Michael Pizzella paints your dog — or your home, your car, your grandmother — from photographs, by hand, in oil. Jackson Square pedigree, Mandeville studio. Starting at $180.
Every portrait starts with a photograph you already love. Mike paints from it — not over it — in oil on linen, correcting perspective, improving lighting, revealing personality the photo flattened. Drag the handle to compare.
— Each commission is one-of-one. No prints, no reproductions. Begin yours →
A commission is a quiet correspondence between you and Mike. He'll never paint a dog he can't see in three photographs. He'll never quote by email what he can say on the phone. Here is the whole of it.
Natural light, eye-level, no phone portrait-mode blur. One close on the face, one of the whole subject, one you love for reasons you can't explain. Mike will reply within 48 hours.
— cell phones are fine.Mike proposes a size (8×8, 16×20, 24×24), a pose from your photos, and a price. Half down holds the spot on the easel. No surprises after, no up-sell, no design fee.
— 50% holds it.Four to six weeks of oil on linen. You'll get two progress photographs — an underpainting and a near-finish. Request one change, not twelve. Mike drinks a lot of coffee at this stage.
— two revisions, free.Framed in the Pizzella shop — your choice of profile, or let Mike pick. Varnished, wired, double-boxed, and shipped with tracking. Local pickup welcome; coffee included.
— ships anywhere.— balance due only when you approve the finished painting. if you hate it, you don't pay. it has not happened. —
Portraits, pets, still life, saints, odd commissions, Jackson Square street scenes. Click any painting to enlarge. Every one is a one-of-one oil, and every one has a person at the other end of it.
Showing 30 of 400+ works · Full archive at the studio
Commission one like these →Pet portraiture is what people travel for. The framing shop is what's kept the lights on since 2014. Original work for collectors who know what they're looking at. That's it — no classes, no prints, no merch.
Oil on linen, painted from your photographs. Dogs, cats, horses, the occasional goat. One revision round included. Framed and shipped.
Hand-cut mats, conservation glass, 600+ mouldings in stock. Diplomas, jerseys, star-maps, oversized oils. Mike does every cut himself.
Work from the studio not on commission — Louisiana landscapes, still life, Jackson Square scenes. Delivered framed. Inventory rotates monthly.
Art made and framed by the same hands.
Pizzella Picture Framing & Fine Art has been on US-190 in Mandeville since 2014. Owner Michael Pizzella has been painting in oil and custom framing in southeast Louisiana since 2005.
The shop specializes in oil portraits of pets, homes, cars, and boats, alongside full-service custom framing with conservation materials. Just about anything you can think of.
— come by the shop, or feel free to call.
Walk in, watch a painting happen, leave with a frame. There's always coffee on and usually a dog somewhere. Take the causeway — twenty-five minutes from the French Quarter.
We sent three phone photos of Layla. What came back was a painting our grandchildren will fight over. Mike called to ask about her eyes. Nobody asks anymore.