Paw Posies

It started as any other day for 14-year-old Eddie, a yellow Labrador with limited mobility.  He ambled across the floor of  Patsy Helmetag’s art studio, “Ed’s Shed”, while she and fellow-artist, Rosemary Williams were painting.  “He was doing his rounds - checking to see if there was anything to eat," recalls Patsy, "We were trying to get some serious work done and weren’t really paying any attention to him.”

That changed dramatically when Eddie walked across some fresh paint and left colorful tracks as he meandered out the studio’s doggie door.

Patsy, well accustomed to life with dogs, pointed the prints out to Rosemary, an owner of a boisterous black lab, and they shared a laugh…and then stopped.  On a whim, they called Eddie back into the studio and made prints of his painted paw on a piece of watercolor paper.  Rosemary looked at the prints, turned the paper a few times, and then painted flowers out of Eddie’s paw prints.  “I showed Patsy and we just howled!", said Rosemary, "It was a warm Friday night and we had painted all week, so we were already a bit punchy.”

Patsy showed the “painting” to her boyfriend, Garry, who didn’t share in the hilarity.  Garry looked at us and said, ‘You have something here’ which made us laugh even harder.”

Seven months later, what started as a good laugh has turned into a rapidly-growing cottage industry called “Paw Posies.”  Paw Posies” turns your dog’s paw prints into floral art. Whether traveling to canine charity events or appearances at pet boutiques, Patsy and Rosemary are a busy two-person production team.  Patsy takes the paw prints and Rosemary paints the “posies,” sometimes as many as 65 in one day.  Now with at-home-kits available from their website, www.PawPosies.com, dog owners can take their pet’s paw prints, send them to Patsy and Rosemary, and receive their finished floral artwork in the mail a couple of weeks.  The kits will soon be available in stores as well.

While their nascent business is starting to experience commercial success, Patsy and Rosemary discovered early on that their new venture has much bigger reward, “We spend hours with dogs and the owners who love them.  Each dog has its own unique personality and it’s great getting to know each one individually.  The love each owner has for her or her dog is fabulous and we are often humbled by it.”

Especially rescue dogs, each a sad story with a happy ending.  Or older hounds like 14-year-old “Daisy”, a Brittany Spaniel who was carried in by her owner to a Paw Posie event.  Daisy was blind and crippled and adored by her long-time owner who wanted a Paw Posie from Daisy so she could remember her long after Daisy passed on. “I wanted it to be perfect, and I did it twice to make it as nice as possible,” said Rosemary.  “Our family had a Brittany when I was growing up, and they are remarkable dogs. What a sweet, sweet dog.  I always think of Daisy when I paint a Posie.”

Not every dog is a willing participant.  During the so-called research and development stage, Rosemary’s 15 month old Labrador Samantha, provided the experimental paw prints. “I had red paw prints all over my house for a while there,” Rosemary says with a laugh, “she was not going to cooperate without a treat, or two, or three…even then; she kept running away, leaving a red path throughout the house.”  The artists discovered that children’s finger paint is the easiest to clean up and harmless to the pet.

Their love of dogs also means giving back. A portion of the proceeds from every Paw Posie goes to a dog charity. “We like to honor the inspiration of Paw Posies as much as possible,” said Patsy.  Paw Posies now has a Fundraising Kit for rescue and other charitable organizations, and a Vet Kit, a way for veterinarians to give patients and clients their own floral masterpiece.

Each set of paw print is as different as each dog, so no two Paw Posies are alike.  Patsy and Rosemary agree it is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon.  “Every time we pack up and drive away, we are as high as a kite from all the love and laughter we shared with our ‘Paw-casso’s’ and ‘Salvadore-doggies’”.   But of all the dog artists they have met, they have but one dog to give all the credit, “We have dear old Eddie to thank for our success,” Patsy said proudly, “That will be his legacy.”

And we get to paint and be with dogs, and their people. And what could be better than that!