Dowdle Treatment: Wash. City Joins Eric Dowdle's Puzzle World

Eric Dowdle, from Lindon, Utah, has really made a name for himself.

The artist has parlayed his talent into a multi-million dollar puzzle company that has cities, National Parks and landmarks worldwide clamoring for his "Dowdle Treatment."

Dowdle's concept is this: For a large fee (think upwards of $100,000), he will produce a painting of, well, whatever you want painted, including specific landmarks of your subject. Then, as part of the agreement, you will agree to buy a certain number of the puzzles, which you can then re-sell to help you recoup some of the costs.

St. George, Santa Clara and now Washington City have decided to invest in this concept, with Washington City leaders unveiling their Dowdle puzzle this past weekend at the Washington City Museum next to Veteran's Park.

Dowdle's talent for capturing the fun and whimsical side of landmarks like National Parks and cities has grown very popular.

He's done more than 500 cities, virtually every National Park in the United States and numerous world landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, Lombard Street in San Francisco, Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany and Utah's Delicate Arch, plus fun puzzles like balloon-themed "Up, Up and Away," Noah's Ark, BYU Football and he even gave Costco the "Dowdle Treatment."

Amazon currently carries hundreds of different Dowdle puzzles, which come in sizes from 100-piece to 2,000 pieces.

Dowdle even lays claim to the "World's Largest Puzzle," that measures eight feet high and 29 feet wide and contains 60,000 pieces and features images from 187 Dowdle paintings.

On his website, Dowdle's company talks about the benefits of doing a puzzle:

"As we navigate an increasingly complex world, the simple act of solving jigsaw puzzles has emerged as a powerful tool for giving your brain the regular exercise it needs. Puzzling—as we like to call it—increases your ability to problem solve, enhances memory, improves executive function, increases your ability to stay focused, and helps stave off cognitive decline. In other words, doing jigsaw puzzles is healthy exercise for your brain. Science is showing that problem solving activities such as puzzling can actually rewire your brain to function more effectively and remain vital longer."

Here's a photo gallery of the unveiling at Washington City of the Dowdle Puzzle:

UPDATE: Eric Dowdle just launched his own shop online -- dowdlestudios.com -- where you can get access to all his artwork/puzzles without going through a third-party distributor.