C is for...

Carnations, Chrysanthemums, Cherry Blossoms, Cone Flowers and Chloe!


A gift I've done up for my friend Paula's niece.
Gouache on 100% cotton rag paper. Contact the studio if you'd like a letter done up for your loved one in time for the holidays!

New is good.

After months of planning and about a million and one emails between myself and my web guru, Jashar Awan, the new site is up, running, and ready for your viewing pleasure!

New sections include design+lifestyle and interiors work, as well as a tight portfolio facelift in the art+illustration department.

Jashar did a stupendous job of programming the site and making my, often-too-particular-vision come to life.
Spend some time, take a look around and let us know what you think!

Cougar Comeback

check out the Iconic Canadian brand's gorgeous new website.

A comeback that I'm thrilled to be a part of...
courtesy of GJP Advertising

Birthdays, Babies and Butterflies

Birthday, New Baby and All Occasion cards (with vintage butterfly confettii!) now available at the stunning Advice From A Caterpillar in Toronto and through Courtney Wotherspoon Creative Studio.
Holiday Cards in-store soon!

just saying hi.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month...

...and I urge you to pick up MORE Magazine (Canada) for a special feature on the disease. Not only because you can see the 6 illustrations I did for the feature, but more importantly for some interesting and enlightening research on the disease that affects us all, in one way or another.

Here are a few of the illustrations you can find in the October issue. Thanks to the fantastic Shelley Frayer at MORE for another great assignment.

The Upside-Downside
Can staying optimistic actually help you beat the disease?



The breast test
Should you be lining up to get a mammogram - or getting out of line altogether?


The Breast Test, spot



Popular science
Where's the good news? A recap of recent research to inspire and encourage

Buy the issue. Read the feature. Get informed.

No, Thank YOU

Well, it's been almost a month since Wes and Kiersten's wedding down in Georgia, and we're still reeling from the amazing experience (and the heat stroke!). In case you don't know them, or perhaps have been living under a rock, Wes and Kiersten are the genius brains behind Thersic, as well as my dear friends and the most creative couple I know. Their wedding was a true testament to this creativity, not leaving one pebble unturned...Wes and Kiersten did every little bit themselves, from the invitations to the thank you cards, and everything in between.

The handmade wonderfulness didn't stop as I received my Thank You gift from Kiersten, a portrait of little 'ol me in my bridesmaid's dress! I couldn't think of a better gift to cap off such an amazing week down South. Thanks Kiers!

See Kiersten's original post here.

CW + RK

A peek at the work I'll be doing tomorrow night at the new Reed Krakoff Boutique on Madison Avenue for New York's Fashion's Night Out.

Stop by, say hello, or better yet, buy a to-die-for handbag and get a custom monogram by yours truly!

Check back for images and details of the big event, sponsored by Vogue and the CFDA.

below: at the RK Flagship Boutique on Fashion's Night Out, September 10, 2011

update:
go check out my friend, the hugely talented Kiersten Essenpreis have a go at the tags. She'll be monogramming in-store, details below:

The Month Ahead: September

For all the kids out there,
the cover of The National Post's Arts & Life section

new look!

check out the new site at www.spoonstudio.com
lots more content and an official launch coming in the fall!

I Scream, You Scream!

The National Post put together a round-up of their contributors' favourite summer treats for the cover of The Weekend Post. I had fun drawing and painting all 12 of them!
(best. summer. assignment. ever.)
Here are just a few of my favourites....

destineau dives into the press

destineau swimwear getting love in the August issues of Toronto Life and ELLE Canada.
A Must-Have!

congratulations

A pretty Congratulations to two of my best buddies, Devin & Darcy, who recently got engaged in Italy!
I did this little number up for their impromptu engagement party...nothin' says I love you like hand-sewn typography in flag form!

Playing House

love from design*sponge, in the form of a mini sneak peek

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/06/sneak-peek-courtney-wotherspoon.html

xo

Welcome. Please, make yourself at home....

(Thanks to the anonymous grammar police for helping me caption this one.)
A feature on me and my home...

http://www.hgtv.ca/BLOG/archive/2010/06/22/hgtv-ca-original-home-tour-courtney-toronto.aspx

Advice From A Caterpillar

Here's a little number I whipped up for the Dyer girls for the walls of their upcoming children's store, Advice From A Caterpillar. The store will be stocking international brands the likes Toronto has never seen, as well as a capsule collection of spoonstudio cards, prints and original artwork for sale. Coming soon!

show her you care

Some gift ideas in anticipation of Mother's Day...

Alfresco All the Time

Final spread for Avenue magazine's Alfresco All the Time patio feature

MORE Magazine

A piece I recently finished for the wonderful Faith Cochran at MORE Magazine.

Karen Von Hahn's commentary on the Spring/Summer runway trends, where designers took our preconceived notions of what we thought we'd be wearing in 2010, and threw them right out the window. Instead of cold, white, Jetson-inspired spacesuits, designers are piling print on top of texture on top of print, creating a beautiful mess and a new definition of "futuristic".
Below are 2 of the handful of sketches and a process piece.

Avenue Magazine

I'm working on a fun spread for Avenue Magazine, illustrating the joys of Alfresco Dining on some of Calgary's great patios. Thought I would start showing some secret process pieces on the blog, so here they are....A couple sketches with a conscious effort to leave room for a large headline at top and text all around. It should be a fun one, and I'll post the finish here when it's done!

Oskar and Barbara do American Illustration

As I look back and see that all of my posts of the past 6 months or so have been type-related, I'm thrilled to be able to repost these two, in honour of their admission into the exclusive American Illustration Club. They are among my favourite pieces of the year, so I'm overjoyed to see them getting the recognition of the respected jury.
Look for the launch of the bound-to-be-beautiful book in November, and view all the winning images online.

Oskar

Barbara Van Allen

Thanks AI!

can't wait

change

One of my first forays into hand-embroidery, since I was a young child sewing alongside my grandmother. The stitching bug is back and, apparently, hereditary.

This piece was created for a show entitled 44 Obamas, at the former Barbershop Gallery

As The Spirit Wanes The Form Appears

A typographic interpretation of Charles Bukowski's poem, ART, realized on blackboard.

Every few months, the folks at GRAND Creative let an artist in to muss up their studio's blackboard. Past guest artists include Graham Roumieu and Clayton Hanmer. Luke Canning, the shop's Creative Director, wanted to go typographical this time around. I did my best to appease. Here is a selection of shots from the evening, documented by photographer Dave Katulic

commend

Evelyn Kasikov's CMYK Alphabet is an amazing feat of embroidery, colour, form and typography.

See the alphabet and process here, but don't stop at that; her other projects and sketchbooks are wonders in and of themselves.

Major kudos.

COUGAR Boots

Here's a wonderful campaign I'm involved with for COUGAR Boots, a homegrown Canadian family-biz done right.
They are launching a much-anticipated campaign across all media platforms, and I have the pleasure of creating the hand type for them and the great folks at GJP. Look for more ads here and across Canada as they roll out.

Helvetica Goodies

check out these cookie-cutters by Beverly Hsu!

for the typographically inclined baker...

STUDIO SALE

new type

Here are just a couple of the pages I did for Rotman School of Management's new campaign, which includes brochures, posters, banners, folders for new students and more. As mentioned before, projects like this don't come along often, but when they do, I just count my lucky stars to be able to do what I do. The amazing gang at Underline Studio made it all happen, and the pleasure of working with such folks was that wonderful icing on the perfect-project cake.

Your New Favourite Blog

THERSIC, a collaboration between two of my favourite individuals, Kiersten Essenpreis and Wes Cox, fuses art, industrial design, fashion and funny into my new favourite blog. Kiersten and Wes have an endless amount of talent to share and, collectively, four of the best eyes in the biz. Read about their inspiration and the meaning behind THERSIC here.

After you visit, it'll be your new favourite blog too.

Knowledge is Power is Beauty

photo by JulianaNeufeld.com

My ceramic mug that I created for the One Less Paper Cup show raised $320 for Grounds For Health! Thanks to Adam Pesce for putting on a fantastic show and to the always wonderful people at UNIT for a great night.

Holiday Stocks

A holiday postcard I did for Darcy Morris which illustrates the top stock picks for the holiday gifting season.
**update: see Darcy's fantastic new website here**