It began when Bex Morley’s work was noticed in an online illustration directory in 2022 by Sputnik Designs, which had been hired by Canada Post to find an illustrator for a Christmas stamp.
An artist from Maple Bay says being asked to create this year’s Christmas stamp for Canada Post was a proud moment.
Bex Morley said that as a commercial illustrator, most of her artwork goes to the U.S., where her agent is.
“It’s nice to have something in Canada, for sure,” she said from her home studio in the small community east of Duncan, adding that typically, nobody in Canada sees her work.
With the stamp, “I managed to get it in Canada in a big way, which is really nice.”
The process started three years ago when Morley’s work was noticed in an online illustration directory in 2022 by the company Sputnik Designs, which had been hired by Canada Post to find an illustrator for a future Christmas stamp, she said.
“They asked me to come up with some layouts for a nativity scene, and it went from there.”
One challenge was that she doesn’t often draw people in her work, Morley said. “I guess they took a risk that I could draw them,” she said with a laugh.
She described her artistic style as “joyful and nostalgic,” and said that with the nativity scene, she wanted to convey a feeling of Christmas nostalgia and innocence.
Morley said the end result emerged after feedback from both the company and Canada Post, and was finalized last year.
She said she thought her work wasn’t going to actually show up on Canada’s Christmas stamp until 2026 and she would have to keep the news under wraps for another year, “but then they brought it forward.”
Morley’s stamp issue, which was printed by Colour Innovations, includes a booklet of 12 domestic-rate stamps.
Morley said her work usually involves creating artwork for manufacturers to put on their products — for example, greeting cards, gift wrap and fabric designs that go on blankets and giftware — so being chosen by Canada Post is something unique for her resumé.
“The stamp wasn’t something I had thought about,” she said. “It was really interesting and exciting to be part of that project.”
Morley said she has also had some unusual assignments, such as creating a design for use on medical clothing, specifically operating-room scrubs.
All of her work starts with a drawing by hand using an Apple pencil and an iPad, she said.
“The process is very similar to if I’d drawn it or painted it in a sketch book,” she said. “It’s just that it’s already digitized, I don’t have to scan it.”
In today’s online world, Morley said, commercial artists no longer have to “lug a portfolio around big cities” in order to get work. “You can do everything and upload it and send it, and it doesn’t matter where you are in the world.”
Canada Post has been releasing new stamps to celebrate Christmas and the holidays since 1964.
