Pups in the Park: Schuylkill River Park Long Sleeve Tee

Aside from dogs, what inspired your illustration?

• I love illustrating small everyday places and experiences that become meaningful to people when they repetitively engage with them. I was inspired by the chaos of a dog park, where dogs can truly be dogs and aren't expected to abide by all of the pressures we put on them to integrate themselves into our human lives. I try to find pockets of time to give my own dogs opportunities to do this, and in return they give back the funniest moments, photos, and memories and illustrations. I really wanted this shirt to feel like a quirky souvenir you might find at a Philly gift shop, and also to be a favorite for locals who regularly go to Schuylkill River Park with their dogs. I wanted people to look at my design and think "omg that one right there, that's totally my dog".

Tell us about your dog!

• I have two very quirky rescue dogs. They are so quirky that we like to say watching them is better than watching television. I have a whippet pitbull mix and a chow pitbull mix, named Eddy and Buttons.
  We have a big front door mat where they like to hang out, Eddy faces inside the house and Buttons faces outside. This is such a funny reflection of who they both are- Eddy needs to know what I'm doing at every moment and Buttons needs to know what the neighbors are doing. It’s like Buttons has been hired to protect the premises and Eddy has been hired to file complaints about the premises.