Byron, Maggie & Francine
In our latest WalkThe_Talk profile we meet creative Duo Byron and Maggie Griffin.
After loosing two beloved pets in quick succession these talented makers began to memorialise pets in chain stitch embroidery, with a vintage singer sewing machine.
Hi Maggie, can you tell us a little bit about your early creative influences and what led you to a career in design and lettering?
I grew up in a very creative family. My grandmother is a watercolor artist and my mother studied art history. Both would always have fun craft projects for us to do and my mom would always doodle the alphabet on scrap paper during phone calls. This led to an early love of lettering; as a child, I would always create custom cards for family and friends. After graduating college, I learned calligraphy and have been offering custom lettering prints for over 7 years. Though my degree isn’t in a creative field, graphic design has always been a passion of mine and I’m now working as a freelance graphic designer.
You recently began an embroidery business in collaboration with your husband Byron, how did WrenStitch come about?
My family has a tradition of making handmade gifts for each other for Christmas. When my husband joined our family, I was so excited to see him take on this tradition with gusto creating custom and lovely gifts for my parents, sisters, and brothers-in-law. I was especially surprised one year by his sewing skills! One of his fondest memories of his great-grandmother is the blankets she would make for his family. This admiration of her, coupled with his own creativity, led him to start wrenstitch, a chainstitch embroidery business this past fall. He takes care of the technical aspects of embroidery and I provide the design work for our clients.
WrenStitch Embroidery brings together lettering, illustration craft and a love of dogs! Tell us about your terrific chainstitch pet portraits…
We lost one of our dogs last August and to commemorate him I asked Byron to chainstitch a portrait I had drawn of him on an old sweatshirt I loved. We shared pictures of the creation and many other pet-lovers started asking us for similarly styled portraits of their pups and beloved animals on apparel, too. This is my favorite thing we offer to people. With each portrait, we do our best to capture the unique personality of each pet because all animals are so different. We love being a part of and serving the pet-loving community.
I read (on your etsy store bio) that these are done with a vintage singer sewing machine rather than digital technology. What insight can you give us to your process?
For each pet portrait, I work with the pet owner or client to digitally illustrate the pup, cat, or bird using one or more photos. After they approve the drawing, I hand over the process to Byron. He prints out the image and attaches it to the clothing or item that has been sent to us for stitching. He then sets up the thread through the machine and hand guides the needle to trace the illustration. Then, the paper gets torn away and Byron finishes tying up all the stitches. We don’t do too many filled-in pieces, but we did create a patch of our dog Francine. For these pieces, Byron outlines the illustration then fills in the image by creating circular stitches. It is a time-intensive process, but the result is stunning!
How do pet parents go about commissioning a chainstitch portrait with you?
People can reach out to us through instagram or our etsy store. Shoot us a message and we’ll get started on the perfect piece of your pet!
Please tell us about Francine!
Our newest pet, Francine, is a purebred doberman who came into our lives in February. Byron fell in love with Dobermans when he rescued his first doberman Eleanor in 2010. Eleanor was Byron’s girl - she was very jealous when we began dating, but eventually came around to the idea of me being in their lives. During walks around our neighborhood with Eleanor, we walked by a house down the street where 3-4 dobermans would come up to the gate as we passed. Last year, we met the owner and found out he was a breeder! He had a litter in January of this year and Byron’s dream of having a doberman puppy came true. Francine and Eleanor shared a few weeks together before we lost Eleanor in March. Francine is 7.5 months old now and full of energy! She loves catching frisbees and playing with our daughter who just turned one.
We were sad to hear you also recently lost Eleanor and Bixby, they leave such large wholes in our lives and their lifespans are too short. If it doesn't make you too sad - can you share a favourite memory of each of these special dogs?
We experienced a lot of life this past year. The best part was welcoming our daughter into the world, but the hardest part was losing our two beloved pets.
Bixby was one goofy dog! He was a lab, pointer, great pyrenees mix. We called him a big oaf because he was clumsy, always in the way, but just oh-so-loveable. Bixby was the perfect size for a really good hug and he had a special way of comforting me that I miss dearly.
We often referred to Eleanor as a sophisticated lady. Anytime we had company, she would pick one person to snuggle. She could curl up so tightly and would always find a spot with us on the couch. More than other dogs, she excelled at empathy and always knew what we needed.
Both of these pups will always have such special places in our hearts.
How have your dogs informed or inspired your creative practice?
When Byron set up his chainstitch studio in an upstairs room of our house, Eleanor became his office dog. She kept him company and always wanted to be where he was. Bixby inspired our pet portraits and we are waiting to see how Francine will spark our creativity!
There is lots of evidence that animals are associated with physiological, psychological and social benefits for humans. How does dog parenthood improve your wellbeing?
Whenever you get the chance to pour love into something and that love is returned (and in the case of dogs, returned instantly and with enthusiasm), it does wonders for your wellbeing. We give a lot of love to the pups that join our family and they return it tenfold. Coming home to our pups and relaxing with their warm bodies next to us is an instant mood booster.
Tell us about a typical day in the life of your Francine?
Francine has lots of energy in the morning, she likes to run around our backyard while we are waking up and then joins us inside and helps us play with our daughter until both of them take their morning naps. Throughout the afternoon she has bursts of energy and asks us to go outside to throw the frisbee or play fetch. She loves to track squirrel smells around our yard and if she spots one, she’ll take off on a sprint. We take a walk most evenings after dinner and then she snuggles with us as we wind down.
Since she is still a puppy can you tell us about the most mischievous thing she has done!?
Francine hasn’t done anything TOO mischievous. She runs and hides with our daughters shoes and headbands most days and she has nabbed a few things from the sink that we’d rather her not have, but overall she’s a pretty good pup.
She is the toot-iest dog we’ve ever had which brings us lots of giggles.
Does Francine spend work-time with you both? If so what is the biggest benefit to sharing your creative space with canines?
Due to quarantine and our jobs, we are both at home most of the time and we are all together. Francine is normally wherever we are unless she is just too tired and then she’ll head to our bed for a nap.
What life lesson have you learnt from your dogs?
Our dogs have offered us a few lessons:
1) Pay attention to the humans around you and offer what is needed.
2) A comforting presence is always better than finding something to say.
3) Sometimes a good walk can turn your day around.
Finally where can we see more of your work?
