A vibrant, hand-knitted chevron fabric featuring a repeating zigzag pattern. The chevrons move upward in sharply angled rows, with each stripe blending smoothly into the next through a radiant rainbow spectrum. Starting from deep purples and blues at the bottom, the colors transition through magenta, hot pink, red, orange, yellow, and into teal and green near the top. The texture of the stitches is clearly visible, adding dimension and a tactile quality to the fabric. The yarn appears to be hand-dyed, creating rich gradients and tonal depth throughout the piece.

Mini Muse & Me

The Many Faces of Wannietta

After many years in retail and the quick-service food industry, I’ve pivoted — and I’m now on the path to becoming a graphic designer. It’s a big change, but one that feels exactly right.

Last year, I immersed myself in a full year of art, and it lit something inside me. Now, in my first year of the Graphic Design program at Georgian College, I’m soaking up every bit of knowledge I can. I thrive on learning — boredom terrifies me — and ADHD has gifted me with endless curiosity and a hunger to know all the things.

About the Image

a compilation of 9 of the same face in a 3 x 3 square - a Caucasian female, middle aged. In the original, top left image, she is smiling with her long salt & pepper hair hanging down on the left side of her face. She is wearing purlple metal framed glasses and her chin is supported by her left hand and there is a bit of a floral tattoo showing on her forearm. there is a grey sofa behind her to her left, and the background wall is a brilliant, sunshine yellow. The remaining faces are photoshopped in a variety of manner - a paper cutout, a tiger print superimposed on her face with a palm leaf background, a distressed sepia toned image with WANTED burnt into wood, an image in front of a moon with a reflection in a mirror below that appears to be in a desert, a double exposure effect with a rabbit from Alice in WOnderland looking quizically on her left with clouds that are lightly tinged blue over her face and hair, with a Cheshire Cat depicted with just glowing green eyes and a sharp-toothed grin in the upper left corner, a dark image with neon pink glasses casting a glow over her face and and blue neon "entrance" sign behind her in the upper left corner, a block with 4 raised rectangular panels (like on a rooftop) what have images of her in perspective and the name Wannietta in a yellow outline in perspective below, and finally a posterized image of her in blues and purples with a pink rose in her hair and a grainy black starbust behind her.
The Many Faces of Wannietta

This piece is a digital compilation of nine versions of the same photo, laid out in a 3×3 square grid. The top left is the original image – colour adjusted, but nothing extreme.

Each of the remaining eight versions is Photoshopped in a different creative style:

  • A paper cutout version taped to a textured background
  • A tiger-stripe overlay with a leafy, jungle backdrop
  • A sepia-toned “Wanted” poster, burnt wood edges and all
  • A surreal version with my head rising from a mirrored surface in a desert, with a moon behind me
  • A whimsical double exposure featuring cloudy overlays and the Cheshire Cat glowing in the shadows
  • A moody neon edit, glowing pink glasses lighting up my face beneath a blue “Entrance” sign
  • A perspective mock-up on four floating rooftop-style panels, with “Wannietta” written in stylized script below
  • And finally, a posterized pop-art style in blues and purples, with a pink rose in my hair and a grainy starburst background

Reflections on Photoshop & Growth

This project became one of my proudest moments this year — and believe me, I didn’t think I’d ever say that about Photoshop. When I started, I loathed it. It felt overwhelming and completely unintuitive. I came into the class barely knowing what the tools did — but I showed up.

I did the small exercises. I tried the big ones. I messed up. I stuck with it.

Eventually, I began recording lectures so I could review them later. I started using YouTube (and I say that as someone who was proudly, stubbornly not a YouTube learner). I named layers. I grouped things with purpose. And then, somehow, things started to click. I was building this piece — and I was getting it.

This summer, I’m committing to keeping the momentum going. I’ll be watching more tutorials, diving into online classes, and giving myself the space to keep learning, so that using Photoshop starts to feel less like detouring through the long way ’round.

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