Emma Grekul grew up in rural Alberta, so she cherishes her memories of prairie and forest life.
When she started ink arts and printmaking in 2020, it was only natural for Grekul to reflect on the surrounding plants and animals.
With a few ink colours, Grekul preserves the delicacy of spiderwort, wild violets and irises on lokta paper. While she used to gather inspiration from her pressed flower collection, Grekul now prefers drawing from life.
“A living plant has more flow and interest to draw from,” shares Grekul. “It’s about appreciating the plants we see. Wild violets, for example, are very common and easy to find, but they’re so small I think we forget to notice them.”
Apart from the delicate prints of plants, Grekul’s print arts shop also features semi-realistic portraits of animals she observes in life. One of the popular prints, “Cat on the Stairs,” calls back Grekul’s memory of her watchful and judgmental cat, Franklin. Another fan’s favourite would be “Whiny Cat,” in which Grekul portrays a cat from a dank meme she found in the corner of the internet.
As Grekul shoots reels and photos of her printmaking process for Instagram, her cat lies down in the shooting background.
“If there’s cat hair in your order, please understand,” sighs Grekul. “I do my best, but you can see what I’m dealing with.”
Shop art prints from Birdsfoot Studio. Also available at Tix on the Square.
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.
