We take a scroll across an Instagram find that channels a stroll across one of our treasured Canadian cities…
As much as we love Instagram, it’s getting a bit ad-rich, and maybe getting it wrong re. targeting (according to Insta, I am a late-20-something yoga-pant wearing mom of two with mild bladder leakage on the hunt for Ritz Cracker-based recipes… close, but no.)
But props are due when they get it right, as in the case of art supply chain DeSerres and their recent posts featuring Stephanie E.M. Coleman, and her studio and shop, Mezari.
The posts about Mezari leapt off the feed and into our design-hearts for their bold and quirky style, and upon a deeper dive, revealed Stephanie’s beautiful toile de jouy prints, applied to home textiles and wallpaper, that are based around landmarks of her hometown of Montreal.
We teeter with a toile… Done badly, it is fussy disaster. Done well, and it draws the viewer in and on a whimsical journey, eyes dancing from pocket to pocket of intricate linework.
What grabbed us about Stephanie’s work is the joyous celebration of Montreal through the familiar. The humble Dépanneur (that’s “corner store” to the non-Québécois) storefront is wrapped in thistle and vines, almost as if the long-time survivor of the cheeriest of apocalypses.
And anyone who has strolled Montreal’s Plateau quickly gets a sense for the uniqueness of their facades, so to see them celebrated on organic cotton tea towels is a treat.
Montreal is explored landmark-for-landmark in her Toile de Ville wallpaper. Statement-making while remaining delicate and delightful.
Peruse and shop Stephanie’s work here, or visit the Mezari bricks-and-mortar shop at 365 Duluth Ave. East in Montreal.
