They are not gone.
They are waiting.
Preserve is a private studio where the work of returning a companion to their most alive pose is treated with the same care a portraitist brings to oil on canvas. We work from the photographs you took on ordinary afternoons — the ones where they were simply, utterly themselves.
Each commission begins with a conversation about who they were: how they held their ears, the particular amber of their eyes at dusk, the way they slept with one paw always reaching forward. The finished work holds all of that.
"I didn't expect to be able to look at him without crying. Now I just look at him."
— Margaret T., Golden Retriever, Fourteen YearsGallery Walk
Each project below represents a different animal, a different loss, a different set of reference photographs — and the same standard of care.
Copper
Golden Retriever · 14 years
The owner sent 847 photographs. We spent three weeks with them before touching a single tool. What we were looking for was the specific angle of Copper's ears when he was about to run — not quite up, not quite back, hovering in that anticipatory moment. The glass eyes were cast twice before the amber matched the afternoon-light photographs. The base was driftwood from the Oregon coast, where he spent his last summer.
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Ptolemy
African Grey Parrot · 31 years
Ptolemy had belonged to Eleanor since 1993. He spoke in her late mother's voice — specific phrases, the particular cadence of a woman who died in 2008. When Eleanor brought him to us, she said, "He is the last place my mother's voice lives." Every feather was laid by hand. The branch is from Eleanor's garden, where Ptolemy spent summers on a supervised perch. The glass eyes took four casts to achieve his particular shade of pale gold.
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Persimmon
Calico · 17 years
Seventeen years is a whole life. Persimmon had a specific way of sleeping — curled but with her right front paw always extended slightly forward, as if she were dreaming of reaching something. The nose leather was hand-painted in three sessions to match the particular pale pink of her photographs. The velvet cushion was made from fabric the owner provided: the sleeve of a cardigan Persimmon had claimed as her own.
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Archimedes
Bearded Dragon · 9 years
People are sometimes surprised that a reptile commission requires the same emotional depth as a dog or cat. Archimedes had been with his owner through graduate school, two cross-country moves, and a divorce. The scale detailing required a custom tinting process developed specifically for this commission — his particular coloration, a warm sand with a stripe of deep rust along the dorsal line, had no off-the-shelf equivalent. The sandstone base is from the same desert park where he spent his outdoor time.
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Gallatin
Thoroughbred · 24 years
A horse commission is a two-year undertaking. Gallatin was a retired champion who died of colic on a Tuesday night in October, the kind of loss that arrives without warning and leaves a barn feeling permanently wrong. The family wanted his head — the way he carried it, slightly turned toward the far fence line where the trail entered the woods, always watching. The mane was braided exactly as it had been for his last competition in 2019. The glass eyes are steel blue with a particular depth that his groom described as "like he was always thinking something he wasn't going to tell you."
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What to Do in the First 24 Hours
The hours immediately after a loss are disorienting. This guide — written for families who are considering preservation — explains exactly what steps to take, what to avoid, and how to prepare for a consultation with our studio.
It includes guidance for dogs, cats, birds, horses, and small animals, as well as a checklist of the reference photographs that will matter most.
- Immediate care and preservation steps
- Which photographs to gather now
- Timeline considerations by species
- Questions to ask any taxidermist
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Begin Their Portrait
This form is the beginning of a conversation, not a transaction. There is no obligation. Tell us about them, and we'll tell you what's possible.