'Dogs of Davie' sees 39 West End dogs reimagined as piñatas, and the result is guaranteed to make you smile.
As Vancouverites continue to deal with the various challenges the pandemic brings on a daily basis, it's easy to feel like there's not a lot of good news lately. That's why a Vancouver artist has created a dog-themed piñata show simply to brighten the spirits of the community and make them smile during these difficult times.
West-End artist and dog owner Meaghan Kennedy created 'Dogs of Davie' last month, an art show comprising of 39 piñata caricatures of local pups, currently on display in Melriches Coffeehouse on Davie Street.
"I know lots of dogs from walking mine so much, and I posted on the West End Facebook page and so many folks posted pictures of their pups, so it was super easy to find dogs to include. The difficult part was cutting it off at 39 to be honest!," laughs Kennedy, who moved to Vancouver 13 years ago.
Meaghan, the artist behind Your Piñata, has always been passionate about bringing the local community together, having previously made piñata versions of 15 of Melriche's regular customers. But as a dog lover herself, this was a particularly fun project for Meaghan.
"I love my community and was looking for a fun way to bring folks together for a smile and a laugh. Dogs are the best so I thought I'll make as many local pups as I can and 39 later a show was born!," explains Kennedy, who made her first piñata - a pink poodle - for her birthday 10 years ago.
Meaghan, whose creative piñatas have been featured in countless magazines and newspapers, and even appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, took 3 weeks in total to complete all 39 piñatas for the Dogs of Davie project, spending around 2 hours on each pup.
All 39 dog piñatas will remain on display at Melriches Coffeehouse at 1244 Davie Street until October 31, and have the names and photos of their real-life counterparts hanging next to them. So, if you think you recognize a local pup, you have until the end of the month to check them out for yourself.
"The reaction to Dogs of Davie has been great - lots of smiles and conversations, and I have met some really lovely neighbours," adds Kennedy, who is originally from Toronto but has made her home in Vancouver's West End. "Community is so important, and the West End is the best end!"
Despite being a huge dog lover now, Meaghan admits that it hasn't always been the case for her - that is until she met her own pup, 11 year-old Icecream.
"I used to 'not get dogs', and then I met Icecream and completely fell in love with her over a weekend. She has totally changed my life," admits Kennedy. "Dogs are the best. They show so much love and they make everything better - except my carpets!," she laughs.
Of course, Meaghan couldn't leave her beloved Icecream out of her Dogs of Davie collection, and you can see her very own piñata pup in the collection.
"I've made Ice cream a bunch of times, she's my muse!," adds her proud owner. "She's very friendly and a slow walker - I always say she is on island time as she's from Galiano Island, aka paradise!"
Kennedy didn't charge anyone for her pup creations, and will instead be accepting donations to the SPCA and gifting the piñatas to the various dog owners at the end of October.