Café and bakery La Clochette in Pacific Beach has gone to the dogs, and the local furry friends love it. And if you don’t like your coffee served in some pawesome mugs, well, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

La Clochette started the “Pet Mugs” project early this fall with Autumn Love, the artist who spreads love to the world. Her gallery, Art by Autumn, is located next door to the coffee shop, and they have formed a strong partnership through the project.

Love shared a story about Pet Mugs – the idea, working process, etc. – on one side of the patio at La Clochette.

“The idea is to celebrate the dogs and share their adorable faces on the mugs so that customers can support the coffee shop and the local dogs,” explained Love.

La Clochette is known as a dog-friendly café to the locals, and there are some regular dog customers. On the day when the San Diego Community Newspaper Group met Love, some dogs were lying down on the patio, enjoying the sunshine, even though it was late in the morning – which is not during busy hours.

“They (La Clochette) have dog treats behind the counter. Dogs will come in, and they’ll throw treats from behind the counter,” Love said.

Love had been selling custom mugs for years before getting involved in the project. She made mugs with animals that customers wanted to see on them, adding one of her paintings as the background – also chosen by customers. “The café saw I was doing that, and they came to me with the idea (to sell mugs with local dogs),” she said.

Seven dogs are on the mugs, including Apollo and Halsey, a famous canine couple in town, and Luna, Libby, Zucchini, Soju, and Marcus. La Clochette chose which dogs would be featured on the mugs among those they see almost every day.

All the mugs are handmade products. When Love receives a photo of a dog from the café, she sketches a rough outline on paper in pencil and then completes the design digitally. The images on the mugs are printed using a sublimation printer, which fuses the image onto the ceramics with high heat.

Pet Mugs don’t have bright color backgrounds, like the mugs Love sells, as they focus more on the images of dogs. However, her philosophy, ‘love’ of course, can still be found in the project through her adoration of animals and creating.

“I love animals so much. Just to be able to draw pets is an act of love. I love creating anything. It was still fun even though it wasn’t love-themed,” she noted.

She put effort into capturing the essence of the pet during the process. “When the customer gets the mug, I want them to look at it and say, ‘That looks just like my dog. That’s the same goofy face,’” said Love with a smile.

Love finds her happiness in discovering customers’ joy. “To share the dogs brings so much happiness to people. In that moment of someone holding a cup and seeing this silly little pet, that brings them love,” she said.

Love shared a positive message for the next batch of mugs. “It was so fun, it was so successful. People loved it. I’m so grateful the café has got me in,” she said. While there are a few more dogs who are regulars but haven’t been on mugs, Love noted that new designs could potentially happen.

Find Pet Mugs that will make you smile immediately at La Clochette, and take a moment to check out Love’s gallery next door.

LA CLOCHETTE

Where: 4680 Cass St.

Hours: Daily 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

ART BY AUTUMN

Where: 4684 Cass St.

Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Thursdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays.

Información: artbyautumn.com.