Janet Goldman Merrill

Hi there!  My name is Janet Goldman Merrill and I own Bits O' Gold-Fine Arts & Animal Communications.  I've been drawing and painting commissioned animal portraits (and humans, too) for some 35 years.  I started selling my work when I was 19.  A friend asked me to sketch a head study of his horse.  He offered me $5.00 to do it.  It was a fair price . . . .  And people have been asking me to paint their animals ever since.  I did take some time off to hone my art skills at college.  And for some years, while painting portraits, I was also teaching horsemanship and training horses.  I even got a certificate in dog grooming.  The prints you will see here have sold all over the U.S.A. including Hawaii and Alaska , and also in Japan , Canada and in Australia .

Recently, I added photography to my official activities and products.  For many years, I’ve been photographing subjects so I could paint and draw their portraits, but since my collectors have been asking to buy the photos themselves, I agreed to oblige their requests.  

An added note:

About 20 years ago, along my spiritual and animal path, I ran into Bea Lydecker and Lydia Hiby, world-renowned animal communicators.  They gave me my first official lessons in animal communications.  I say "official" because, years before I had ever heard of "animal communications," my first hamster, Hairy-It, broke through my ever-so-human barriers and made me "hear" him.  "HUNGRY!!!  THIRSTY!!" He whispered into the middle of me.  He had been out playing and needed to go home!  Hairy-It undid me forever.  He overturned my life.  I can tell you now, that even the tiniest animals have a great deal of intelligence and their very own perspective on truth.  It changes the way you treat your fellow beings.

I hope you enjoy my site and feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Janet Goldman Merrill