a space for:
1. personal projects [to keep my creative thinking wild and free], 2. throwback projects from much earlier in my career [for humility], 3. photographs i’ve taken that i love, 4. and stories behind some of my art [there’s always a story], or 5. work that is good but not quite good enough for the other pages
while i do write a bit here, i occasionally write longer, more word-focused articles on substack.
the story behind the art: “rooms with a view”
from this collection
“rooms with a view”
acrylic and oil pastel
on thrifted canvas
“dreams” 6x6 inches / 95 CDN
“seek/find” 10x10 inches / 145 CDN
“kingdom far away” 14x18 inches / 350 CDN
on canvas artboards
rooms 01-03 8x10 inches / 50 CDN ea.
rooms 04-07 7x9 inches / 50 CDN ea.
rooms 08-13 5x7 inches / 35 CDN ea.
a series about finding our way; this was an artist exploration using colours and boxes to understand who we were, who we are today, and who we want to be. past mistakes and imperfections help us grow if we reflect and learn from them.
the colours/boxes act as different rooms [times] from our lives to wander into to view from a present day perspective to perhaps discover ourselves, forgive ourselves, and have an overall greater sense of self.
there is no particular age when this work should to be done——at any point in time we can decide to walk through the rooms [look back] to take something valuable from it for our future selves. there is no limit on how many times we go back——the more times we do it, the greater the self awareness and what we want or need our future rooms to look like.
available; please inquire
——
read about this work and the process below
the process for all this took a couple months, but mostly of inactive work.
i got stuck after the earliest layers [image below] and wasn’t sure where to take the visual——so i left it totally alone and worked on other things. i didn’t expect this to take quite so long because the vision was strong from the start… but the work had other plans.
sooner or later, it found its way.
sooner or later, everything finds its way.
sooner or later, we all find our way.
the concept and naming was inspired by the songs “breaktown” and “dream girl” by hanson
to me, “dream girl” came with a new meaning in 2024——20 years after we heard it. it was not about finding anyone else [your dream person, for example]. it was about finding myself… after years of looking so hard. the three canvases take the viewer through three stages based off of what this song means to me:
“dreams” reflects the innocence of the child,
“seek/find” reflects the desperation and emotions of the confused youth, and
“kingdom far away” reflects ourselves in the present [if we’re happy with who we are] or future self [if we’re not].
the title of the series [“rooms with a view”] is a phrase from “breaktown.”
this song, to me, is more or less about finding your passion and being able to live it… and the struggle most of us go through to get there.
——
canvas art boards:
i made these to go with the series because after the three canvases i didn’t quite feel “done” with the visual concept; these were just a way to relax and curiously play with colours and oil pastels during the very early part of 2026.
the story behind the art: “all lemons”
from this collection
“all lemons”
mixed media collage on upcycled canvases [8]
the main purpose of this work was to upcycle and reuse stuff nobody wants; most of the paint and materials were stuff i no longer wanted but didn’t feel like i could toss, stuff i rescued from thrift stores, pieces of my old artwork i didn’t want or like anymore, and the background is made from a lot of magazine cut outs that i saved from a literal dumpster once.
these pieces are made of ‘lemons’… and into something new and likely impossible to duplicate. the work is unrefined and chaotic with layers i can’t even recall and every part of each canvas including the sides have a purpose, is being used, and has something to say.
[not yet available to purchase; done for artist exploration and development]
——
read more below
“headstrong” details
20×20 inches
my hope is that when people see this work it inspires some sort of action towards a better way of thinking, being, and living.
avoid buying new products you don’t need and to shop secondhand more [even if brand new is within your budget——amazon, dollar stores, and temu fit many budgets]. plenty of stuff already exists in thrift stores, in secondhand online marketplaces, estate/garage sales… they might just require an ounce more effort than hitting ‘add to cart’ and having it show up in a day or two but at what cost?
buying second hand may be about saving money for some, but it should be about taking small, intentional steps for everyone, which goes for anything in regards to sustainability efforts.
“’til nothing’s left”
23.5 x 38.5 inches
the process:
while working for an estate sale set up, i found a crate full old national geographic magazines. i always thought they were cool but was told, “nobody will buy those, there’s too many, throw them all away.” reluctantly, i did… but i took a few.
the backgrounds of the first five canvases come from those. the others are from other old magazines also found at estate sales——“earthly paradise” started as a collage of cut outs from a 1975 playboy mag […the more you know]. that particular issue had a lot of hippie/nature type of photoshoots happening… so i thought it fit.
“something to love”
12x36 inches
i was a bit more intentional with the background collage of “headstrong” and “work/play” [the two 20x20s], which i did last, because i wanted the magazine pieces to tell a bit more of a story and i had the magazine material to work with so that’s why you may see slightly more of the background on those.
“work/play”
20×20 inches
“headstrong”
20×20 inches
after each, each canvas got a watered down layer of acrylic——enough to show a paint colour but not be opaque. for most, i painted graph paper in similar colours in a chaotic way. no structure, just paint to paper. when the paper was dry i did cut outs [end of life matisse-style] of different typical botanical plant shapes and glued those on.
for the last two [the 20x20s], i did a little of that but didn’t want to make them too much the same so i also grabbed some of my old oil pastel plant doodles and made use of those.
“earthly paradise”
8×10 inches
“think and feel”
11×14 inches, on wood board
after all this, i just filled in the gaps with acrylic and oil pastel to make the background and foreground feel like one and feel more complete. some backgrounds ended up needing to be more opaque, some less so. there were always a few pieces of words and phrases on each that i wanted to ’stick out’ more than others though so i did my best to maintain those throughout the process.
“time and change”
12×12 inches
“treasure”
15×10 inches
and lastly…
i added words [of course] and decided to make the edges feel like part of the painting to add to the story of nothing wasted or using all we’ve got.
the story behind the art: “what i’m looking for”
from this collection
“what i’m looking for”
acrylic on raw, unstretched canvas; thrifted frames/coloured paper matte
canyon sunlight: 8x10 frame, 5x6.5 inches / 95 CDN
prairie dancin: 8x10 frame, 5x6 inches / 95 CDN
the star: 8x10 frame, 4x5.75 inches / 95 CDN
paradise ahead: 8x10 frame, 5.25x7 inches / 95 CDN
fire inside 01: 5x6 frame, 3.5x2.5 inches / 40 CDN
fire inside 02: 5x6 frame, 3.5x2.5 inches [sold]
crimson: 5x7 frame, 3.25x5.25 inches / 50 CDN
light blue: 8x10 frame, 5x7 inches / 95 CDN
these pieces invite slowing down to see what we need to see [the signs that often lead us to what our hearts want].
by visually portraying simple, natural forms [which is something i intuitively have always doodled as a way to ground myself] in just one colour of paint on a plain, raw canvas paired intentionally with the colour of the background in the frame, i hope to create a feeling of intuition and mindfulness in the viewer.
it’s simplicity at its finest… which always helps us to slow down and, idk, maybe notice a plant dancing in the prairie wind, the one spark flying away from the fire, or the way the desert sun gives the landscape a warm, sunny hue.
——
available; please inquire
learn more about the process below
these one-colour semi abstract botanical shapes were some of the first things i started doodling at the very start of my art journey, which was only near the end of 2022 and about 12 years into my career as a designer and mostly done solely as a way to relax and regulate my nervous system [slow down].
experiences like this makes me feel like while design may have been my chosen ‘career’ and something i’ve always been naturally good at, visual art was always something i was supposed to do.
the process for these canvases:
my initial plan wasn’t going to look anything like these and perhaps even something quite the opposite. but that view in my head didn’t really work out the way i thought it would. i was frustrated for a bit.
but, as it often goes, as I was painting I noticed myself slowing down very unintentionally and leaning into the details and colours of the shapes while listening to one of my favourite songs [“broken bow” by john calvin abney]. in that moment, i was no longer frustrated and i didn’t overthink anything. i knew this was what i was supposed to make.
because of that, most of these canvases are named after a word or two from the lyrics of that song and the coloured backgrounds of each were chosen based on their names.
some of the first things i painted [approx. 2022-23]:
the story behind the art: “sure, why not?”
this work is a juxtaposition piece about work as we once knew it and work as it is today, done with a bit of dry humoured sarcasm about the status quo.
the way we went about finding work was said to be simple. we’d go to school or training for something of interest and get job in what we studied soon after graduation and after one interview and a follow up phone call and we were on our way to a good life [with a pension]. we’d work at this job or a similar job for an entire career and climb the corporate ladder in a nice, orderly fashion.
this was what we were told; and maybe we even experienced it for awhile.
today this has shifted——but for some reason the way we find work and the way we hire hasn’t and it’s creating friction; unemployed workers [millions] are applying for new jobs in an old system. we’re all tired of being rejected again and again and sometimes not even from another person.
is this all worth it? do i even want this job? is this what i even want to be doing?
let’s call it cushioned security… until they do yet another round of budget cuts, of course. nobody knows who’s gonna be hit next [it might be me and it could be you].
what if?…
…more people started to think outside the box with what work could look like? what if we looked for opportunities that actually excite us in a child-like curious way even if they don’t seem connected to our silly little degree or what we should do for a living? maybe taking time when you’re younger to discover what it is you want to do won’t be so frowned upon? maybe job hopping, switching entire industries, or contract work will be the new norm?
maybe the corporate ladder will cease to exist.
maybe nobody will give a damn about resume gaps.
maybe there’s a better way of life than we could have ever imagined… but we can’t see it when we’re stuck in a cubical?
——
this work shines a light on opportunity and maybe even a smidge of optimism about the future of work——as long as we learn humility as a lesson and focus on opportunities that light something inside.
we never know where any opportunity lies and will lead us later…
but the light doesn’t lie. follow it.
the process [video below]:
i wrote out by hand most of the auto rejection emails I’ve received this year alone and started gluing them on in no particular order. auto rejection emails all sound the same to me so i treated them all the same. this layer is hardly shown in the final piece [because these emails are not important] so i painted over that quickly and imperfectly, the texture and outlines of the paper to leave room for curiosity but nothing to be legible.
rejection is redirection.
then i cut out small phrases, words, or images from vintage books and magazines to build on the idea and then blended everything together with white and yellow paint as a symbol of optimism, carefully still letting specific words and phrases show through.
the connected dots and stencilled words further tell the story of opportunity, the people you meet, and the things you learn that lead you from one thing to the next. the final step was the golf ball that was dipped in black paint and then rolled around the canvas wherever it wanted.
because sometimes we just gotta jump in and and roll with it.
a final look:
i was one of many to show this at a local event at saskatoon makerspace. since makerspace is kept dim with hanging patio lights for most events and there is a lot of detail to see here, i hung flashlights on either side of the canvas for people to hold up to the canvas and move it around to see the details as some kind of immersive treasure hunt type of experience.
majestic
Jan. 7, 2026
a story about my stay at the original bolt farm treehouse, the majestic treehouse and one story of nine from a series called “she was herself and the world loved her for it.” i wrote this series following a two week adventure ten years ago [2016] which was also my final year of my 20s.
this adventure in general was, i think, when i learned that i could actually, maybe, be myself, that it was okay to be, and that the right people will like me more if i be more myself.
i took this into my 30s and as i’m just beginning my final year of my 30s this week, i realize this enlightenment i had in 2016 affected an entire decade in ways i couldn’t predict [for better and worse].
one night in the carolina woods
I woke up at seven after what felt like three minutes of sleep and packed my suitcase in a pitch black interior cabin with nothing but the flashlight of my phone. I didn’t feel 100 per cent but I knew I could be worse. I think I was just exhausted to my core. We got off the boat without even one last stop in the buffet and returned to land and a long nap on the couch that felt like it was bobbing in the ocean was due.
Sea legs, I suddenly remembered, were a very real sensation and one that kept me both present and reminiscent of my most recent reality that never really felt like reality.
Later that afternoon, we drowned our exhaustion and depression in mindless TV and donuts and I slept good that night despite previously mentioned nap. A good sleep was long overdue which so I think it was a good use of a day, although it would appear to be a wasted day to anyone looking in.
After a better night’s sleep, I woke up with the need to move my body in a torturous way disguised as health, so I dropped into a local CrossFit gym during open gym hours and picked a workout to do on my own that I knew would fulfill my need for torture [health]. Later that night I re-packed my suitcase [packing in the dark when you’re chronically exhausted was no way to pack a suitcase, after all] and the next morning I was on the way home——but not before a quick mini adventure with the sole purpose of recovery.
I booked a two night stay in a treehouse in a small town in South Carolina and after a full day in the Chicago airport with nothing but my own thoughts and bad WiFi, I landed in Charleston much later than expected. I pictured myself driving my little red rental car in the dark looking for a treehouse on a big plot of land near a small town I’ve never been to and then saw myself as the victim of a potential murder documentary. It was then that I decided it was perhaps too late and too dark to drive four hours west.
Make that a one night stay, with another quick stay at a friend’s house in Charleston for a few hours.
—
Early the next morning [six hours later] I was on my way——intense February rainstorm and all. The rain didn’t slow me down and in perfect time, desperate to make good use out of the short time I had there, I pulled into the guest grid driveway located a ways in front of the treehouse and couldn’t get out of the car fast enough.
I jumped out of the car with no regard to the remnants of the rainstorm, grabbed just a few of my things I’d need for one night, ran down the long driveway and up the ramp that led into this majestic treehouse that was just as perfect in real life as it looked in photos.
Right away I put a record on and began obsessing out loud about every detail as harder raindrops now pounded on the metal roof of the treehouse. Once the inital excitement wore off, my sleep deprivation hit me so I curled up under the blankets on the hanging rope swing bed underneath the treehouse and listened to the sound of the rain as I drifted into what I think was one of the best naps I’ve ever had.
—
I awoke shortly after to a friend, who lived in Atlanta at the time, arriving at the treehouse. It’s only a short drive to the treehouse from Atlanta so I invited her to come for a visit. And yes, I knew this treehouse was more of a ‘romantic’ getaway but who says friends [who are single] can’t enjoy this stuff, too? We both shared a love for well-crafted tiny spaces and hadn’t seen each other for awhile, so it seemed perfectly fit.
Once the rain stopped we went off exploring a bit, had for a quick dinner, and generally didn’t stop talking the whole time. Later that night had us in matching robes and slippers, each with a bottle of wine in hand [red for her, white for me]. We sat across from each other and beside the big window facing the dark Carolina woods and attempted to play Scrabble. It was only nine but I realized I was practically sleeping while sitting up, had not many thoughts or words in my head, and had no energy or desire to drink much of the wine. We admitted defeat and crawled into the California king-sized bed on our respective sides and each drifted off into sleeps so sound we forgot the other was even there.
—
Waking up the next morning in the treehouse was unexplainably euphoric; The bed, the windows, the view.
I made coffee and almost broke the vintage coffee maker in the process; we had a little laugh about it as we sat there in silence drinking the coffee that almost never happened. We didn’t do much else that morning but it was one of those times where words were hardly necessary.
Of course, I still had plenty of words inside me though——so I sat out on the deck and furiously wrote two full pages in the provided guestbook. I am not really sure what I wrote and I am not really sure if I want to know. I’m sure if I ever get to read what I wrote I would find it embarrassing in the most sloppiest of ways but I do know that at the time, it came straight from the heart and if I know anything about the purpose of the Bolt Farm treehouses, that’s exactly what they want.
When I finally stopped writing I ran back inside and sat directly in front of the portable heater until it was time to leave. My friend and I said our goodbyes and she headed back to Atlanta but I needed one last moment.
I took more photos of the treehouse solely because I wanted to relive this forever, cried a little either out of sadness or joy or some kind of hybrid, and walked around the treehouse about five times observing it all. With only a minute or two to spare before I had to check out, I grabbed my bag and hopped in my little red rental car and watched the majestic treehouse fade in my rear view mirror as I drove back to Charleston.
The next morning just before heading to the airport to finally head home I made a quick stop at the beach at sunrise. It was dark at first, I couldn’t find an entrance to the beach, I basically had no idea where I was. But I could smell the salty air and it felt like home so I knew I was close.
As I was leaving I noticed the lighthouse and it felt like a symbol that I was finally starting to find my way.
—
![“sorry, not today” [throwback]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604bd4d554930a5adb77ab4c/1766557482981-7G538JBQF7OSDS1RFM69/UNmigration_blog+cover.png)
“sorry, not today” [throwback]
dec 23, 2025 [created initially in 2017
after my sister, who was working with UN Migration in Ghana at the time, wrote this and posted it with the photo [background photo shown here] on her social media… i felt like making something a bit more visual to go with the impactful words…
i didn’t spend much time on it and it’s not technically complex from an art or design perspective, but i think it ~works as a whole still today because it means something. and even though it’s eight years past, it’s still something i like to read and look at it and it’s still relevant to today. it still means something.
so that said——good design rarely needs to be complicated, but it does need to do something… or mean something, in my opinion. if it doesn’t, it’s just decoration and people are going to forget about it [especially in our visually saturated world].
x
merry christmas eve eve. ;)
heartbreak dreamer
a digital poster i made for fun a few years ago as a visual for mat kearney’s song “heartbreak dreamer.” there was no purpose and it was never made, i just like the song so i let my visual mind run with it.
the small text in the background are the lyrics of the spoken part of the song, a part i’ve always especially liked.
years prior around the time when the album came out, i did these in a few different colours as a first draft.
attempt no. 3
i did this as an application project for an MFA program at School of Visual Arts and is a visual narrative story about a weightlifting competition from an athlete’s perspective.
i did the planning/direction, photos, written story, and design; all of these things on their own weren’t ‘perfect’ but as an interdisciplinary project where the purpose was storytelling, it did that well
deliverable: 6x9” coffee table style book
read the full story here
(I was accepted to start in the summer of 2020 but decided to forgo the opportunity because of COVID-19).
“the sport of weightlifting can be cruel. An athlete only gets six attempts on the platform in a competition—three attempts of two different lifts. Mistakes and failed lifts occur in training and even in competition but it's the mental strength to get back up for that third attempt that brings success.”
(cover text)
about the process:
after writing my written story quickly, i thought about what to do my visual narrative story on for a good week with no success [and admittedly i was starting to panic at the lack of good ideas]. then, a day or two before i had a weightlifting competition that weekend, it hit me.
naturally i had very little time to plan much but i had a vision. i asked one teammate to be my subject, knew what i wanted the overall message to be without writing the actual story, and had some ideas for journalism-style POV photos rolling around in my head. no sketches, no storyboarding, no notes, just running off lived experience, anxiety, adrenaline, and some caffeine.
——
i’m not a ‘professional photographer’ but i had a low end digital SLR camera and a 50mm lens and i had a vision.
i’m not a ‘professional writer’ but i like creative writing and storytelling and i had something to say.
i can design editorial-style books and ‘zines in my sleep. i didn’t consider anything else.
we were given a few prompts to choose from for both a visual narrative story and a written story but we had to use the same prompt for both. i knew both of my stories would be partially non-fiction and so i chose the prompt a mistake that as made.
mistakes felt relatable, perfectly flawed, and human.
that’s the kinda story i like to read as well as create.
——
i showed up to the competition that day with my competition gear over one shoulder and my camera and creative mind over the other, taking care of business (the project) first in the session right before my own.the photos i got and my own experience from that that day somehow aligned despite factual differences to create the final story——something I and many athletes have experienced often.
[the story is mostly true, except for the parts that aren’t]
do what you can with what you have
nov 14 / 2025
Firstly, I’ve wanted to share a bit more about this project for awhile because there is some kind of back story to where and why the idea came from that I think might be interesting. I don’t know if I expected the first bunch of copies to sell so rapidly [raising $420 after $295 in printing costs for @7thgenrising] hence why I printed a conservative 25 first.
I printed another small run and there are still some from the second print run at Alt Haus, Lucky Bastard Distillers, and Nefelibata in Saskatoon so if you’re from here and this intrigues you or it seems like a good gift for someone you know, you know where to go.
Now I’ll get into it.
The entire idea and process started a little over a year ago. I had a bunch of what I’ll call “stim drawings” or “stim doodles” I did throughout the end of summer and fall 2024 just as a passive, for-me art activity. It was pretty meditative and I soon became addicted to… drawing lines.
Then last December, after being laid off for the third time in five years, I had an idea to make a colouring book out of the drawings to sell because maybe the meditative part would translate to colouring and non-artists could see what I mean when I say art is a form of therapy. [Plus, I needed a way to make money, of course].
I made the first book in January of this year from those initial drawings and after a a lot of edits (I redrew them all digitally at least twice) and prototypes, it was good [enough]. I knew I could do it better though… so I did that for the spring/summer. The process for the second one was a lot more efficient and actually enjoyable and I sold a handful at some summer markets with positive feedback.
Naturally, this meant I should make a third and a couple situations brought me to the idea of the community collaborative book:
1. Still without a job, it was at this point in the year when I was getting tired of working in total isolation.
I’ve been a designer for 15 years and for most of those years, my design projects were FOR someone, WITH other people, and usually had some sort of specs and confinements. I’m a designer by nature and work better with rules—a concept, guidelines, a plan, a theme, you get it. Without any of that I have too many ideas and can get overwhelmed as my creative mind truly never quits [it’s the creative AuDHD curse]. Plus, as much as this might surprise people’s perceptions about autistic people, we don’t ALWAYS want to be alone and we like connection just like anyone and there is absolutely such thing as too much alone time even for me.
So, I wanted to do something that might actually get me out of this isolation station and maybe give me the confidence again to meet people… but I’ve learned that doing a lot of art and design events where there’s socializing involved takes more of a toll on me than it does an allistic person. The act of creating with people [whether in private/online or as a group in person] has always been less draining than just generic socializing over drinks.
2. Selfishly, I wanted a newer design project for my website that was for someone, wasn’t totally self-inflicted, and showed a little more of my creative direction and organizing / planning skills.
This is not talked about much, but I know that people can be quite prejudice looking at portfolios when hiring designers. It seems like they care less about how the designer thinks and care more about results and what’s most ‘eye catching’ or ‘aesthetic.’ Design has become too marketing focused and not as a communicative, functional tool to make things… better. It’s nobody’s fault, but this is where I’ve noticed the design industry and hiring headed. People don’t have time to be curious and dig deeper—they just want to see results. A lot of designers who have aesthetic portfolios with picture perfect mock ups for brands that are trending, making them look like amazing designers. The thing is, they might be a great designer when their ideal client within your interest falls in their lap, but when the project isn’t your favourite, are you as great?
So, I wanted to make a project I could say I did from idea to end, handled the sales, and worked with other people on.
3. I wanted to make something that would have a real, tangible benefit for people other than myself.
I’ve always said “do what you can with what you have” in terms of charity, aid, donations. I think I learned this from the band Hanson during the walk era in 2007 when I felt like I was contributing to something good just by walking one mile barefoot before some shows and buying a pair of TOMS shoes, let alone eventually making a banner for some of the walks i went on. It wasn’t a lot, but it was something and it was something I could do.
Right now, I really don’t have a lot of money to give, I’m a minimalist and am always decluttering so I don’t have much to donate when I see people asking for specific things, and I don’t always have the social battery to volunteer places in person.
I can make books, especially this style of book, pretty well.
And so the idea for a not-for-profit book to help the community with the community helping me make it was born.
I chose to print it locally [Mr Print in Saskatoon] for a few reasons: quick turn around without shipping times, proof availability, easy back and forth communication to get things right, and, of course, supporting local businesses [especially businesses like printers who are likely being overrun by online printing companies].
I’m certain there’s tons of printers online with tons more paper samples available but some things are worth sacrificing for certain projects when supporting local makes sense (like a lighter paper weight but paper that felt good to write or colour on). And in this case, I just adapted the design consciously to not double side the illustration pages.
Overall, was it the most perfect project ever?
Of course, not. Most things can always be better [my motto]. But I made it work with what I had, it made a lil difference, it did get me out of my isolation station / gave me a little confidence to not be a recluse, and I might just keep the series going (even with a broken finger).
—M
![the rock boat no. 12 [a music book i made once ~just for fun]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/604bd4d554930a5adb77ab4c/1763081179911-9L2W7DZZ8IL01I8MB73Q/IMG_6046+2_crop.jpg)
the rock boat no. 12 [a music book i made once ~just for fun]
this is a short editorial book i put together quickly as a keepsake following a music festival (on a boat) i went once. well, technically i’ve been on five of these boats——but this is just from the 2012 festival.
I did this as a way to organize some key music memories into something more tangible and while I didn’t sell it, I kept the book general and focused on the music and if this book happens to live longer than me, I hope someone discovers a new favourite artist in it if nothing else.
All photos are my own and lyrics throughout were selected and credited and are from bands on the boat or cover songs performed on the boat that year.
a lil life advice to music fans and/or anyone:
do the things you like to do when you can do them, capture some moments along the way, and always support your favourite musicians by buying records and going to shows.
throwback project: the reckoning lyric book
in late 2011 i wanted to play with display type so i made this lil ‘zine style book for needtobreathe’s abum “the reckoning,” which was released around the same time. the project was fully self-initiated and i self published it online via a print on demand site, mainly just to print a copy myself.
a few fans contributed photos to the project (credit given in the book) and a handful of fans purchased the book as well; proceeds were fully donated to one world health, which is the charity needtobreathe supported [at the time].
flashback friday: stephen kellogg and the sixers tour book
somewhere between finishing college and my last internship and getting my first design gig, i made a tour book for this band i loved purely for the joy of it (and maybe to practice my book design skills). it wasn’t a paid gig or anything but they were aware and cool with it.
i worked with a few fans i knew to submit photos and stories from each show and to help gather each setlist and i also asked the band for a favour (see the end page), and i had the books self-published to a print-on-demand site that fans could order a copy if they wanted to.
ps. it’s fun to see how design styles, trends, and my skills have changed and improved over the years——but some aspects of design really are timeless, such as good type setting.
stay uncool and one day you’ll be cool (personal project)
handmade visual journal
may to july ‘25
The title means to stop chasing what someone else perceives as “cool” or “trendy.” Do what you want, like what you like, wear what you want to…. and stop making decisions based on what might “look” cool for social media. If you stay true to yourself, you’ll be the coolest even if the things you do and like aren’t seen as “cool” to someone else.
“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with one another when we’re uncool.”
(almost famous, one of my favourite cinematic masterpieces)
a story about this project:
Immediately out of college and before my first job as a designer, I designed a lot of ‘zine style photo books from some music travel adventures I went on. It was just a way for me to keep designing things and not forget everything I learned in school, build my portfolio with more work that I loved, while I was a barista as my day job and job searched but more than that it became something that made me really love to tell stories in a visual way.
Earlier this year I was itching to design something similar——and since I went to California near the end of last year to see Hanson (yes, those brothers) four times in a week, this trip felt like something that needed a physical memory of. I had done trips like this before but it had been YEARS and doing it again brought back a lot of feels [joy].
I started to make it in Adobe InDesign like usual but about a third of the way through it just didn’t feel right. I immediately had a handful of photos printed and bought a ~letter-sized unlined sketchbook and decided to do it completely by hand: 60 pages of layout, journal-esque stories, and photos by hand, each page intentional.
I’m not sure what to even call this project. A visual journal? Handmade ‘zine? Travel journal? For me it’s just a memory to keep forever and the process was slower than digital layout so it allowed a lot more thought and reflection.
In this process, I learned a little more about what I want, what I love, and following those things is maybe the only way we can ever be cool.
With that said, I can’t wait to keep it forever and look at/read it just before my life ends and [hopefully] think, “I may not have done everything, but I did what I loved and made the most of things whenever I could. And I was myself.”
tiny useless things
hand built ceramics, air dry clay
acrylics
acrylic seal/varnish
a little exploration i did to communicate a message about society, humanity, ableism, and self worth. the collection consists of tiny mugs you can’t drink out of, tiny vases of glued in (faux) flowers, and tiny buckets you can’t put water in.
all useless.
…
being a designer i’ve always tried to find a purpose and function of anything i see or make——it’s just in our nature as designers (inventors and problem solvers). i’ve also struggled with the persistent very human thoughts of, “am i doing enough?” or “am i producing/creating enough?”
art (and life) is not always about having some profound purpose and impact all the time and we don’t always need to be useful. sometimes simply existing is okay. what and how much we produce isn’t tied to our value and worth and these tiny useless mugs, vases, and buckets were made to serve as a reminder of this.
spring film / may 2025
plants, flowers, time outside, and a trip to the zoo / pentax k1000
design to organize (ceramics)
hand built ceramics with air dry clay
design is everywhere and affects everything we do, this was a personal hobby to build my own ‘designated places’ for little things around the house.
phone bed:
when the phone goes to bed, i’m unavailable. sorry, not sorry.
workspace:
the business card holder that was nothing but a happy accident. it wasn’t built for any specific thing but ended up being the perfect shape to hold cards and so a ~place was born.
accessories:
drawers and cabinets is where my things go to die. to keep things open concept but still clutter-free and organized, i made a bunch of various sizes of wavy bowls and trays to keep similar products together.
volunteer work: jr nationals weightlifting championships
in the spring, i volunteered with my provincial weightlifting association to help with social media coverage and content for the 2025 jr nationals weightlifting championships, which was held locally.
for two of the three competition days, i took videos and photos of athletes, posted videos of athletes on the main Instagram story, designed in-feed content posts for the podium in each weight class, many of which were shared, and many videos were turned into highlight lifts for reels.
see below for some of the visuals i created from the event.
maybe you just need the beach?
january 2025
air dry clay, canvas, acrylic, joint compound, and ~one million seashells)
just a fun adventure when i missed the ocean in the depths of winter
report to the community — a throwback project (2012) and one where i thought a little differently early in my career
dimensions when folded 7x10 in; poster dimensions 21x30 in
the report to the community was a project my department (central marketing and communications) did at usask every year that summarized some of the bigger news stories across campus from the past year used as a marketing piece to give out at campus and community events.
we often did it like a typical brochure/booklet but this year when i worked on it i thought, “maybe we could make it into a poster?” books are nice if you have a place to put them but with stuff like this i think they often get tossed out once you read them. the poster format was a way to avoid having people toss it out after they read it; the hope was to have people hang it up in their office after reading it so they see it frequently without it being in the way and adding to the desk clutter.
we still wanted it to be able to fold and look like a booklet to make it easy and more traditional to handle so we used some of the brand slogan words one by one as a way to “introduce” the stories.
