Drawing Thanks

Ever heard of “Alternative Artmaking?” In 2025, I ran a teen workshop with exploring the term and what it means. I’m excited to share that the workshop presentation is now available to download for folks of all ages! Follow the downloads link in my bio to start your Alternative Artmaking journey!

It finally happened! I populated the downloads page of DrawingThanks.com! Follow the link in my bio for all sorts of fun colouring sheets that have been made in collaboration with , , and .ca! While you’re there printing out fun goodies, you can also check out my 2025 Raymond House Artist Residency Impact Report.

Lastly, I would LOVE to see what you colour! Post the finished colouring sheets to your story and mention ! I can’t wait to see everyone’s creations!

What an incredible weekend with ! It was such a treat to have so many friends and family visit the studio. I got so lost in conversation, I forgot to take photos with guests on Sunday!

It really meant a lot to me to have kids bring their parents in because they have felt a connection to my gratitude project. I didn’t know I had little fans! I even recieved a gift drawing from one of my young guests (see photos). Look out for her work on an upcoming tour! It was also really fulfilling to follow up with a few teens who attended my “Alternative Artmaking” workshop with !

What made my weekend most precious and special was having a number of non-binary emerging artists show up and share safe creative community with me!

If this weekend reinforced anything for me, it is that gratitude truly is universal and ageless. Thanks again to everyone who showed up, old friends and new.

Another special thanks for all who donated to and ! I was truly moved by your generosity.

That’s all for now—I have so many friends to get drawing!

This Saturday and Sunday, May 9th and 10th, come visit the Raymond House Artist Residency at Studio 9 (11932 221st Street in Maple Ridge) to check out wall-to-wall hand-illustrated portraits (over 250), grab some free stickers, buttons, and colouring sheets, and maybe even go home with a limited-run print or two! All the creations shared in this post will be available and if you purchase a print of the illustration, 50% of the proceeds will go to the Maple Ridge Community Foundation!

Don’t let mine be the only stop you make, either! Be sure to visit my friends listed below! If you haven’t already, give them a follow now and check out the amazing works they have in store for you!
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Time to get planning your Mother’s Day Weekend! 🗓️

1 week until the Raymond House Art Studio doors open for ! I have some fun freebies and prints for sale for visitors, as well as an experience of seeing a studio covered wall-to-wall with over 250 portraits of Maple Ridge community! I hope to see you here on May 9th and 10th! I have so much new work I am excited to share with the community!

Just two more weeks until ! I can’t wait to open up the Raymond House Art Studio for folks to stop by and visit. We are going to have a big collage of all the Maple Ridge portraits on display across the walls and I will have prints available of the illustrations from each month of the 2026 calendar project. I hope to welcome you to the studio this coming Mother’s Day Weekend!

This weekend and I went to my sister, and ’s wedding. It was such a joy to celebrate them both. I designed the flowers and foliage for the name tags and table markers for the dinner and had a lovely experience finding ways to incorporate the natural foliage of both BC and Iran. I was happy with how they turned out, and so was the bride (which is the most important). I was very fulfilled and grateful to provide this small cog to the very large, complicated, and beautiful machine that was their grand wedding!

I’m super grateful for for accompanying me to the wedding and being a comfort and strength through the misgendering, social anxiety, and body dysmorphia that I experience at large social gatherings of folks I don’t see too often. The “here’s what you missed on Glee” that catches family up to where I’m at is long, intimidating, and vulnerable to share. Crowds are so much easier when my hand finds Faune’s. On that note, I received incredible news the night of the wedding that I have been accepted for gender-affirming care! It’s all turning out great for the Neff kids!

Can’t wait to see how the wedding photos turn out. Love ya, , and ! What a special weekend! 💜✨🫂

The Pitt Meadows Maple Ridge Art Studio Tour will soon be upon us! Save the dates—May 9th and 10th. I’m so excited to open up the Raymond House studio to visitors once again. I’ve expanded the portrait feature wall in the studio to accommodate the 250+ illustrations from the residency so far. It now extends along the length of the room!

Swipe through the illustrations shared to see some of the incredible artists I have met in Maple Ridge during my artist residency. Many of them will even have their doors open for guests too! It’s going to be a fun weekend! Don’t miss it!

Learn more here:

It was really lovely to be interviewed by earlier this month to discuss the mural I created with the team at . It was so much fun to be part of this team effort and get to know each person at the depot as we painted side-by-side. How cool that all the paint was reclaimed?! We were so fortunate with the abundant selection of colour options. I am so excited for the community to get involved with this fantastic PaintShare program and give new life to unused paints! Follow the link in my bio to read the full article!

Here is another little update on drawings I have been up to lately, one I dug up that got lost in the archives, and a few lovely opportunities to reconnect with family. Reconnection is the theme of my winter/spring transition and I am grateful for the relationship nurturing that brings. There are so many individual stories of gratitude I am excited to share for each of these folks featured. I’m going to be putting some elbow grease into the blog as we transition out of winter. I can feel new waves of spring energy on the horizon. For now, I’m grateful me and my loved ones made it through a very challenging winter.

I had a fun time last night putting this piece together and sending all my good energy out into the universe for . It was such a joy to watch them compete in . I felt so many big emotions watching PM shine, be vulnerable, and represent the non-binary weirdos! I owe them a lot for providing safe spaces that aided on my own gender journey over the years. Being part of Late Night Snack at Save On Meats was the most special. I used to love pre show hugs and reveling in those nervous energy bursts that had everyone eager to make incredible memories for all in attendance. At those shows, I’d reconnect with old friends, make plenty of new ones, and most of all, build the confidence to show the world who I am and how I show up. I owe so much to this human, from finding comfort in my skin, to seeing my community in beautiful Technicolour. Thanks for blazing safe trails and making space for freak flags to fly 💜✨ PM = Pretty Marvellous