After the passing of my grandmother in 2024, I was deeply saddened by her lack of presence. Everything she did for me, including making the best Asian food, will always be a part of me that I carry everywhere and will always miss every single day. In honor of my strong-willed grandmother, I wanted my first ever design for my small business to be inspired by her and my grandfather who also passed away around 2019/2020. I decided to make a tote bag design. 

 

To showcase my grandparents as a whole I drew both of them as anthropomorphic cats. My grandma is represented as a siamese cat and my grandpa a tuxedo cat. This was to represent their personality traits. To create the pose I wanted to try and find couples’ trends on Pinterest to further explain the kind of people they were. My grandma was a kind spirited person, but doesn’t take b.s. from anybody. My grandpa is super hard headed, tough on the outside, hates and loves everyone at the same time, and is only nice behind-the-scenes. For this piece I wanted it to be as if they were there showcasing their grandparently love towards you by having their favorite colors in the background, my grandma’s favorite flower (orchids), and a Bible quote on the back of the design. The title of the piece also holds some significance because my grandma’s name in Chinese means Pearl.