Creative Tauranga have been swamped recently by pet owners eager to commission portraits of their four-legged friends.

Rotorua artist Maxine Thompson has been at the creative trust's CBD office over the past week, and a steady stream of locals on both two and four legs having been popping down to for portraits.

The queues have been out the door at Creative Tauranga with people wanting to get their pets, like Milly the cavoodle, painted by award winning Rotorua artist Maxine Thompson. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Charging from $30 to $50, each piece is completed within 20 minutes and all money raised by Maxine is going directly to the Hairy Maclary Sculpture Fund.

The popularity of Maxine's pet portraits has been so overwhelming that Creative Tauranga had to create a waiting list for people wanting to book their furry friends in for a sitting.

Dot Forbes is one of the lucky locals who managed to score an appointment for her black and white scruffy cavoodle Milly.

Dot says she booked in an appointment with Maxine after seeing the artist's previous work.

'I thought I'd love to have a pastel portrait done of Millie and I think it's a wonderful opportunity to support the Hairy Maclary Statues,” she says.

'The finished result is fabulous. The portrait is an incredible likeness, it really does look like Mille, and I've never seen anything so wonderful done so quickly.”

Maxine has been a professional artist for more than two-decades and regularly hosts workshops here and abroad, from Australia to Alaska.

She says her motivation for raising money for the Hairy Maclary Sculpture Fund is simply down to her love for Dame Lynley Dodd's iconic book series.

'I've been reading the Hairy Maclary books to my granddaughter and I'm sure she will sit on those statues some day soon,” says Maxine.

'I just think that the books are great for kids and the statues are going to be fun for Tauranga so this is my arty contribution.”

To learn more about Maxine, or how to sign up for her painting workshops, visit: www.maxinethompsonartist.com