On a snowy day last week, I visited the art studio of painter Jacquie Green. The downtown Toronto studio serves as her office, creative space and classroom, where she teaches drawing skills. Primarily an oil painter, Jacquie paints Ontario landscapes and figurative paintings, and takes commissions for pet portraits and wedding dress portraits.

Jacquie paints wedding dresses so that brides can have a special memento of their dress and don't have to store them. The idea is similar to that of Ephemera Friends, shown in Tess' post Clothes as Art: Your Favorites, Immortalized in Watercolor. Jacquie spends days figuring out how to capture the unique light, tone and color of each fabric type.

It's difficult to pick a favorite genre in Jacquie's work. The landscapes capture the peacefulness and beauty of Georgian Bay in the summertime in the great tradition of Ontario painters like the Group of Seven. In the figurative works, the solitary figures seem contemplative and lonely, while the multiple figure studies show complicated relationships and undertones among the people. The pet portraits, a more recent series, show dogs with distinct personalities, who are domesticated and sweet yet potentially intimidating and dangerous.

Whether the painting is of a pet, wedding dress, still life, landscape or person, Jacquie's beautifully executed works portray the uniqueness of each subject.

MORE INFO: Jacquie Green's art website

(Images: Rachael Grad)