficult or impossible to cut.
10. If you can, spiff the kids up. Give them a good brushing. Leaves and grass stuck in fur will look odd when the background of the photo is cut away.
11. Take a moment to pick out the dried goo from the inner corners of your pet’s eyes. They will look SO much better if you do. I wouldn’t want to be photographed looking like I’d just rolled out of bed. Note: if this is not possible to do, I will make an attempt to cover it up in the photo but extensive goo is almost impossible to cover.
12. If another person is available to get the pet’s attention and make them look in a certain direction while you snap photos, your hands will be more steady with the camera and it will reduce the likelihood of blurring.
13. Kneel down to get as close to their level as possible so that the image isn’t foreshortened.