Maker Series: Draw Me A Lion

         Hi Friends! One of the things I love best in life is discovering wonderful artists- makers- creators- and the sharing them with everyone I possibly can. With this in mind I decided this year with the run up to the Holidays to feature some of our favourite local makers- folks living and working in British Columbia- making a living form scratch- doing what they love. When shopping for Birthday or Holiday gifts these are the folks I go to time and again for gift giving- I love giving well crafted- lovingly made goods and I like to try and keep it as local as I possibly can. Many of the folks featured here in the coming weeks will be familiar to friends and family- like today's feature on Draw Me A Lion- seriously my favourite go- to gifts made by one of my favourite people!

     Of course I had to ask Draw Me A Lion owner and operator Lisa Cinar the obvious questions- what is her inspiration and the drive behind her brand as I like to know what makes people tick. Lisa was gracious enough to share some insight into her process as well as lots of lovely festive images- getting me excited for Christmas creating- bring on the dancing trees!

Q: What is Draw Me A Lion all about?

A: I have always loved to draw and create things. I had written and illustrated a couple of children's picture books with a local publisher and thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice to become my own little publisher of fun things? ... I had always had the idea in the back of my head, but it took a while for me to realize what exactly it was that I wanted to create. 

           Today I make everything from greeting cards, to wall-prints, pins and of course one of my favourite parts ... tons of colouring items. I especially love the activity-involved items like the Colouring Posters, Mask Colouring Books and the new Ornament Postcard Booklet because I think of them as a collaborations – the final object is created only once the receiver of the item has coloured it and made it theirs. 

            Everything at Draw Me A Lion is drawn, designed and assembled by me here in my little studio and printed locally. I love creating items that make other people happy and It's a fantastic feeling to see your own creations on the shelves of some of the best local stores. It's quite fun to see my studio space shrink-and-shrink as I create more-and-more items that my online-shop has in stock. 

 Q: What inspires you? 

A: My childhood has always inspired me. It's when I first started to be creative and I have the good fortune of having a stack of drawings I did when I was a kid that my Mom wisely saved for me. Sometimes when I feel un-inspired I like to look at them. It always helps me get in touch with that wondrous-magical-feeling you can get when you have a blank sheet of paper and realize that you could draw anything. Something else that always inspires me is drawing with kids. I think that all kids are by nature incredibly creative, spontaneous and free in their drawings and we adults have tons to learn from them. 

           My style of illustration for Draw Me A Lion is very much about this free spontaneous line quality that is much more about expressing a feeling and having a drawing look-alive rather than focusing on technical accuracy. It's no big surprise that a lot of my favourite artist and illustrators have illustrated and written childrens picture books. Some of them are Tove Janson, Joann Sfar and Marc Boutavant. However I am also a huge fan of Alexander Calder and Marc Chagall, two fine artist who's work also often references childhood.

         Be sure to join Lisa to celebrate Draw Me A Lion's 3rd Birthday this coming Saturday - Nov 1-at Collage Collage- noon till 2pm! Draw Me A Lion can also be found at a number of upcoming markets in and around Vancouver first up November 29 at the Annual Strathcona Craft Fair- always a great market with a killer bake sale! Followed by the cult classic TOUQUE at the Western Front December 5 & 6 as well as Got Craft December 13 &14. With plenty of opportunity to stock up on Draw Me A Lion goodies be sure not to miss out on meeting Lisa in person- you will walk away with some creative gifts and surely a smile on your face- she's contagious like that!

P.S.- just a trip- Draw Me A Lion makes so many wonderful things that are perfect for popping in the post- flat and easy to mail- our favourite is the Mask book!