Some people see a room, an object, or a collection of things for what they are. Erica Catherine sees what they could become.
A freelance illustrator, surface pattern designer, and Skillshare teacher based in Ottawa, Ontario, Erica has always had a rich imagination and a fascination with creative spaces. What once began as an interest in architecture and interior design gradually grew into something more imaginative, as her ideas for spaces became filled with stories, characters, and entire worlds of their own. Illustration became a way for her to bring those ideas to life.
Erica’s creative process is rooted in curiosity and observation. She finds inspiration in interior designers, creative homeowners, and vintage treasures, often studying the shapes, colours, and textures of beautiful objects before reimagining them in her sketchbook. Working primarily with paper and a mechanical pencil, she enjoys the immediacy of drawing and the freedom it gives her to move from imagination to reality.
Her work explores the balance between the familiar and the fantastical. She is drawn to making real life things feel both elegant and whimsical, leaving just enough mystery for the viewer’s imagination to fill in the blanks. Lately, she has been experimenting with coloured marbles and marbling techniques, finding new ways to bring texture and unexpected details into her illustrations.
For Erica, creativity is not always about waiting for one perfect idea to arrive. With so many ideas to explore, she uses sketching, creative prompts, and playful constraints to give her imagination room to grow. It is a process that allows her to capture fleeting sparks of inspiration and turn them into something more fully realized.
We sat down with Erica to learn more about what drives her to create, how storytelling found its way into her work, where she looks for inspiration, and how she continues to explore the space between reality and imagination.
Meet Erica Catherine
1. What has driven you to be an artist?
I’ve always had a rich imagination and am very sensitive to my surroundings. I’ve been fascinated with creative people and spaces since I was a kid. I thought I wanted to be an architect or interior designer but realized my ideas for spaces were quite fantastical. I would dream up and draw spaces, but my need for storytelling would creep in. I’d need to know who lived there and what they did. I loved studying and inventing creative characters and their collections too. I could keep up with my imagination better via illustration.
2. What is your favorite medium to work with?
Paper and a mechanical pencil. For me, it’s the quickest route from imagination to reality.
3. What are you currently working on or excited about?
I’m always trying to learn how to render real life things in a way that is elegant but whimsical. Pretty and peculiar. Just enough shape, line, colour and texture to convey the thing, but enough mystery and painterly whimsy to let your imagination fill in the blanks. Lately I’ve been experimenting with coloured marbles and marbling techniques for various surfaces in my illustrations.
4. How do you get through a creative block?
For me a block often feels more like a bottleneck. I have so many ideas I want to experiment with. I find it useful to draw thumbnails to capture these sparks, to later develop. I’ve developed what I call a sketching shorthand to do this quicker. I teach a Skillshare class about it. I also find constraints helpful. I’ll give myself a sort of container or creative prompt to work within, like drawing and experimenting with a collection of one subject at a time.
5. What are 5 things currently inspiring you? (e.g., music, books, artists, places, objects)
I’m always inspired by interior designers and creative homeowners. I love collecting vintage treasures and watching home tours of others who do the same. I’ll study disparate collections of beautiful objects, identify elements I love most about them (shapes, colours, textures), let everything kind of compost down in my sketchbook, then build imaginary illustrated versions of my own.
6. Where is the best place to view your art?
@ericacatherinedesign, on Instagram, or under Erica Catherine, on ArtfullyWalls.com.
