We recently connected with Evelyn Inglis and have shared our conversation below.
Evelyn , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I worked on was creating illustrations for the credits of the short film, Road Trippin’ (2024).
Road Trippin is a queer love story following two women who follow through on their promise to go on a road trip. It’s an ode to love going right and was written and directed by my partner, Madeline Rose Fiore (filmed prior to us meeting!). In 2023, after learning about my artistic inclinations, Madeline came to me to ask if I would design, illustrate, and even create some simple animations for the credits of this her directorial debut short film. Given that this was the most professional project I had been involved in, naturally I was hesitant and almost declined the experience due to my fear of failure. Thankfully I didn’t give up on myself as this turned into my most incredibly meaningful project to me for two key reasons.
First, it helped me build confidence and trust in myself as an artist. Although I was initially terrified due to my lack of experience with digital art and the pressure to meet high expectations, for the first time in my artistic career I chose not to let my fear of failure hold me back. I learned how to use Procreate by experimenting and seeking out video tutorials. Through collaboration with the team and iteration, my confidence grew with every illustration and animation I created, ultimately growing by trust in my ability to bring my vision to life. This project taught me that learning new skills and pushing through self-doubt is essential to growth, and that real failure comes from giving up on myself.
Second, the opportunity to visually tell the love story of two women was incredibly meaningful. Contributing to this film, screening March 2025 at the Toronto Short Film Festival, allowed me to play a role in bringing an important and personal narrative to life. It was a powerful experience, combining my passion for art and my belief in the importance of queer representation in film.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
From a young age, I’ve always been a creative soul, constantly exploring any medium I could get my hands on; drawing, painting, paper collaging, sewing or molding plasticine. My childhood was full of crafting and creating, and that curiosity and passion for art never left me. Today, I would describe myself as a multimedia artist—a DIYer, a crafter, and a general creator who follows inspiration wherever it leads. For me, being an artist isn’t just about what I produce, but how I view the world through the lens of creativity.
In the past few years, social media has put a lot of pressure on me to “niche down,” to develop a cohesive style or technique. But I’ve come to realize that this doesn’t align with who I am as an artist. I love following what excites me at the moment, whether that’s a subject, medium, or both. At one point, I spent a lot of time creating contour pen drawings of faces, and more recently, I’ve been drawn to full female-body works or produce as my subject; cherries have been my emerging motif of choice. My medium of choice has evolved too, while I’ve worked with acrylics and watercolor for years, I’ve recently found a deep connection with oil painting, which has pushed me to hone my technical skills.
Taking oil painting classes led me to become a member of the Richmond Hill Group of Artists, where I’ve started showcasing my work in my local community and connecting with fellow artists. This has been an exciting step, as it’s opened doors for me to step into a more formal art scene.
I’ve also ventured into digital art, an area that initially felt daunting but has since become one of my most rewarding experiences. I’ve embraced the discomfort of learning new digital tools, and this shift has resulted in some of my most meaningful projects—such as creating credit illustrations for a WLW short film, Roadtrippin’, written and directed by my partner Madeline Fiore, as well as designing a Pride Month art installation for Vaughan Mills Mall. These projects pushed me outside my comfort zone and have solidified my love for exploring new mediums.
My creative journey has also led me to some entrepreneurial ventures. During the lockdown, I launched Maraschino Candles, a small business where I designed and sold colorful soy candles, incorporating my newfound love for cherries as a motif. I had so much fun building my candle community and exploring design through this medium. Since then, I’ve shifted my focus to magazine collaging, using it as a form of self-expression and creativity. My partner and I now host Collage & Sip events across Toronto under the brand Cherry Disco Nights. These events are about bringing people together to create, socialize, and share in the joy of making art, all while having fun and being inclusive.
Keeping my practice broad has allowed me to stay true to myself as an artist. I love providing creative services like illustration and logo design, but my ultimate goal is to create art that is authentic and meaningful to me. Looking ahead, I’m passionate about creating projects that foster community, especially among women and femmes. Painting, like many artistic practices, can be isolating, and I feel that now more than ever, people are craving connection. I want to develop collaborative art projects that bring people together through the creation and appreciation of art, continuing to build spaces where individuals can connect, create, and thrive.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn as an artist is that “quantity is more important than quality – in other words I learned that I value quality over quantity in my work and enjoy the process so much more. For a long time, I was driven by the idea that I needed to produce work quickly. I wanted to develop the technical skills that would allow me to bring my ideas to life with ease, which is why I signed up for oil painting classes. My goal was to refine my skills so that I could create faster, but even as my skills progressed, I found myself frustrated with the time it took to finish a painting. I would set the expectation of completing a painting in a week, after about six hours of work, but it often took me three times as long.
Most recently, I have been exploring figure shadows as a motif, perhaps in part because I thought shadows were quicker and easier than painting real human figures and can be just as expressive. What I have found is once again, It has taken me 3x as long as expected to complete a painting, not just because I am still developing my skills, but because I was simply underestimating the time it takes to complete a painting. I was becoming too focused on developing a large body of work, rather than taking the time necessary to build more meaningful pieces.
The pressure to create quickly was likely compounded by the fast-paced, instant-gratification culture we live in, largely influenced by social media. I wanted to finish paintings as quickly as I could scroll through my feed, but I quickly learned that this mindset didn’t serve me as an artist and made me enjoy the process of painting less. Painting requires time, patience, and the willingness to make mistakes and rework them. I was forced to slow down, focus on the process, and embrace trial and error, learning to enjoy the act of creating rather than rushing to the finish line.
Through this, I’ve discovered that for me, the most satisfying projects aren’t the ones that offer instant results, but those that allow me to slow down and enjoy the meditative rhythm of painting. It’s in that space of patience and self-reflection that I create my best work, and that’s where my true love of art lies. Since letting go of my “ need-for-speed” my shadow painting has become much more enjoyable for me and I each class I go back to work on it (ts still currently in progress), I can enjoy the experience of painting without the pressure to produce quickly
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My ultimate goal, other than using art as a tool for self-exploration, is to bring people together, build community, and foster collaboration. While the act of creating visual art—especially painting—can often feel like a solitary process, I believe that the creation itself should be community-oriented. Art shouldn’t just unite people at a gallery show; it should connect them during the very act of making it.
Recently, my partner and I have been hosting “Create and Sip” events, where participants join themed crafting sessions, most often collaging, in a relaxed setting with drinks and conversation. These events have been incredibly successful in fostering community, growing from 20 attendees at our first event in December 2024 to 45 in February 2025. We incorporate elements like communal tables, talking prompts, and themed dress-up contests to encourage connection and have received incredibly positive feedback. Hosting these events has solidified my belief that community-building through art is one of my core missions.
Now, I feel the need to expand this approach into my personal art practice. Lately, I’ve been focused on developing my skills in oil painting, particularly exploring the motif of shadows—especially shadows of women. I’m inspired to gather a group of women for a photoshoot to capture their shadows, using these references to create a collection of shadow paintings. Throughout the process, I want to collaborate with the participants, understanding their emotions and selecting color palettes that reflect their experiences, and perhaps even naming their shadow portraits based on their feelings during the process.
This project would be a natural extension of my mission to create art that connects and empowers people. It’s not just about producing work to be analyzed in a gallery—it’s about bringing people together, giving them a purpose, and sharing a common goal of creating something meaningful. I’ve already seen the impact of this mission through events like Cherry Disco Nights, where community and creativity intersect. Moving forward, I’m excited to continue incorporating this sense of connection and collaboration into my personal art practice and seek more opportunities to build creative communities.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/Evelyn_Maraschino_Art
Image Credits
Madeline Rose Fiore