Pushstick Design is Paul Lewis…
In 1987 I graduated from the Graphic Design program at Sherdian College in Oakville, Ontario. Fresh out of college, I started work in the corporate graphics department at Carlton Cards laying out product brochures. I spent three years at Carlton, and after having scaled the corporate ladder to director of corporate graphics, I headed out on my own to find fame and fortune as a freelance designer.
After plunging all of the money I had (and some I didn't) into a then still newfangled Macintosh computer system things went smoothly. Over the next 8 years I honed my skills in design and illustration. In 1998 a friend alerted me to a job posting for art director at Canadian Home Workshop magazine. Even though the position paid less than I was making at the time, I took the job, excited at the prospect of combining my two passions, design and woodworking. My spare time in the last several years had been spent designing and building furniture—a hobby that began while attending Sheridan.
During my time at the magazine, I migrated from the art side to the editorial side and began writing and editing articles. In 2002, I left the magazine to start Pushstick Design, and now divide my working time between graphic design, illustration, furniture building and writing. Since 1998, I've written over 50 magazine articles for national publications including Canadian Home Workshop, Canadian Gardening, Outdoor Canada, Cottage Life and Canadian Contractor. My writing has been honoured with two National Magazine Award nominations in 2004 and 2006.
Between 2002 and 2004, I exhibited at the One of Kind craft show and the Interior Design Show in Toronto. Currently I'm taking a break from the shows to focus my attention on the design side of the business.
In 1996, my wife and I moved from Toronto to a 100-year-old one-room schoolhouse near Bradford, Ontario, complete with a separate workshop to satisfy my growing woodworking habit. In 2007, after a ten-year, top-to-bottom renovation we packed our bags and moved 15 minutes north west to the small town of Beeton, into a lovely 1892 Victorian house. We continue to renovate and renew, wrangle our kids and dream of retiring early to Port Douglas in North Queensland, Australia.