Date Range: 2018 - Present
Role: Owner, Illustrator, Author
Objectives Achieved: Celebrate the Creative Community, Develop a Network of Community Collaborators, Interview the Creatives Who Have Inspired My Own Work, Develop Long-Lasting Relationships with the Folks I Draw, Complete 3500+ Portraits of British Columbia Locals
Skills Used: Illustration, Community Building, Graphic Design, Large-Scale Planning, Copywriting, Storytelling, Interviewing, Artistic Administration, Archival Organization
Drawing Thanks Interview, 2025.
Drawing Thanks evolved from a personal development project—expressing gratitude towards those drawn and featured—into a daily portrait series which explores and celebrates the creators, dreamers, and doers who make community happen in British Columbia. Over eight years of work and 3,500+ portraits, Drawing Thanks has strived to activate gratitude and perspective economies throughout BC, collaborating with both the City of Vancouver and The City of Maple Ridge along the way, as well as many local event programmers and non-profit organizations.
These days, all the interviews, zines, comics, portraits, and stories of Drawing Thanks are being compiled into a multimedia print publication. This book will include interviews with prominent personalities such as Rick Hansen, Amy Stewart and more, while also exploring community connections through graphic novel sequences, guest writings, and collaborative zines. It is a big production as so many creatives are coming on board to help tell the stories they were part of, after all, this book follows the golden rule of "nothing about us, without us."
