Illustration Archives - Alison Garwood-Jones Alison Garwood-Jones

Virginia Woolf and Alice Munro in conversation

Originally published in March 2019 in Blog, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators

Finding time to focus on creativity is tough for everyone, but it’s especially hard for women given the demands on their time at work and at home.

Morning memories

Originally published in January 2019 in Blog, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators

Shell hunting on the Isle of Guernsey, 1951.

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 […]

Dog love

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

Our house guest this Christmas is a beast named Henry. He does all the things that endear dogs to humans. We love him.

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 […]

The human race

Originally published in October 2018 in Blog, Graphic Recorder, Graphic Visualizer, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators

Self-pity and entitlement lead us down more wrong paths than I can count. Diversity is our natural state of being. We should be celebrating. SaveSave SaveSave

Communicating your value as a visual storyteller

Originally published in September 2018 in Blog

I first published this post back in August when Gini Dietrich and her team asked me to be a guest contributor at SpinSucks.com. Spin Sucks (the website and the book) is a fantastic resource for up-to-date information and advice on current issues and trends surrounding marketing, communication, social media, entrepreneurship, search engine optimization, and advertising. Not […]

Your dream job after 50?

Originally published in July 2018 in Blog, Custom Portraits, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators

PEN JAR PRODUCTIONS, TORONTO: Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of folks on Instagram and Facebook expressing a resistance to certain persistent social markers: #MarriedBy25 has been revised to #MarriedBy35, and beyond. #DreamJobBy30 is also getting plenty of pushback. That’s why I thought I’d do a cartoon for you describing a recent episode in my […]

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 […]