Jacqueline Welch

Jacqueline Welch developed a special empathy for animals while working on a horse farm in exchange for her daughter’s riding lessons. She began painting dogs in 2004 while working on her Master of Arts degree in Vermont (2005).  She had completed her undergraduate work at the Buffalo State College.

Raised as a catholic, Welch became fascinated with patron saints. Since she found their variety of causes amusing, she enjoyed inventing canine patron saints for unusual causes that were not yet recognized. Her paintings are a hybrid of interests, including her love of the work of Giotto (c. 1267-1337), an Italian painter and architect credited being one of the first to lead the Renaissance by painting in a freer, more realistic way, particularly in expressing emotions on human faces. Looking for humane characteristics, she finds dog images on petfinder.com which encourages adoptions of animals.

Welch’s series includes patron saints of tornados, close talkers, and reluctant gardens.  The Patron Saint of the Feng Shui Enthusiast incorporates a number of ancient Chinese feng shui principles of organizing one’s environment to create harmony and balance. The five main elements utilized to achieve these goals are wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The dog has a red cloth draped over one of his paws in a gesture mimicking ceremonial practices in many religions. In feng shui, fire is represented by the color red and direction south, and symbolizes the puberty years, and it is thought that a red cloth placed between mattresses represents harmony. A sprinkling of rice in the backyard, as depicted by the Mesopotamian figure, represents blessings. To represent the bringing of luck, a flute is held by a trio of putti-puppies, reminiscent of medieval angelic messengers. The dog’s three poses on the path of life represent its inquisitive youth, relaxed adulthood and contemplative old age.

(Nancy Weekly, 2009)