Marc Ching by RG Pettit

Marc Ching and his organization Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation just completed their 14th trip to Asia to save dogs from the dog meat trade. Last week they saved over 800 dogs during the Yulin Dog Meat Festival.

These trips come with a heavy emotional cost to Marc and the other volunteers. They are often put in harm's way as they confront owners and workers in these inhumane slaughterhouses, where dogs are tortured, boiled, and skinned alive.

Earnest Hemingway wrote, "we are stronger in the places we've been broken." So very true. I use the concept of kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold, to express the beauty and strength of those who've suffered and become even stronger through adversity.

Marc is a warrior with a giant, gentle heart, which is why I used gold leaf over his heart. This piece is oil on linen, 16" x 20."