Alison Garwood Jones

7 things my customers taught me in 2018

Originally published in December 2018 in Blog, Gift Ideas, Illustration, Pen Jar Productions, Toronto Illustrators

Last summer, the initial delight I felt in seeing my sketchbook drawings on a digital pillow template inspired a new design business in 2018 called Pen Jar Productions. Now my quirky line drawings are on totes, tees, scarves, and, coming next month, enamel pins! (In these politically-charged times, more of us are wearing our values […]

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Studio Tour of Pen Jar Productions

Originally published in November 2018 in Blog, Gift Ideas, Graphic Recorder, Graphic Visualizer, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators

 Click on image to play my video greeting, or click here. An email I sent my contact list on November 1st:  Top of the morning to my friends, family and work colleagues: For those of you who haven’t heard from me since high school, here’s what’s new:  I cut my hair, became an art historian, unbecame […]

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#WritersWithDayJobs

Originally published in September 2018 in Blog

Geoffrey Owens, talented actor and Yale grad: you have my respect and admiration. This August, in between teaching, writing, starting my new design biz (Pen Jar Productions), I too worked in the service industry, running the door at The Rectory Cafe, a beautiful restaurant on Ward’s Island. Part of my job included sweeping the entire […]

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The rebirth in failure

Originally published in August 2018 in Blog

This is post was first published eight years ago. Egads, I’ve been blogging a long time! Some people said  it made them feel hopeful — even brave. Your morning dose of hope.  The ability to focus and commit to something through thick and thin is a quality I admire. Writer and comedian Craig Ferguson describes […]

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Creative Entrepreneurs: a mutual support society

Originally published in June 2018 in Blog

The nice thing about being a creative entrepreneur, other than the creative freedom, the distance from office politics, and the casual wardrobe (I also like to randomly drop and do sit-ups, which I wouldn’t do in an office setting) is the sense of camaraderie with fellow freelancers. We hire each other, and pay with cash […]

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Milton Glaser

Originally published in June 2018 in Blog, Doodling, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators, Visual Storytelling

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Celebrity Body Parts

Originally published in May 2018 in Blog, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators

  Inspired by back issues of Rolling Stone Magazine. #GoldenAgeOfMagazines #PopCulture #Illustration #SocialChange #WatercolorArt SaveSave

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Why I draw

Originally published in April 2018 in Blog, Cartoons, Doodling, Royal Art Lodge, Toronto Illustrators

Back in 2012, when I was leafing through the book, More Things Like This, an anthology about the intersection of art, writing and humour, I didn’t expect to find a painting of me scattered amongst the works of Art Spiegelman, Andy Warhol, Shel Silverstein, Kurt Vonnegut, and Leanne Shapton. I later found out my likeness […]

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Telling time

Originally published in April 2018 in Blog, Doodling, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators

Queen Street window shopping: I still appreciate these ancient devices for marking time. Also, a watch is a piece of jewelry to me. A phone is not. #Toronto #the6ix #timepiece #watches(@WestQueenWest)

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Bill Cunningham left us a memoir — oh joy!

Originally published in April 2018 in Blog, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators

Source: The New York Times

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