D.A. Terzian’s oil on canvas paintings are based on her interest in the human/animal bond that requires one to be fully present in the moment, not distracted by news or technology which seem to drain us every day. It comes from her heartbreak for stray dogs that she sees when she travels. And from her experience fostering for a local animal shelter and building trust with varied feline personalities. Her goal is to produce paintings that connect you to an animal, even if not your pet, and to consider their domesticated experience. 
Approached as a painting first, Terzian strives to separate her work from straight forward animal portraiture, taking cues from the animal’s expression or pose to work out composition, details and patterns, culminating in a dreamlike moment on canvas. Placing dogs and cats in imagined interior settings, Terzian considers the animal’s perspective and the contrast between the interior environments imposed on them and the natural world outside that invigorates their animal spirit often incorporating a story or symbolism into the painting.
Terzian received a BA in Studio Art from Smith College and a Master of Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Having apprenticed in her twenties with her father, also a painter, she left corporate interior architecture mid-career to return to painting. Her artwork practice includes both non-commissioned and commissioned works.