☰
Portrait of the artist and owner of this site: Zita Panyi.

Welcome to my site,

My name is Zita Panyi. I worked as a dog behavior therapist for nearly a decade. And met with many traumatized dogs in the country I was born. I left it behind because I believe that a healthy lifestyle for animals and humans is only possible in harmony with nature. In an environment where the core values of society are humanity, responsibility, empathy, openness to development, a sense of joy in the diversity of the world and rationality. Where the responsibility of the individual and that of society are equally distinct. Only with this background can we leave a legacy of accumulated knowledge, of the good that lives within us. This is what I would like to do. By giving voice to the stories of animals and people. My own story too.

I believe that no matter how old we are and what happens to us in life, if we are able to feel and believe in our life force, then we can keep our creativity and our common sense. We need both to grow and to meet those with whom we can make our dreams come true.

So, I decided it was time for a change. I have moved to the magical Finland with my family and I am on my artistic journey – back to the roots – in a self-taught way. I love it. I hope my artwork will bring joy to many people and bring color to many homes.

Montage of three hand-drawn photorealistic images. The first image is a shiba inu image portrait drawn with colored pencils. The second one is an oilpastel painting of german shepherd. The third one is colored pencil drawing of a red-eyed tree frog. This third one is framed and hanged on the wall.
Tap to enlarge the picture and read its story or long-tap to see its technical details.
This is an abstract mixed-media painting. We can see a tree on the picture. The tree's canopy is yellow and deep red. There are some dark green lines around the tree. They are floating in the air. We can also see some tiny, colored elements floating in the air. These element's outlines are irregular. Their color is mostly red and different shades of green.

Technical details

Surface: Fabriano cold pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 25% cotton, acid free
Medium: Derwent Inktense paint, Derwent Inktense watercolor ink pencils, Stabilo Point 88 Fine liner red and black
Image size: 10.5cm × 14.8cm

Summer explodes with green

This is pastel painting in realistic style. In the middle of the picture we can see a woman. She looks up from the bottom. She's wearing a grey striped sweatshirt. She has a short grey hair and her face is cheerful. She has brown eyes and her lipstick's color is very vibrant red. In the background there is a green circle as an abstract element. It gives contrast to the red color and gives elegant atmosphere for the painting.

Technical details

Surface: Arches, hot pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 100% pure cotton, acid free, OBA-free
Medium: Caran d'Ache Neoart Permanent Wax Oil Pastel and Caran d'Ache Luminance Colored Pencils
Image size: 18cm × 26cm

Self-portrait

We can see a grumpy seagull with strong red outlines on this picture. The background is sun yellow with some colorful flying particles. There are three hearts in the background. The seagull stands on many-many vibrantly colored particles like he would stand on a rock. The bird was drawn in ink only, which makes it stand out sharply from its surroundings.

Technical details

Surface: Fabriano cold pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 25% cotton, acid free
Medium: Derwent Inktense paint, Derwent Inktense watercolor ink pencils, Uni Posca White acryl marker, Sakura Pigma Brush Pens with archival ink, Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens with India ink
Image size: 14.8cm × 10.5cm
Time to create: 10h

Viktor, the hungry bird

This is a wax oil pastel painting. It shows an emotional looking young dachshund dog peeking from behind a tree trunk. She is holding on with his paws to get a better view. The figure of the dachshund is cartoon-like. His fur is in shades of blue. Her shadier parts are purple and her chest is a reddish brown. Her ears are fluttering. We can see her face, her front paws and her chest from behind the tree trunk. Around her, yellow, blue and reddish-brown spots and circles are floating in the air.

Technical details

Surface: Fabriano cold pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 25% cotton, acid free
Medium: Caran d'Ache 48 Neoart 100% lightfast wax oil pastels and Caran d'Ache 100 Luminance colored pencils
Image size: 14.8cm × 19.5cm

Blue mood

This is an abstract watercolor painting. The shapes in the painting are rendered with blotches and strong brushstrokes. The colors are vibrant. Two poplar trees draw attention from the bluish-turquoise background. Their lush canopies evoke the colors of fire. Yellow, orange, and red colors flow toward the sky. Occasionally, a dark brown and white branch emerges from among them.

Technical details

Surface: Fabriano cold pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 25% cotton, acid free
Medium: Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer watercolor pencils
Image size: 10.5cm × 14.8cm

Flames of summer

This drawing was done with permanent wax oil pastels and wax-based colored pencils. This is a stylized landscape. In the background you can see the sun. Colored yellow and orange. Its rays form stripes of different thickness. Wavy lines on the bluish and reddish rocks separate the shades as the sunlight reaches their highest points. On the right, we can see a big tree with a large canopy. But we can't see the contours of the leaves. The entire canopy is spring green. The outlines are darker green. To the left, we can see some triangular pine trees that are receding. Behind the trees is a large mountain. Its darkest color is dark purple. Below the dark purple, we can see a bright red stripe. This symbolizes the desert.

Technical details

Surface: Arches, hot pressed watercolour paper, 300 g/m², 100% pure cotton, acid free, OBA-free
Medium: Caran d'Ache 48 Neoart 100% lightfast wax oil pastels and Caran d'Ache 100 Luminance colored pencils
Image size: 26cm × 36cm
Time to create: 12h

Where the desert ends

© All rights reserved. – zitapanyi.com – 2025

This is a wax oil pastel painting. It shows an emotional looking young dachshund dog peeking from behind a tree trunk. She is holding on with his paws to get a better view. The figure of the dachshund is cartoon-like. His fur is in shades of blue. Her shadier parts are purple and her chest is a reddish brown. Her ears are fluttering. We can see her face, her front paws and her chest from behind the tree trunk. Around her, yellow, blue and reddish-brown spots and circles are floating in the air.
Swipe on the picture to see more!

Blue mood

I was six years old when Maszat came into my life. She was my first dog. She was a little girl dachshund. She played a big part in my decision to spend almost a decade rehabilitating dogs.

Once, during an interview, a journalist asked me where my strength came from. She said that she felt a special energy coming from me that was both calm and sad, yet also full of leadership. Unfortunately, I was not ready to answer her honestly at that time. I had spent more than four decades in a country whose apathetic and corrupt society expected me to put up with everything, to not name the abuse of the system or individuals, to not ask for help, and to not reflect on how toxic it all was. But I choose to do so. I make my voice heard.

As a child, I couldn't protect Maszat from my mother's and grandmother's abuses. I couldn't save myself either. Sometimes, for Easter, I received live animals: a rabbit and chickens. It was crazy because we lived in a tiny flat. I had to cope with losing them. No matter how much I cried no one cared. I knew they had eaten them. Animals died because of my mother, and she beat some of them. I decided that I want to help at least that many animals in my lifetime. That's why I became a dog behavior therapist. And not too surprisingly, I am a vegetarian.

It took me a long time to learn that it's okay to cry when I'm expressing my pain or fear. It's okay to be insecure. It's okay if I'm not giving it my all. It's okay to change. It's okay to set boundaries with people and cut off contact with them. Most of all, it's okay to speak up about what other people thought was okay to do!

I did a sketch of this picture a few years ago. This year, I finished it. The floating colored dots and circles around the dachshund represent a kind of miracle or protective cover, in my interpretation. What does it mean to you?