LINDON — Dowdle is a folk art company based right here in Utah County. Eric Dowdle, the owner and head artist of Dowdle, grew up on a farm in Idaho and is one of 12 kids. He said his interest in storytelling and communicating ideas and adventures comes from dinner table conversations growing up with so many kids. This interest for finding and telling stories soon turned into a passion that has carried Dowdle around the world.
Referring to his stories, Dowdle said, “Stories were a natural part of my growing up, and folk art is really one of the best avenues to tell a story…you can really learn a lot about a place, an event or a subject, and we try and cover as much of that as possible, put it into a painting and hopefully entertain.”
Dowdle took me back into the studio that was tangibly creative and full of incredible stories preparing to be told. Some of these projects the artists and craftsmen were working on were paintings, puzzles, 3-D puzzles and laminated manuscripts. Dowdle explained every day he sits down and talks about where he wants to go with each of artists and the projects they are working on.
One artist Dowdle introduced was James. James is currently working on a New Zealand love story. Dowdle said the man behind the story contacted him and said he wanted to go back to New Zealand with Dowdle, no matter the cost, to tell his story and have Dowdle paint that story as a memory for his since past wife. Meeting James and hearing of this sweet story displays the incredible work and storytelling Dowdle's art does through paintings and puzzles.
And as far as Dowdle goes, beyond telling stories of people from around the world, stay tuned for his upcoming itinerary -- it might just take you on a blast from the past!
Find out about this next step and his paintings and puzzles on his websitedowdlefolkart.com.