One portrait at a time — tooled into leather, cut into hardwood, cast in silver, needled from dyed wool. We work from the photos already sitting on your phone.
Leather you carry, wood you hang, silver you wear, wool you hold. Same animal, four very different sets of tools.
All 24 pieces →Every one starts at $35 and can be ordered straight from WhatsApp — no account, no checkout form.
No “premium quality” language. These are the actual materials, weights and finishes, so you can judge for yourself.
No design software, no guessing. You see the drawing before any material is touched.
Photo slot
Three to five clear photos in daylight, straight on and from each side. Phone photos are fine — we will tell you if something better is needed, before you pay anything.
A pencil study arrives within three working days, sent straight into your WhatsApp thread. Two rounds of changes are included, and nothing is cut until you say yes.
Four to six weeks at the bench depending on the piece. You get a photograph of the finished work before it is packed, so there are no surprises.
Linen pouch, rigid box, outer carton with corner protection. DHL or UPS Express with tracking, 8–12 business days, duties prepaid for the US, Canada and Australia.
Estimated bench & delivery calendar based on 4–6 weeks handwork + 8–12 days express air:
Commissioning a portrait of an animal you love — especially one you have lost — requires trust. Here is how the workshop handles the things people worry about most.
A template gives you a golden retriever. A portrait gives you yours — the slightly uneven ears, the grey around the muzzle, the way he holds his head when he hears his name. We draw in pencil first, revise twice at no cost, and never touch leather, wood or silver until you say that’s him.
More than half of our commissions are memorial pieces. You do not need studio lighting. Send whatever phone photos you have left on WhatsApp — even if they are old or slightly out of focus — and tell us about their expression. We tell you honestly what can be recovered before you pay a cent.
Vegetable-tanned hide must be dampened, bevelled and dried slowly so it holds its relief; solid walnut and merino wool take up to forty hours of handwork. You are never left guessing: you see the sketch in three days, bench photos in between, and a finished studio photograph before packing.
Every piece travels inside a linen pouch, a rigid presentation box, and a corner-protected outer carton via DHL or UPS Express (8–12 days). Duties and import taxes are prepaid by us for the US, Canada and Australia — and if transit ever damages a piece, we carve it again at our cost.
Because a portrait is decided in the sketch, not in the carving — and a checkout form cannot ask the questions that matter.
Every piece is made for one animal. Before a blade touches leather or a chisel touches wood, we need to know which ear flops, which eye is lighter, whether that mark on the nose is fur or shadow. None of that fits in a checkout form — and guessing is how a portrait ends up looking like a similar dog.
So the basket is where we stop taking instructions and start asking questions. You send photos. We send a pencil sketch. You tell us what we got wrong, and we draw it again. Only when you say that’s him do we send a payment link and start cutting.
It costs you one conversation. It saves you a piece you would have had to pretend to like.
In the chat. No payment, no obligation. Three to five photos in daylight is enough to start.
Two rounds of changes included. Can’t approve it? Your deposit is refunded in full.
Secure link by card, PayPal or Apple Pay. Nothing is charged before your approval.
Photo slot
Orange & P started because of a photo I could not delete — a cat on a windowsill, taken three weeks before she was gone. I had the file and nothing to hold.
So I learned to carve. First badly, then less badly. Now there are two cats in the house — 橘子 and 小P — and a bench that turns photographs into objects you can put in a pocket, hang on a wall, or wear on a chain.
So there is only ever one of these. Tell us about your animal on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly which material suits the photos you have.