The studio before the kennel.
Why every puppy born here also gets a portrait — and what Charlevoix has to do with it.
Charlevoix has been painting its dogs long before I got here.
Les Éboulements sits ten minutes from Baie-Saint-Paul, a small town painters have called home for over a century, drawn by a particular light — the one that falls on the river and mountains at the end of the day. It has more art galleries per square kilometre than almost anywhere else in Quebec.
I wasn't born here, but I came for that light, with my watercolour kit and Praline on the back seat. Twelve years later, I've never separated the two practices. A puppy that poses for a sketch is a puppy you actually observe — and that same observation serves the painting as much as the breeding.
This isn't a marketing angle bolted on afterward — it's the actual order of things. The studio existed before the kennel did.
From birth to the portrait in hand.
Week 1 — The notebook
From birth, every puppy gets a page in the studio notebook: weight, markings, first observations. These are the very first notes that will later become a portrait.
Week 3 — The studies
Eyes open, colours settle in. This is when the first watercolour studies happen — often three or four quick sketches per puppy, while they nap or nurse.
Week 6 — The temperament
Personalities come into focus. It's also matching time: the puppy being painted is, by now, the puppy I know well enough to say which family they'll join.
Week 8 — The portrait, delivered
The final portrait, chosen from the studies, is painted on 300 gsm watercolour paper, simply framed, and handed to the family on pickup day — along with the papers, the health record, and a fair number of tissues.
Nothing improvised in the materials either.
100% cotton watercolour paper, artist-grade pigments, and a lot of patience — the same standards we hold for the puppies' health.
300 gsm cotton paper
Archival paper, meant to last for generations — the standard in professional watercolour work.
The Charlevoix palette
Terracotta, ochre and teal: the same tones that recur in my river paintings show up again in the puppy portraits.
Frame included
Every portrait ships in a simple light-wood frame, ready to hang — no extra charge.
Want to see the studio for yourself?
Visits always include a stop in the studio — easels and portraits-in-progress included, not just the kennel.