Not Your Garden Variety Painter

"The first couple of pictures it looked like a turkey or a chicken -- I mean, it was terrible," Swain recalls. "But as I got to the 100th sea gull it looked great. . . . He said, 'See? That's all there is to it. Repetition.' "

The unfinished look of impressionism bothered Swain, but he found his niche in portraits. He started painting people's pets, and each commissioned project led to two or three more. He still relies on word-of-mouth buzz. He has no local gallery representation, and he calls himself the "world's worst marketer."

Still, one of former president Bill Clinton's staffers found out about Swain and commissioned him to paint Clinton with his dog, Buddy, using a photograph. Swain says the painting was delivered to Clinton the same morning that Buddy, a chocolate Labrador, was killed by a car in January 2002. "Hillary, Chelsea, and I were deeply saddened by Buddy's death earlier this year, and this painting is a wonderful reminder of him," Clinton wrote in a thank-you letter.

The artist now spends more time in his backyard studio and less time with his landscaping business, Aussie Lawn & Garden. The two worlds met last year when Swain decided it would be fun to use a chainsaw to carve a tree stump on the Strathmore grounds into an aboriginal-style sculpture.

Millie Shott, director of visual arts, saw the mini-totem pole for the first time this summer when she was leading a tour of the Strathmore's outdoor sculptures.

"I was walking around one day and said, 'What's this?' " she says. "There was no name on it or anything."

She found her mysterious sculptor when he came into her office with a landscaping question and the totem pole story came out. A few months later, in November, Swain came to her office again, this time asking if he could hang his Irwin painting in the Strathmore.

"I think in part I said yes because of the totem pole," Shott says. "I knew I wasn't working with a total novice." She was also wooed by the Australian accent, she says: "It's kind of fun to listen to him."

The Steve Irwin portrait is on view through Dec. 22 at the Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Free. Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 10-4; Wednesday, 10-9; and Saturday, 10-3. http://www.strathmore.org. 301-581-5200.