Some of you are asking how I’m faring in my search for a new business partner to print and ship my pillows, totes, scarves, and tees at Pen Jar Productions. 👚 👕 First, THANK YOU! 😘 The answer is: I’m doing my due diligence, researching my options online, talking to friends, drinking tea ☕️, and building a chart in […]
I’m looking for a new printing partner
Originally published in March 2020 in Blog, Graphic Facilitation, Graphic Facilitator, Graphic Recording, Graphic Visualizer, Toronto Illustrators
Beauty Geeks features my “Spring Branches” pillow for Valentine’s Day
Originally published in February 2020 in Blog
The magazine editor in me still appreciates round-ups of pretty things.🎀 Just like in the movies, the packages arrive at your office. 🛍 📦 You unbox them with glee and line up the object on your desk looking for patterns in ingredients, colours and textures. 💄🌺 Then you pull them together to tell a story. […]
Sketching at the mall
Originally published in February 2020 in Blog, Graphic Recorder, Graphic Visualizer, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators, Visual Storytelling
There’s a hightop table facing the shoe department at Nordstrom Canada’s Toronto location. 👢 It’s for people to stop, sit, play with their phones, or wait while they get a clothing item repaired at a nearby sewing station. 🧥 It’s also great if you’re an urban sketcher. 🎨 There’s always something to see and sketch.
Dear Facebook
Originally published in January 2020 in Blog, Comic, Graphic Recorder, Graphic Visualizer, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators
How I learned to create a Gif
Originally published in January 2020 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
“If you deal in quality, not awards, what you do will always feel real.” This is what happens when people’s determination to produce gets greedy and misplaced. Switching gears. Understanding how to tell your stories in multiple formats is a power thing. Hats off to Melissa Lee (@MelissaLeeDesign). Through her @Skillshare class, “Create a Hand-Drawn […]
In the Spotlight: KBarlow Design
Originally published in December 2019 in Blog, Toronto Illustrators
The truth about the world
Originally published in December 2019 in Blog, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators
Who knew?
Originally published in November 2019 in Blog, Graphic Recorder, Graphic Visualizer, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators
The future
Originally published in September 2019 in Blog, Illustration, Toronto Illustrators
Photo and Illustration by Alison Garwood-Jones Josh is in the fifth grade. He likes history and basketball. Photo and Illustration by Alison Garwood-Jones Adelaide likes hearts and story time. Today, I joined forces again as a portrait artist with my wonderful partners at @JamiiEsplanade. It was their 10th year organizing @culturedays and the program, […]
Meeting my customers
Originally published in August 2019 in Blog, Custom Portraits, Enamel Pins, Jane Jacobs Enamel Pin, Pen Jar Productions, Profile,, Toronto Illustrators
The best part of owning and operating Pen Jar Productions, my online store, is creating the product and meeting my customers. Here is my interview with Fernanda van der Laan, proud owner of my Jane Jacobs enamel pin. This summer my Jane Jacobs pin (circled in blue) entered a special collection of over 300 pins, […]


















