Age of creativity

When Ellie Shaw’s daughter was four years old, she would draw a picture of a princess every day.

One day Shaw gave her a canvas and asked if she could draw her princess on that instead.

"She did and I painted it just for fun and I brought it to an art show," said the Thunder Bay woman. "Another mom was there and said, ‘can you do that for my kid’s drawings?’"

That’s how Frosticular Designs was created. Last year, through word of mouth, Shaw created and sold 13 paintings inspired by children’s art.

It starts with a simple drawing.

"Not ones the kid has coloured in and from when they’re really young," Shaw said.

She puts the drawing on a projector and follows it as close to exact as possible.

"I try to imagine what they were thinking when they drew it and try to bring that to life, but I like to be able to do my own thing with it, too. That’s why I don’t want the pre-coloured perfect drawing," said Shaw.

She also adds her own background, which is often inspired by vintage wallpapers.

Shaw has always painted, but used to do flowers or other realistic subjects. With a flair for graphic design, her new venture is much more appealing because she gets to pick bold colours and patterns.

"Before when I did flowers, I felt I was trying to do what everybody else did; I just painted pretty things I saw," she said. "Once I started doing this, I knew this was exactly what I wanted to be doing. I felt like it was mine and I wasn’t just copying what everybody else did."

The response to her work has been better than she ever expected, not only from those buying her work, but also from the children that inspired them.

"You wonder what the kids will think of it and they absolutely love it," she said. "They’re so proud."

While she relied on word of mouth, Shaw has shown her work at street fairs and festivals this year not only in Thunder Bay, but in Winnipeg and Steinbach as well. She hopes to expand to southern Ontario and Regina next year.

She has also teamed up with the local World Vision organization to paint some drawings from Cambodian girls rescued from brothels. Those paintings will be donated for one of World Vision’s auctions.

Shaw’s Frosticular Designs can be found at Global Experience in town and online at www.frosticular.com.