In a release by Purolator today, November 15th, the unveiling of its 2021 limited-edition holiday art boxes designed by a new group of 13 emerging Canadian artists, representing all provinces and territories, was announced.
The designs focus on the 2021 theme, Light Up the Holidays, and highlight the uniqueness of each artist’s home province or territory. The collection features representations of stunning Canadian winter landscapes, native floras and faunas, local holiday traditions, and so much more.
For larger view, Click on ImageThe up-and-coming artists for 2021 are Jarett Sitter (Alta.); Tierney Milne (B.C.); Edreen Cielos (Man.); Kate Anfilova (N.B.); Lily Taylor (N.L.); Morgan Zoe (N.W.T); Rachel Brisson (N.S.); Kyra Flaherty (Nunavut); Renee Laprise (P.E.I.); Rowan Ortins (Que.); Emily M. Kohlert (Sask.); and Monika Melnychuk (Yukon) and representing Ontario, Saugeen First Nation’s own Emily Kewageshig.
Emily and the other 12 artists were commissioned to create limited-edition boxes that Canadians can use to ship packages to their loved ones this holiday season. Purolator plans to move 54 million packages (an increase of 10 per cent over 2020), and Emily could not be more excited that Canadians may find her designed box under their tree.
For larger views, Click on Images
Emily was raised in Saugeen First Nation #29 (SON – Saugeen Ojibway Nation) and her work captures the interconnection of life forms through her paintings and digital illustrations. Her collection of work consists of bold lines, bright colours, and symbolism, which is inspired by traditional Ojibwe Woodland artists. She combines that with imagery derived from her memories, dreams, and teachings to contemplate the concepts of holism and metaphysical essence.
Bruce Nuclear Power also selected her work as the logo for the Medical Isotope Project. 
The logo represents a diversity of people working together towards healing, and is surrounded by a globe to capture the role that medical isotopes play in the global fight against cancer.
ALBERTA: Jarett Sitter is a full-time freelance illustrator and animator based in Calgary. Drawing inspiration from music, album covers, and Saturday morning cartoons, his art
plays with these nostalgic elements to bring forward peculiar worlds. Whether in illustration or live-action animation, Jarett’s work brings strange life to image. Creepy, playful, with elements of softness and manic absurdity, illustrations act as a window into a world with no explanation in which the characters inhabit. Using self-contained narrative, these misfit inhabitants are embracing small moments of discovery and childish curiosity of exploration.
BRITISH COLUMBIA: Tierney Milne is a Montreal-born, Vancouver-based artist and muralist who focuses on interrupting people’s day with positivity. With a background
in psychology, illustration and design and armed with a keen interest in how simple shapes and colours affect our well-being, Tierney combines intentional compositions, bold palettes, and vibrant patterns to bring her work to life and brighten someone’s day. Whether through public murals, tactile installations, stop motion videos or 3D lettering, her main goal is to inject a sense of child-like wonder and create joy for viewers.
MANITOBA: Edreen Cielos is a freelance artist and designer from Winnipeg who primarily focuses on digital vector illustrations. His main style is a burst of colour and contrast,
mainly influenced by pop culture, anime, gaming, and street art. He is constantly trying to reinvent his current style or create new ones that he thinks better fit the project. From designing graphics for his clothing line to his fan art prints, Edreen strives to create simple yet unique pieces.
NEW BRUNSWICK: Kate Anfilova lives in Saint John but is originally from a small city in Russia. She’s been drawing for as long as she can remember. She prefers to combine
digital tools with traditional materials such as water colours, gouache, pencils, and good old brushes for her illustrations. Kate draws inspiration for her artwork from the beauty of nature.
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR: Lily Taylor is an illustrator and multidisciplinary artist living in St. John’s. She earned a bachelor of design, majoring in illustration and
minoring in printmaking from OCAD University. Her practice examines human connection, objects, and satire through engaging and energetic compositions. Her recent work focuses on analyzing how visuals created in a virtual space can inform her physical practice. Analogue methods like painting, drawing and hand building have always been an asset in her artistic practice. In exploring these new digital programs, she hopes to recreate some aspects of analogue media that make her work unique.
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: Morgan Zoe is a Tlicho Artist from Behchoko, Northwest Territories. Morgan specializes in drawing, painting, writing, and digital design. Morgan
implements and collides various cultural influences into his work that is inspired by a combination of science fiction, his Tlicho heritage, and Dene peoples. He is fascinated by the world and power of art and the impact it can have on people, history, and pop culture. His work can vary from digital designs to simple sketch drawings, to fully rendered, large-scale paintings. He is always ready to create new and exciting masterpieces for the masses.
NOVA SCOTIA: Rachel Brisson is an artist living in Lake Echo. She was born in Windsor, Ont. and has lived across Canada, including in Edmonton and Canmore, Alta. Her
work is heavily inspired by the natural world around her. She loves to use traditional mediums, as well as her newfound love for digital creation. She is a passionate advocate for mental health and environmental issues. She is the author and illustrator of a colouring book and journal titled, “Botanical Odyssey.” She is a freelance artist, and manages a local artisan shop, where she finds a meaningful connection with her local community.
NUNAVUT: Kyra Flaherty is a mother to three children and a first-year nursing student. Kyra has been passionate about art and creativity as long as she can remember. She was
recognized by the Queen of England at a young age for her artwork and continued with awards throughout school. Now, she focuses on her business, Annisy Designs, as well as costume commissions of art. Her main medium is digital art but she also loves acrylic painting, sketches, and makeup, and she recently started to learn how to do spray painting.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Renee Laprise is a Prince Edward Island artist, originally from Southern Ontario, with a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Toronto. After
years of working to find her artistic voice, Renee has developed a colourful and intricate narrative style that is uniquely hers. The stories told in each painting are inspired by Laprise’s past and present-day experiences intermingled with nature and local P.E.I. landscapes. Underlying all her work is an intense interest in the interconnection of the physical and non-physical realms.
QUEBEC: Rowan Ortins is an illustrator and pattern designer based in Montreal. Their
work in publishing includes picture books, cover designs for children’s novels, a self-published colouring book and an upcoming tarot deck. Rowan draws inspiration from the beauty of nature as well as folklore and mythology. With their folk-art inspired illustrations, they aim to create intricate worlds that viewers can explore.
SASKATCHEWAN: Emily M. Kohlert is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator based in Saskatoon and is the designer behind Emily Only Design Co. Informed by her bachelor
of fine arts degree and background in fine art photography, printmaking, and music, Emily’s main design aesthetic is inspired by her genuine love of 1960s and 1970s typography, psychedelic rock poster art, and album covers from that era. Combined with her experience in videography, marketing, branding, and modern design, this translates into a unique ability to conceptually merge the retro and the modern into work that feels authentic to and both 1971 and 2021.
YUKON: Monika Melnychuk is a transient illustrator, previously working from Toronto,
Vancouver Island and Los Angeles before bringing her laptop and dog for a summer in Whitehorse. She decided to stay for the winter and 16 years later, is the classic Yukon cliché, come for a month, stay for life. Loose lines, bold colours and a sense of humour are signature to Monika’s style and bring her illustration to life. When not illustrating, Monika enjoys mountain biking, obsessing about pizza and playing with her two bonkers dogs, Walnut and Francis Bacon.
