Barbets in the marsh!

Barbets aka French Water Retrievers are a rare breed in the States and rather ancient. They are thought to be the ancestor of the Poodle.

Our girl pup Tiki is a Barbet! (the small standing b+w one with speckles) Barbet’s defining feature is their thick wooly curly coat that can grow long, with a beard. (barbet = beard in French) They have a round head and look Muppetish.

They were bred to retrieve gunned-down ducks so I incorporated a lot of ducks and marshy birds and elements in this print.

Since we have a Barbet, this may be the first of many Barbet prints — we’ll see. This was so fun to create!

I incorporated many of Tiki’s family in this print as we are a part of a Barbet group — so big thanks to all the guardians who contributed photos of their cuties. It was a lot of fun to share the process with the group.

Her g-pa Cinna (cinnamon colored), mom Petra (white) and other family members are in here :)

Weeee!