When I saw Daria Hirny standing in front of a shelf filled with joyful cards at the Royal Bison, I almost recognized an exclamation mark above her head — She’s the one I should talk to on my mission of finding the perfect birthday card.
Hirny remembers every card she designed. Six years ago, she created a strawberry birthday card for self use, then a berry card for a friend’s birthday, then another card and many more, until she established Homework Letterpress Studio for her endless creative ideas. A studio of her own, everything homemade.
“I love seeing how much creativity you can do in this little space,” says Hirny. “There are larger art projects and they are absolutely beautiful, but cards also have many possibilities. And I believe it best represents my art style.”
She finally got herself into gardening this year, but Hirny has always been fascinated by the prairie nature and forest lives. Mushrooms, fruits, leaves and rocks are only a few of all the recurring stars for her soft-coloured cards. While she also looks forward to inviting more bug characters into her world of art, Hirny promises me a card featuring cute earthworms and honeybees.
“All artists work in different ways. Some of them have a target audience in mind whenever they create, some don’t,” reflects Hirny. “I always create what I would like to receive from a card, knowing my friends and family are of the same sensibility. And it works. So I’ll keep making cards with joy for many more years.”
Shop homemade cards and art prints online at at Homework Letterpress Studio, or at Maven and Grace, TIX on the Square and Coffee Bureau.
This content was produced to support the Edmonton Made community. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Edify staff.
