I’ve been collaborating with the lovely folks at Presenteum for a while now - they’re a small Dutch brand that focuses on stationary and other small goods. They recently moved to a new location in the vibrant and historic city of Nijmegen and when they asked if I would help them bring their new space to life I couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough!
Their new storefront features big, bright wraparound windows that face a small street… they were hoping for something that could add some of their personal style and personality to the front and draw locals passing by to check out the space. They also wanted to create a illustration motif that could be carried throughout the store as there is lots of wall space and architectural elements in the new shop.
At the very front of the store in the window, they wanted to have a cute shelf illustration that featured the neighbourhood cat, plants, products and plants that would fit life-size in the space. They also wanted to create a ‘collage’ style illustration for a long, narrow beam in the interior of the store that could also be used elsewhere as a motif in the store (and in future stationery designs!). On sketching - the collage needed to include products that they sell as well as cute mascots like kitties and a dachshund. They also asked if they could include their sweet kitten, Maya, into the shelf design. The illustrations, upon final approval, were printed locally and installed in the store and they look fabulous!
Presenteum also asked if we could create a design ahead of Vierdaagse, an annual event that totally transforms the city - over a million visitors come to participate in the four-day march during the summer. There’s an iconic bridge in Nijmegen that also serves as one of the landmarks during the march that they were hoping to include in the design; and they suggested it would be cute to have a point-of-view of a person relaxing on the hillside looking out across the fields.
Just a quick crossing of the legs to the final, and voilà!
I am so pleased with how everything turned out and I hope that I may get to see the illustrations in person some day - Nijmegen looks beautiful. :)
Demetres, to those of us from Toronto & the GTA, is a name that conjures up visions of whipped cream, waffles, cakes… chocolate syrups.. cookie crumbles.. something that this dessert cafe has been perfecting since the 1980s! They started on the Danforth strip, but now boast locations all around the GTA, and they have an extensive (and I mean extensive) menu of sweet treats that is refreshed every season. As part of this ever-changing menu, they work with local artists and designers to create a fresh, fun and unique look for the dining menu - and this is where I came in!
For the Winter 2024 menu cover, the team at Demetres were looking for a cozy, wintery scene with people enjoying some of their dessert items - waffles are a particularly beloved staple for customers, so it was especially important that I included them! I had imagined two versions - one of an alpine chalet scene, and the other of an old fashioned storefront that could be on Main Street, Anywhere, ON. The old storefront was where we ultimately landed - and a little fantasy of a sort of Christmas movie scene slowly came to life. The illustration didn’t change much from the sketch - only growing and adding more detail, and it was important that the cold outside / warm inside colours were emphasized.
It’s not just the cover of the Demetres menu that gets to be illustrated - in lieu of photos (and their photos are gorgeous), select items on the menu were also illustrated by yours truly - which also meant I got to gaze upon dozens of pictures of chocolate cake and strawberry crepes. I definitely don’t recommend working on food illustrations on an empty stomach! I do absolutely love illustrating food though - like a lot of folks, I was mesmerized by the way food looked in the animated films of Studio Ghibli, so it was a total delight to get to bring a whole array of beautiful desserts into the illustrated world. I really was hoping to get to work on a project involving food soon, and this could not have been a better way to have my wish come true!
The sweet team at Demetres makes sure to feature each season’s artist and their artwork on their house blog - which you can find here :
https://demetres.com/menu-art. I am really honoured to be among so many amazing artists and I love the initiative to support local creators that the team has committed to. I truly love how this special project turned out!
Earlier this year, I was approached by the folks at Variety, The Children’s Charity to help create a portrait to honour a longtime member and beloved friend Caroline Breen, who passed away last year. I have a number of installed artworks at Variety Village, the large, accessible, all ages facility operated by the foundation, and I was honoured to be asked to work on a new piece to help commemorate the generous contribution made in Caroline’s honour by her family.
I learned so much about Caroline in my time working on this piece; she was a fighter, resilient, active, wise and very funny, and spent her life doing so many things that she loved - swimming, biking, listening to talk radio, figure skating, camping, and visiting New York and attending shows on Broadway, and of course , spending time with her dog, Rosie. I realized quickly that a simple portrait of Caroline, in a static pose, would not encapsulate the many faceted person that she was, and we opted for a montage style illustration to create something that represented her and the things she loved to do.
It was also important to tie everything to Variety and how this contribution to the charity will help other kids and adults like Caroline, and the community as a whole. The artwork was printed and installed in a space now dubbed “Caroline’s Corner” - a natural junction in the building that is now a cheery, sunny yellow and adorned with planters; a spot for people to sit, talk and take a moment to themselves. I was truly touched to have been a small part of this wonderful initiative.
