This Valentine’s Day we teamed up with Evelyn Henson to create a hand painted pink and red print with puppies of all shapes and sizes! Evelyn uses watercolors and gouache to paint her signature designs which lend an airy and whimsical feel to this new print called Puppy Love! The Puppy Love outfits are the perfect addition to your child’s Valentine’s wardrobe and they’re the perfect way to celebrate the holiday. We sat down with Evelyn to ask about her painting process and the inspiration behind the design. 

How long have you been painting? Tell us more about you.

I've been obsessed with all things creative since I was little and was fortunate that my mom nurtured that by sending me to every local day camp she could find---everything from decoupage to puppet making. I first discovered my love for painting in college when two friends gave me a large box of $1 craft paints they had collected from years of sorority crafts and fraternity cooler painting. The box inspired me to paint my mom some flowers for Mother's Day and I haven't put down the paintbrush since. Art brings out my happiest, brightest self.

What's the inspiration behind the design of the Puppy Love Collection?

Dogs are one of my favorite things to paint! I grew up with 4 dogs and I love sneaking them into any painting I can to make my sisters laugh. I've been exploring textiles more the last year (including a new wallpaper line) and wanted to feature my favorite dog subject matter in a more monochromatic colorway. A red and pink version was one of the studies I did as I worked on the design for that.

Can you give us a glimpse of the process of bringing this beautiful design together?

Working with a mix of gouache and watercolor, this one started with full color studies of each of the dogs pictured. I paint a lot of dogs in my annual 2023 dog calendar, so I have already painted most of the dogs pictured dozens of times. The more I paint something, the more I understand how to paint it again, or, in this case, how to paint it in a different colorway! Once I had a grasp of the dogs and their prominent features, I started painting monochromatic versions. Some of the dogs took a couple tries to get right! From there, I scanned everything in and arranged it into a single design using Photoshop.

Your style in a few words?

Colorful, joyful, and timeless.

 

Top 3 IG follows:

Ohhhh so many good ones that it is hard to narrow down! I just painted a house illustration for @lonestarsouthern and have loved working with @LCBstyle to get styled shots of my work. I also find a lot of inspiration following @picturesIsawandloved.  

What are you listening to while you're painting?

My default is my Spotify playlist that heavily features Country music and Taylor Swift. I'll also occasionally listen to an audiobook-- Remarkably Bright Creatures and Carrie De Soto is Back were two of my favorites from the past year.  I'm also a fan of Emily Landers' How'd She Do That podcast.

Can you give us a sneak peek into some fun plans you have for 2023?

I launched wallpaper in 2022 and the dream for 2023 is to launch fabric (fingers crossed!). I also am working towards offering more commissions and some larger scale botanical works.

Shop the Puppy Love Collection 

 

Shop from left to right: The Anderson Jon Jon, Margaret Dress, Henry Bubble, Robert Shorts and Ellie Bubble. Be sure to follow Evelyn on Instagram to see her beautiful artwork and you can follow us here. Sign up for texts to stay in the loop about what’s new, special offers, and blog updates.