LINDON, Utah — Becoming a puzzle maker was never in the cards for Lindon resident Eric Dowdle, but his career path is something he calls a glorious accident.
“Every artist in art school is not thinking today, or someday I'm going to make puzzles. But that's what happened.” said Eric Dowdle, founder of CEO Dowdle Studios.”
The Utah-based company, founded in 1990, offers puzzle designs from over 400 cities and 60 events.
“I would go to the places and then I would paint them,” Dowdle said. “I would have experiences, talk to the people. And so I tell stories of different places all over the world through folk art and turn it into a puzzle.”
Many of his creations are displayed at the company’s headquarters. It’s also home to the largest puzzle wall in the world; each puzzle piece designed by Dowdle himself.
THE LARGEST PUZZLE WALL IN THE WORLD
From Rome to Paris, Hong Kong to Africa to Ogden and to the Salt Lake’s West Valley City, the inspiration for each puzzle is Dowdle's well-traveled life, having traveled to all but two locations on his puzzles.
His worldwide travels and the resulting puzzles are chronicled in his own series on HBO Max called "The Piece Maker."
On each of his journeys, Dowdle takes photos or sketches drawings of street corners, cafes, landmarks places of interest, as well as local events.
“There's usually a place or a part of town that's the heartbeat,” Dowdle said. “Every now and then I'll put a lot into a painting where there's like five different center parts or center points. But for the most part, there's always a heartbeat of a town.”
Once he returns home, Dowdle paints. A painting can take anywhere from one to three months, but he doesn't stress about every detail.
“So I've learned to let certain things go from a realistic perspective,” he explained. “And now I go for more emotion, more feeling. If there are three windows, maybe I'll put two. It's the feeling of the painting versus the exactness.”
HOW DOES IT GO FROM PAINTING TO PUZZLE?
The painting is then reprinted into multiple copies, and then gets pressed on to a board using a heated machine.
“The heat fuses the image on to the wood or cardboard,” said Brian Hansen, laser specialist for Dowdle Studios.
A computer program is used to make sure all the pieces are cut the right way and size. Cardboard based puzzles are cut with a steel razor blade, while wooden based puzzles are cut with a laser.
PUZZLE MASTER
To date, Dowdle Studios has produced over 10 billion puzzle pieces and have become a national hit selling all over the U.S. in stores like Costco and Walmart.
But for Dowdle, success is more than just commercial.
“It is very humbling to know that somebody is sitting down with something I made, and they're having an experience," he explained. " It's hard to wrap my mind around that. But I love it.”
