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BY BROOKE TARABOUR - FOR THE STAR-LEDGER

When Dorothy Gayle clicked her heels to go home in "The Wizard of Oz," she didn't seem to care that the place she loved most always seemed to be in shades of black and white. The picture she carried in her heart during her journey down the yellow brick road was bathed in bright colors of peace and harmony the real pot of gold over the rainbow.

Funny how we picture our homes in our mind's eye. Whether modest or mansion, so much of what we see is jumbled with emotions and memories too important to fit between any four walls.

That's the thing about that great American dream of owning a home of your own it means more to you than anyone else. So next to family and pets, it's not surprising more and more New Jerseyans want their homes painted, photographed, etched, carved, set in stone, cast in clay, printed on stationary, laid in mosaic tiles or even blown in glass.

"House portraits are a growing trend," says interior designer Beth Brennan of Main Street Interiors in Cranbury. "No two homes are exactly alike. The way in which you arrange and decorate the interior and exterior of your home is an outward expression of your personal style at a particular point in your life. So, much like a portrait of a loved one would capture his or her appearance at a certain point in time, a portrait of your home documents the individual design at a certain point in history."

Brennan has spent much of her 14-year career working on historic homes in Cranbury and nearby Princeton. She says, "People who buy these unique older homes tend to take a lot of pride in restoring them to their original grandeur. That often leads to displaying very personal house portraits in very prominent locations."

After moving from one historic home to another in Cranbury three years ago, Brennan decided she wanted to make a bold statement of her own. "I designed and commissioned a mural in my entrance foyer that depicts both of my homes," she says. "It's a way to incorporate the importance of the historic architecture into the design of the interior of our home."

Lisa Walsh, a Cranbury artist who specializes in faux finishes and murals, was a perfect choice to turn Brennan's circa 1856 center-hall Colonial into a work of art. Her striking mural starts on the first floor, winds up the staircase and wraps around the second floor. Just before Walsh began work which took several weeks the Brennan's beloved golden retriever, J.D. passed away.

"J.D. is in the painting," says Brennan, "As is my husband Frank's grandmother. His grandparents had owned our previous house, and his grandmother always sat in the front window. So she's there, too, in her favorite spot."

Illustrating your ancestors, your children or your animals in house portraits is a way to view a time in your life you want to remember. Throw in a little fun, a splash of color, an unexpected texture or two, and you'll have your house in a whimsical work of art by Tine Kirkland Graham. The Morristown-based artist has painted more than 50 house portraits in the past few years some of them for Ben Alexander, broker/owner of Alexander Realtors in New Vernon.

"Real estate is a very competitive environment, so you're always trying to do something a little different and make a lasting impression," says Alexander. "I had always tried to give clients who purchased homes through us a special gift, not necessarily a piece of art. But about two or three years ago, I asked Tine to paint a portrait of a home we had sold to a couple who had relocated from California. I knew Tine was very non-traditional -- I had always loved her portraits of people. So I told her to have some fun with it."

Alexander was delighted, and a dozen paintings later, he says Graham brings a "healthy, enlightening spirit to her work. Her houses bend, they curve, there might be fabric on the door, sequins on the roof, polka dots, stripes. People's first reaction is a 'wow.' They're absolutely wild about the paintings. Tine's art brightens a time when everyone is stressed out, tired out and burned out from the home-buying process."

Graham's acrylic house portraits with personality also hang in galleries and homes on Nantucket Island, in Westfield, in Bay Head and Amelia Island, Florida. She says, "I try to feel the colors of the house and who lives in there. I do a lot of seascapes, but I really love architecture -- I certainly love the lines and shapes -- so I try to put all that together when I paint beach houses -- especially quirky beach houses."

With a client's permission, she might give a white house character by putting polka dots on one side, stripes on another, a brilliant splash of flowers. The family's children play in the yard, flip flops are left on a porch and a dog sleeps in the sun.

She says house portraits are certainly "catching on. One woman even wanted her Florida house painting hung in Vermont, and her Vermont house in Florida."

It's always nice to work with a local artist you can meet face-to-face, so you can talk out a project. But if you're used to shopping online, you might feel comfortable commissioning a house portrait the same way. On Web sites like www.thehomesteader.com/houseportraits.htm,you can browse galleries of work by several artists. You choose the artist who's style and medium suits your taste and décor. Fill out an order form, send a photo and your payment and wait for your portrait to arrive. At www.commissionaportrait.com, you can talk to the artist of your choice, if you wish.

Yes, it's easy. But what if a painting just won't do? Say you want to give your family gifts that really say, "there's no place like home." There are Web sites where you can order ornaments, stationary, memory boxes, platters, plaques, lockets, mugs you imagine it and you can probably have your home imprinted on it.

With a little searching, you can also find photographers who specialize in homes, artists who draw in pen and ink, craftsmen who'll lay your house in mosaic tiles or potters to sculpt the old homestead in clay. William Pirolo, a Little Falls-based stained glass maker known for his dramatic domes and windows, was once asked to design a fireplace screen with a client's home as the centerpiece.

Sometimes, the medium is the message. Joe DeAmbrose, a Brick-based artist who has worked as a delineator for architects for many years, says delineating -- the art of drawing renditions of buildings that have yet to be built -- helps clients to better visualize their future homes.

"My training is in fine arts and I started out as a commercial artist," he says. "So while I continued to work with architects doing renderings and building scale models, it was a natural progression for me to paint house portraits. I do architectural art for people who want original pieces of art of their homes."

Even while he was in art school and college in the early 1980s, DeAmbrose had entered his work in juried art shows, winning several prizes from the New Jersey Watercolor Society. He says he was "heavily influenced by Andrew Wyeth, and loved the architecture of old homes and barns, so much of my earlier work was of homes and structures I found interesting."

His business really took off in the late '80s when Weichert Realtors in Chatham commissioned his company to paint watercolors of homes they had sold as gifts for buyers. But after moving to the Shore several years ago, he started working with several local architects with the same idea.

When Jeremiah Regan completed work on a 10,000 square foot French country home overlooking the Navesink River in Rumson last fall, he thought of DeAmbrose. The Long Branch-based architect had enjoyed the three years it took to design and build the home with its 9-foot custom doors and windows, 10 1/2-foot ceilings and sweeping, panoramic views of the river.

"The clients are great people and I wanted to show my appreciation," says Regan. "Joe hit the nail on the head with the drawing. He captured what the owner was looking for a home in Provence."

DeAmbrose's painting hangs in a second floor gallery, in the center of other works of art depicting the owners' previous homes. He's glad the family is enjoying the watercolor, and says for a house portrait to be successful, it's important to interact with the client. "I'll go to their homes, take photos, talk with the owners and get a feel for how they see their surroundings, then go home and paint."

Being on the same wavelength can help ensure that your house portrait fits not only your home's personality, but your own. No matter what style or medium suits you, there's someone out there to help you preserve a place in time. If home is where your heart really is, then maybe it's time to start your own gallery.