Take Me to Hong Kong : MOSCHINO Resort 2015

Hi My Little Love Bugs, 

Happy Sunday evening to you all! I hope you had a refreshing two days off in the sun. I spent the weekend working on commissions and soul cycling my body back into shape. Seriously, I kick started my Saturday with a 45 min session in SOHO at 8:30 AM (in the dark, candles lit, music blaring, instructor headbanging) and biked the remainder of the day through Central Park. I cannot contain my smile when I hop on a bike in New York City. Equal parts terrifying and liberating, it feels so good to be enjoying exercise in the sun. By the time I returned home, I was starting to paint this piece by 10 PM Saturday evening. I'm seriously getting old, no late night NYC dance session for me as of late.

24 Hrs in Toronto - A TWD Guide

Top 5 Things I've Learned While Living in New York

Hello My Loves,

How have you been?! I hope you're all feeling refreshed from your weekend. I for one am over the moon while writing this post because this weekend marks my 5 year anniversary of living in the Empire State, New York City!!!! This is truly a joyous occasion. I feel like I'm honestly celebrating my birthday. For those of you who have followed my journey on this blog the past four years, you know that I'm a Canadian citizen, and that life as a legal alien living in NYC has been anything but a cakewalk. That said, my heart could honestly burst when I think of all the wonderful experiences I have had while fighting for my dream here in the Big Apple. I feel so incredibly fortunate everyday that I have had the opportunity to pursue my greatest passion, fashion illustration, in the city that never sleeps.

Moving to New York undoubtedly changed the course of my life forever. It marked my decision to leave behind comfort and convention for the potential of a life filled with passion, purpose, and creativity. It was proof to myself that I believed in something greater, that I had a burning fire deep down within me that believed I could live the life I so badly dreamed of. This post, however, is really for all of you lovely and loyal Travel Write Draw readers. So many of you write me beautiful emails asking questions about my career as an illustrator and what it's like to live in New York. Well here are my answers out in the open for all of you; a comprehensive Top 5 of what I've learned, and what you can expect as a creative in arguably the greatest city on the planet.

1. Dream big, start small, expect nothing: When I first applied to attend FIT while still living in Toronto, I had a million ideas of what my life would look like when I moved to New York. I expected to be embraced wholeheartedly by the glamourous world of fashion the minute I moved here. I thought I would be given the key to the industry on a silver platter. I imagined I would have my own company straight out of my associates in illustration, making my own illustrated accessories, coffee table books, and absolutely killing it financially. Needless to say I had BIG dreams and even BIGGER expectations and that often led to HUGE disappointment. 

How To Design An Illustrated Scarf

Hello My TWD Darlings,

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and great start to your week! I for one had a pretty stellar weekend involving an uber fun filled roadtrip to Toronto for a dear friend's wedding on Saturday (more on that to come!!). I'm finally bouncing back from the whirlwind of nearly 24 hrs spent in a car in 2.5 days lol. Regardless, today I'm riding high on life because I discovered that the illustrated scarf I designed for Collection 18 has finally become available to buy on NORDSTROM EEEeeeee!! Yes I'm totally squealing over this.

I VERY rarely show any of the work I do for my employer here. But I thought it could be really interesting for you, my sweet Travel Write Draw inner circle, to show the behind the scenes of making the scarf and also break down a comprehensive (and very much abbreviated) how to that you can use when considering designing a scarf yourself. SO it starts a little something like this.

STEP 1: Decide on your theme! When we were considering our trends almost a year ago now we were seeing lots of evidence of flamingos everywhere from fashion accessories to home goods. It became clear that this wasn't a trend to be ignored. So we agreed to move forward with an engineered scarf design involving a flamingo and I got straight to work on pulling references to draw from.

JEFF KOONS : A RETROSPECTIVE

Hello Lovelies,

I can't thank you enough for your amazingly sweet comments you left on my latest post Finding My It Girl. The wheels are definitely in motion and I've been doing a lot of thinking about additional ways I can better serve you all, my readers, here on Travel Write Draw. Ultimately I want to give you access to the very best of art, culture, fashion, & illustration here in New York and abroad and inspire along the way. So today I'm starting with an inside glimpse into what I consider one of the best art retrospectives I've seen to date in New York - Jeff Koons: A Retrospective at the Whitney Museum.

I visited this exhibition a week or so ago and was absolutely overjoyed by the experience. Jeff Koon's work is meant to elicit a reaction from its viewers and it most certainly did for me. There is something really refreshing about standing next to oversized everyday objects, play-doh and the like, that ignites the child in you. I left feeling totally recharged which says a lot considering it was crowded with the typical selfie obsessed attendees. The saturated colors alone are worth the visit. If you are planning to make a visit to New York this Summer, make it apart of your "must see list" otherwise enjoy the snapshots I curated just for you.

Much love,
Meag xx

Finding My "It" Girl

Good Evening My Darlings,

It feels like forever since I last sat down and connected with all of you here on Travel Write Draw. Truthfully I've been having a really rough time lately, as in lots of crying, breakdown fits, and rocky emotional roller-coaster rides. I'm about to make some MAJOR moves here in New York and quite frankly I'm scared shitless. I've been doing what most overly anxious OCD people are prone to doing - running around asking everyone for advice and seeking answers, while feeling totally unsure and uncertain about making a major decision. And all the advice getting can really throw you for a loop. In my quest to get some real answers on how to create real quality content on my blog, I consulted with a blog "expert" and walked away feeling completely sideswiped to the point that I didn't feel like I could write on my blog anymore (hence why I disappeared for over two weeks).

I WAS PARALYZED...I was told that my content wasn't good enough, that my traffic was dismal, and that I needed to write an E-Book?! I felt like everything I had ever learned about social media, being authentic, and being myself was completely WRONG. Honestly I'm still reeling from the experience. BUT with every hard lesson comes a wave of self-affirmation. How can anyone FAIL at being THEMSELVES?! Seriously?! How can you go wrong expressing yourself, speaking from your heart, and connecting with people from every corner of the world?! Frankly the fact that I've managed to connect with anyone through the internet in a meaningful way feels like a huge WIN to me.

Furthermore, last night I attended a brilliant personal branding class through The Lovely It Girl, a personal brand consulting boutique, where the founder Michela Aramini challenged all of us to identify our inner "It Girl". Suddenly all the reasons I love life and feel passionate about being a fashion illustrator came flooding back to me. I was reminded that my "It", my unique intrinsic value, is the only voice I really need to listen to.

So my loves, I'm on the quest to find and re-define my inner "It". Just like the ever stunning and talented Candice Lake I illustrated above, I want to exude all the light and warmth of the world from the inside out. I want to live in my "It" and I want you all to come with me. What does being your "It" self mean to you?! Who are you at your very best?! I'm thanking Michela Aramini BIG time for beginning the new movement and suggest all you amazing readers join in.

SO much love,
Meag xx

BE YOUR OWN IDOL

This past year has been a year of major transformative growth. Whether knowingly or not, I managed to attract people into my life who have changed me irreversibly. I'm sitting here in my bedroom/studio right now, half awake from the wear and tear of today, knowing there is much to be said and expressed in this post. I'm fighting with the little energy I have left today to give to the most important thing in my life, my dream (aka my blog, my illustrations, my love of travel, and my connections with all of you). This severely skewed equation of how my time is divided daily, as a result of a demanding full-time job, is perhaps the reason I'm writing this evening at all. Something is wrong with the way I'm living and today and each day forward I need to be my own idol.

ANIA.B

Hello My Lovelies!! 

How has your week been?! It's after midnight in New York but I'm dying to get my new post up on the blog as it has already been another seven days since I last updated here. The great news is that the wonderful collaborations and commissions keep coming in, but that allows infinitely less time to connect with all of you amazing and inspiring individuals on here. I'm trying to negotiate with the universe to make the days longer but there seems to be some pushback...

Anywho, I'm thrilled to share with you this fashion illustration gif I did of my friend and fabulous model/blogger Ania of Ania.B. Her pose is so dynamic in front of this stunning James Wyper mural in Calgary, Canada. I have been following Ania's blog for the past four years now so when I saw her post this photo on Instagram the other day, my heart practically leapt from my chest. It was a 'no ifs, ands, or buts' kind of illustration inspiration. It was mine to draw, so I did, and boy did it feel good!!

Much more to come on the blog so stay tuned my loves, but for now it is time for the ZZZzzzzzz. My eyes are closing as I type this. See all you beautiful people soon!!

Much love,
Meag xx