A genuine love for animals resonates in the pastel portraits by Kennebunk artist Carol Santora, who not only has an active role in the Southern Maine art community, but whose portraits have gained enthusiastic recognition among animal owners and critics in this country, Canada, and Europe.

      Santora, 53, displays her art in her gallery in the front room, the former living room, of her home at 23 Fletcher Street, Kennebunk, where she and her husband, David, reside.

      She also has showings in galleries in Kennebunkport, York and Portland, Florida, Wyoming and California.

      Proof of her love of animals is with her trio of dogs in residence, a Golden Retriever, Hobo, a Black Lab mix, Lady Blue and a Coonhound mix, Gretchen. The three dogs have the run of the house, up and downs stairs, but with the exception of the gallery. The three greet all visitors to the gallery enthusiastically.

      Santora was a registered nurse before becoming an artist. She was engaged to Dave - they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary recently - when she told him she wanted to be a full-time artist and return to college to take art courses. He agreed with the career change and urged her to take the courses.

      Born and raised in Leominster, Massachusetts on August 5, 1954, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Cristofono, Santora graduated from Holy Family High School. She worked as a nurse’s assistant at a nursing home but aspired to become a register nurse.

      Santora started the collegiate side of her training and put herself through nursing school at the Mount Wachusett Community College and passed the boards to become a registered nurse. She was promoted as assistant director of the nursing home only two months after passing the boards.

      Two years later Santora joined the staff at the Nashoba Community Hospital to obtain medical-surgical experience. But despite her years as a nurse, her urge to be an artist - that inner-urge to create - wouldn’t be denied. It was far too strong for Santora to continue as a nurse for the rest of her life.

      Santora enrolled in Framingham State College and discovered her nursing courses would be credited in her academic record. With her art courses, she could earn her bachelor’s degree in art in two years. Her major was painting and the curriculum included art history and sculpture. Of course, a major element in animal painting is anatomy and as a nurse, she already had a course in human anatomy.

      Santora graduated summa cum laude and for the next several years she taught drawing and painting at the Fitchburg Art Museum and the Montachusett Regional Vocational and Technical School.

      What brought Santora and her husband to Maine in 2005 was their love of Maine’s coast. They came up summers and lived in a trailer for 12 years with Santora painting seascapes. They bought their first home in Lyman and continued to commute to Massachusetts.

      They decided to live in Maine permanently and bought a house in Springvale, but moved to Kennebunk two and a half years ago so Santora could have her own gallery. They renovated the interior, changing the living room into a gallery and the dining room became the living room.

      Santora realized early on as an artist, she had a special gift for animal portraiture, including animals in the wild as well as domestic. And as her reputation has grown, many of her commissions have come from owners of pet dogs who have passed on.

      Santora revealed that she would study the photograph or photographs in an attempt to understand the dog’s personality.

      “As I work on the portrait, with pastels, I ‘talk’ to the dog, asking questions, and intuitively I get to know my subject’s personality even though she or he is gone. Usually about the middle of the work, I feel its going to be successful. And once the portrait is nearly complete, I do the eyes. Then I know it’s finished.”

      Santora gives demonstrations to various groups, showing her technique in painting a dog’s portrait, and audiences include amateur and professional painters, as well as pet owners. In a recent demonstration in Kennebunkport, she did her newest family member, Blue. She caught Blue’s expression and personality when waiting to be rewarded with a cookie. The recent portrait has won wide praise, especially among those who know the dog.