Jenna Dosch/ViewAngélica Watkins, owner of Furry Portraits, shows her schnauzer Einstein some affection.
Jenna Doschj/ViewArtist Angélica Watkins works on a pet portrait inside her studio at her home in The Pueblos.
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For years, Angélica Watkins had an irrational fear of dogs, she said. A few years ago, all that changed.
Out of the blue, she convinced her husband that they should get a puppy.
"I think I honestly wanted a baby," she said.
Life gave her both, as well as a new career. They obtained a miniature schnauzer three years ago and named it Einstein, who gave birth to a male puppy 17 months ago, named David. Watkins also established her own business a year ago and called it Furry Portraits, based at her home in The Pueblos. Now, she paints on commission for pet lovers, working off a photograph and the personality of the pet.
"I always ask for a story," she said. "People tell me better than a photo can what their pet is like."
Or "was" like. Sometimes a portrait will be of a pet that passed away.
Using mixed media -- usually oil pastels and gouache -- she sets out to capture the pet's essence. It requires unconventional techniques to capture fur. She blurs the lines with her fingers or rakes a fork tool across it.
The eyes, she said, are the most important part. She's admits to being a stickler for detail and has tossed out portraits she didn't think came out right.
Jackie Aguilar, who works at Toyota headquarters in Cincinnati, commissioned Watkins to paint three of her pets, two of them now dead.
"When I received them, I was amazed at how well their spirits were captured," Aguilar said. "Their eyes were by far the best part -- they looked so alive."
Likewise, Kim Dachelet, a therapist for a local nonprofit group, commissioned a portrait of her papillon, named Lola.
"I like that Angelica was able to bring through the personality," she said. "She really captures that."
Watkins studied at the American Academy of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. After graduation, she studied and lived in Europe to absorb the culture, architecture, language and, of course, the art. She was a consultant at an art gallery in Las Vegas. Painting always has been her passion, she said.
Her husband, Mike, a musician, said when his wife is at her drafting table, it's hard to get her attention. "She gets into the zone," he said.
Pet portraits can be finished in as little as four weeks and start at $295. Mostly, Angelica Watkins is asked to paint dogs and cats, but her next commissioned piece is a horse.
Her work now hangs in homes in Chicago, Miami and Cincinnati.
For more information, visit www.furryportraits.com.
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