Express yourself with print: wear your heart on your sleeve

When you're feeling down, talking with friends and family can be really helpful, but we know it's sometimes difficult to reach out and ask for help. That's where our creative project with two leading illustrators, Ricardo Cavolo and Agathe Sorlet, can help. Show that you are in need of some loving care – or willing to help others who are – by wearing their beautiful heart designs that not only look stylish, but serve a purpose in sending a subtle message to the world that you're open to talking about wellbeing.

Barcelona-based Ricardo's complex and kaleidoscope-like coloured designs are inspired by folk art and tattoo culture. His artworks grace walls around the globe from France to Hong Kong in the form of giant murals, and have also appeared in the pages of books and even on tarot cards.

Agathe, who lives in Bordeaux, France, has a more stylistically simple approach. Clients for her warm and witty line drawings include The New Yorker, The New York Times, Yoplait and WWF.

Here, Ricardo and Agathe talk us through their designs and how you can use them to boost your creativity and connect with others about mental health and wellbeing.

Ricardo and Agathe both took the heart as their starting point.

"The heart is a symbol to talk about mental health and the need to share the situation you're experiencing with someone, whether that's your friends or family," Ricardo explains. "Each of my illustrations represents a step on that path. The first, which features one person, is about deciding that you need to talk – this is the toughest and most important step of all. The second is about when you talk with someone, and the third shows the circle of help you can get from everyone who loves you."

Agathe wanted her designs to feel "comforting and full of love to deal with the topics of mental health and loneliness in a positive way". Each image represents "a moment of joy in sharing and love", she explains. "I wanted to represent a feminine character with a big heart because the heart can symbolise all different types of love – from your family, your friends, lovers and animals, but also self love."

Firstly, select and download your heart design or designs. Now you'll just need:

• A Canon printer compatible with Transfer paper* such as the Canon PIXMA TS7440
• The item of clothing, tote bag, scarf or whatever textile you'd like to transfer your print to
• A packet of Canon Light Fabric Iron-on Transfers LF-101 or Canon Dark Fabric Iron-on Transfers DF-101, depending on the colour of your fabric 
• A pair of scissors 
• An ironing board and an iron

There are many positives to being creative, whether that's taking photographs or journaling. For a start, it forces you to slow down and exist in the moment, to step back from the stresses of work and life.

"If I'm working on my art, I'm happy. It's just how much and in which way I invest my energy into that," says Ricardo, who had depression for a year after experiencing burnout from overworking, but since having therapy has found a better balance.

"Drawing has played – and continues to play – a major role in my day-to-day wellbeing and mental health," says Agathe. "Essentially, it helps me to express emotions that I might not otherwise be able to express. I share most of my drawings on social media, but I also keep illustrated personal journals as an outlet for certain emotions, anxieties and fears."

Your craft journey doesn't have to begin and end with this project. Why not let Ricardo and Agathe's designs inspire you to develop and print your own motifs? You can even use the same technique to print patterns that you can use for embroidery. As Agathe says: "You don't have to be a professional illustrator to draw. Everyone can create and it's really beneficial for your wellbeing and mental health."

With a Canon PIXMA printer, you can let your imagination roam free. "Having that technology at home means you can have an idea, work on it and then print it and see the final result," says Ricardo.

And finishing your project doesn't have to mean the end of the conversation, either. "Mental health is not negative – it's about all of us getting better," Ricardo concludes. "We need to stop this topic from being a taboo and make sure it becomes something that we can talk about freely."


Check out our Pinterest page for more craft tips and tricks.



Written by Rachel Segal Hamilton

*Light Fabric Iron-on Transfers LF-101 compatibility: PRO-100/PRO-100S, TS series (except TS31xx series/TS20x series), TR series (except TR45xx series), MG77xx series/MG75xx series/MG68xx series/MG67xx series/MG57xx series/MG56xx series/MG36xx series, iX68xx series

Dark Fabric Iron-on Transfers DF-101 compatibility: PRO-100/PRO-100S, TS series (except TS31xx series/TS20x series), TR series (except TR45xx series), G series (except GM40xx series/GM20xx series), MG77xx series/MG75xx series/MG67xx series, iP87xx series/iX68xx series