Leanne Prain

Note: This is an in-person gathering. To register for the online Zoom version, please click here.

November's global theme is 'TRUTH' and we are thrilled to showcase accomplished writer, creative director, 
public art enthusiast, designer, 
and amateur printer Leanne Prain who will share insights and perspectives and her personal story of creativity.

By day Prain works as a creative director for a crown corporation, and at night she writes. She is the author of four books published by Arsenal Pulp Press: The Creative Instigator’s Handbook: A DIY Guide to Making Social Change Through Art (2022), Strange Material: Storytelling Through Textiles, Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, co-authored with Mandy Moore; and Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery. She also writes for a variety of publications on craft and culture, such as Digits and Threads, Designer, Desktop, Works that Work, Applied Arts, and Seamwork. 



Leanne is a former president of the BC Chapter of the Society of Graphics Designers (now DesCan), and a Certified Design Professional. She is also an amateur printer – having recently acquired a tabletop letterpress and some 100 year old wood-type. Leanne has been called a Shameless Woman by Shameless magazine and a Lingo Maker of the Year by Mclean’s magazine. Her creative projects and books have been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue Knitting, the BBC, the Guardian UK, CBC, and the Globe and Mail.

As usual, we asked Leanne a handful of probing questions to give us a deeper glimpse into her life and relationship with creativity:

How do you define creativity and apply it in your life and career?

I define creativity as problem-solving with a curious and open mind. For me, I often find that I’m most creative when I’m seeking an answer to a big question or I’m trying to fill a gap in my knowledge or experience. Creativity is not the answer for me – it is the process of trying to improve oneself and life by having a healthy appetite for new experiences, and the will to try and process what I’ve learned from these experiences through writing or making or gathering my community together.

Where do you find your best creative inspiration or energy?

I get my best creative energy from new places and new people. I am definitely an information seeker – when I profile some one I want to know everything about them I possibly could know. People are endlessly fascinating to me. I also find human-made places a source of inspiration, whether that is a historic piece of architecture, an unusual small town museum, or a side-show attraction. I’m a collector of all sorts of things – from ephemera to vintage dishware to publishing antiquities. I get a lot of inspiration from learning about the past and thinking about how it applies to our collective future.

What’s one piece of creative advice or a tip you wish you’d known as a young person?

Focus on what excites you. Even if your current interests seem tangential to your school projects or your ideal career path, you never know what strange connections will come out of pursuing what you love. Also, you have more support than you think you do. I’m constantly delighted by the acquaintances and strangers who have come out of the woodwork to support my projects.

Who (living or dead) would you most enjoy hearing speak at CreativeMornings?

Dead: Pamela Colman Smith, original illustrator of the Rider tarot deck

Living: Jackie Dives, Vancouver photographer of many things, including chronicling the Lytton Wildfire, Bountiful, the Overdoes Crisis…. I met her when she was just starting her career and I’m amazed at how quickly she has pushed her photo journalism.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

I sent an email to a stranger who I’d only met once, who I cyberstalked online, and asked them if they wanted to write a book about the yarn bombing movement with me. Luckily, they said yes – and we wrote a book that has been in print for over 12 years. Thanks Mandy!

What’s your one guilty creative indulgence?

YouTube. I started watching people who stumble into abandon houses or dig up vintage bottles over the pandemic. I find watching other people treasure hunting very soothing.

What are you reading these days?

I am currently reading Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder, which is a novel about a feral, artistic mother who takes on werewolf characteristics and Just My Type, a book about fonts by Simon Garfield. Next I really want to read How Not to Be Strange: The Curious History of the Island of Redonda by Michael Hingston. It is his personal account of a real island – Redonda – that a series of real authors have made each other king over generations. The book sounds bonkers and amazing.

How does your life and career compare to what you envisioned for your future when you were a sixth grader?
When I was in grade six, I wanted to be making crafts, be writing stories, to live in a city, and to own a cat. Checkmate.

How would you describe what you do in a single sentence to a stranger?

I rally people to do absurd, unusual, and fun projects together.

What's the most recent thing you learned (big or small)?

I was recently at a store in Toronto called Curiosa. I learned the difference between a zoetrope and a praxinoscope, both which are vintage animation tools. Both use still images to produce an animation but only a zoetrope allows a group to see the full animation.

What keeps you awake at night?

The climate crisis. The decline of old growth trees. The housing crisis. The fentanyl crisis. Fish farms. Textile waste. People who ban books.

What myths about creativity would you like to set straight?

Creativity is not a label that belongs to any one group of people, I believe that all people are inherently creative, we just show it in different ways. Creativity visits on some days, and does not on other days. It is best harnessed when we are in the act of doing things. I do not believe in waiting around to be creative or waiting for someone else to make you creative. Go read some stuff, make some stuff and experiment. Along the way, you’ll begin to feel creative.

What has been one of your biggest Ah-Ha! moments in life?

No one is going to show up and ask you to act on your dreams but if you can cultivate a vision for the thing that you want to bring into the world, or the goals that you want to achieve, you will find a surprising number of people to collaborate with and who will cheer you along as you go. I believe that if you create something that you need in the world, other people probably need it too.

What object would you put in a time capsule that best represents who you are today?

A 0.7 Sarasa black ballpoint pen. My primary tool for thinking, plotting, and strategizing.

What is the one movie or book every creative must see/read?

Love it or hate it, The Writer’s Way is a classic for a reason. It taught me more about showing up, angst, and creative relationship building than any other book. Gordon MacKenzie’s Orbiting The Giant Hairball is also a great book for those entering a corporate creative life.