From her studio/shop in Quidi Vidi Plantation, Pascale Horan introduces me to the Craft Incubator program housed there, which provides local artisans with affordable space and other supports in realizing business success with their craftwork.

She then explains that her life as an artist began at birth, surrounded by the work of her father George, who continues to be one of her strongest role models. After a six-year hiatus in her twenties, which she calls “the most miserable time of my life,” the textile program at the College of the North Atlantic rekindled the spark.

That, and learning screen printing from her now husband Jon Keefe of Pink Eye Print Company, gave her a way to transfer her drawings to art prints and clothing, and “made her feel alive again.” Pinpoint Ink, a fairly new endeavour, runs out of the same press in their home as Pink Eye.

She was inspired by artisans like Megan Natasha of Ragmaw who had fabric printed at Pink Eye and whose hard work had paid off, and Maggie Rose Textiles, whose owner works at Twisted Sisters boutik and whose encouragement fostered the relationship Pascale now has with the store as a retailer of her work.

Horan’s success with sales at Twisted Sister gave her the confidence to go all in and devote herself full time to Pinpoint Ink. She now has a space at The Plantation with 9 other artisans who all share her ingenuity and passion. She is loving it. She speaks pretty excitedly about both retail spaces as valuable support for local craftspeople, and of her good luck in connecting with them.

When asked about the inspiration for her largely aquatic theme, whales, squids, octopodes and the like, her response is as unaffected as Pascale herself.

“It’s fun and I feel like doing it. It’s a loose theme and I’ll probably branch out into other subject matter sooner or later, but for now it’s keeping my attention. I approach designing from a playful standpoint. I make what I make because I feel like making it. I avoid putting any conscious thought into my motivations, or intellectualising my themes. That gives me the freedom to have fun with my designs, and maybe that’s why people are responding to it.”

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