HOLLADAY — Green River, Wyo., art teacher Rudy Gunter remembers Eric Dowdle in high school. He's not surprised to find Dowdle launching a promising national art endeavor today.
"He was one of those rare students you find, you know. You show him a technique and he would pick it up immediately. He was very receptive. He wanted to learn," Gunter said.
"We went to the State Art Symposium in Casper one year, and he won 16 awards. I think that's a record in a contest that includes all of the high schools in the state, big and little."
Today, Dowdle has art shops of his own in the Cottonwood Mall and Midway and is marketing a line of folk art puzzles that feature local landmarks — like the Lehi Roller Mills in north Utah County, Lake Powell and the LDS temple in St. George.
He's finding the "personalized" puzzles so popular that he's going to take his art on the road and do similar puzzles for communities across the nation.
"I won't be able to do all of them myself. I'll be looking to hire about six artists to help me, but they'll all do my style of painting," Dowdle said.
The energetic young artist is exuberant about the prospects.
"People love their towns, and every town has a feel of its own. That's one of the reasons these do so well," Dowdle said. "We're expecting it to just go crazy."
Dowdle currently has 14 puzzles he's created for cities from Manti to Alpine in Utah to early Nauvoo.
He has the sketch done for a Utah winter sports puzzle that he'll have on the market before and during the 2002 Winter Games. It will feature dozens of Utah companies, as well as seagulls, crickets, honeybees, Boy Scouts, missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and little ladies carrying dishes of green Jell-O to the town social.
"Companies can buy a place in our puzzle. The only requirement is that they're truly a Utah-based company like Meadow Gold, Pebbles In My Pocket, Mr. Mac, Taffy Town and Salt City Candles," Dowdle said. "We've already got some great names signed on."
In Lehi, retail store manager Cory Jensen saw an opportunity to promote the buildings that have long stood as a visual focal point for the city.
"I'd seen several of Eric's painting and really liked them," Jensen said. "We contacted him about doing the mill, and he agreed. I think he did a really great job. I was really pleased."
The picture includes a horse-drawn carriage, some of the old-time trucks and even some of the farmers and farms that have provided grain for nearly 100 years to the flour mill, Jensen said.
The 750-piece puzzles sell for $10 each in the outlet store and have a Grandma Moses kind of look. They are also available at most grocery and department store outlets and in art stores. Dowdle also has a Web site, DowdleFolkArt.com.
"I paint almost entirely in watercolors," Dowdle said. "I've done a few oils on commission, but I like the watercolors best."
Dowdle sketches and paints from his studio in Sandy, but he's all over the place for ideas and research.
"I like to come in and walk around and get to know a place. I talk to historians, I talk to people who live there. I get up on the rooftops and take pictures. I've straddled the wedge of Abravanel Hall, for instance!"
After he gets back home, he usually spends about two months working on a piece. Originals sell for between $10,000 and $15,000. The prints and puzzles are various prices.
"Does it come easy to me? I don't know. I paint it in my mind first, so then it just comes out on its own."
Dowdle said he's always enjoyed artwork and appreciates having a teacher like Gunter who had the foresight to see he needed space and encouragement.
"He gave me my own room, turned me loose and let me go," Dowdle said.
E-MAIL: haddoc@desnews.com