Artist Name: Janine Vangool
Shop Name and Url: UPPERCASE
Website: http://shop.uppercasegallery.ca
Blog: www.uppercasegallery.ca
City: Calgary
Image above: This is the view of the entire Uppercase studio space through the lettering on the front door.

Where in your home/apartment/city is your studio located?

UPPERCASE is located in downtown Calgary in a building called Art Central. Art Central is a three-level building featuring around 50 artists’ studios, galleries, shops as well as a restaurant and café. If you’re visiting the city, we’re a must-see: we’re just two blocks from the Calgary Tower and within the city’s Cultural District of theatres, museums and galleries.

[My two favourite typewriters, storage shelf (my husband carved the name plate) and more storage details]

What equipment/tools do you use?

I run my graphic design business out of UPPERCASE, so my main tool is my computer. (And totally worth-it splurge: my Macbook Air that I bought on Valentine’s Day which allows me to take my work anywhere.) I also make unique papergoods from vintage papers, so my industrial-strength papercutter is a great tool - it can slice through over an inch of paper… like butter! I am obsessed with typewriters (at last count there were nine in various states of functionality) and I try to use them in my work whenever I can. They have really become part of the personality of the store.

[Here's the current show, Little Critters.]

Do you have an inspiration board, and can you tell us what is inspiring you now? (please include picture)

I would really like to incorporate an inspiration board into my space, but any free wall area is used for displaying gallery artwork. But, truth be told, all of UPPERCASE is my inspiration board since I can bring in everything that I love, be it books, artwork, products, typewriters… I’ve really created my ideal creative environment. UPPERCASE is one large room, so I do lack for hidden storage, so it can look a little cluttered at times. Despite that, I think my customers like to see what I’m up to. The space was designed to be like a white sheet of paper - a simple backdrop so that all the books and artwork provide the punctuation and colour.

[Some details of my desk area (with a peek at the new book Work/Life), weigh scale for shipping online orders, typewriters in cases, and an electric typewriter I found in my back alley.]

How do you create best (e.g. do you listen to music while you create and if so what?)

People often ask me how I get any work done, since my design office is basically a public space in which people can wander in and out. There are customers to deal with, deliveries, calls… But I am very disciplined and have good concentration, which I developed after years of working from home for nearly ten years. Back then I had the opposite problem: it was too solitary and quiet. The Art Central building is pretty quiet in the mornings, and then there are more customers around lunch and just after as people goof off before heading back to their offices.

Are you working on anything new and if so, can we have a sneak peek? (even if it’s just a corner of something if you don’t wish to reveal the entire project yet)

The best thing about UPPERCASE is that it has given me the opportunity to explore my own creative projects ? greeting cards, handmade papergoods, curating shows, and now publishing. I am completely thrilled by our forthcoming book entitled Work/Life: the UPPERCASE directory of Canadian Illustration and Photography. It delves into the creative lives of over 60 illustrators and photographers through peeks into their studios, homes, sketchbooks and inspirations. It will be released in early June with an exhibition here as well. I’m also working on some new designs for my handmade Eclecto journals, which I hope to have in production this summer.

List (3) of your favorite artists (with links):

Here are some of my current favourite Work/Life artists:

-Julie McLaughlin - illustrator

-Darren Booth - illustrator who did the cover of Work/Life

-Evaan Kheraj - fashion photographer

[Greeting card display, shelves, books for sale.]

If yours isn’t, what would be your perfect studio?

I wish I had a room off of UPPERCASE to store all the un-pretty things needed to keep things running - packing materials, boxes of supplies, inventory. A place to make a mess and leave it there, unseen by anyone except me!