T.O.F.U. #15 | Meet the Vegan Artists

Image contains three even columns with illustrations in each. The first is an illustration of a red tree with leaves. At the base of the tree, grey stick figures of various sizes can be seen holding their arms up to form the structure of the tree. The feet of the figures go into the ground and can be seen as roots below. In the background, there are fields with rows of crops. The second is an illustration of a pair of hands working to plant a plant in some soil, and there is a brown picket fence in the background. The third is a black and white illustration of a silhouette of person's head. The top of their head is opened up and there are a number of illustrated things coming out of it. The biggest is a white hand holding a flower, but there are also various smaller plants, signs of gender, and stick figures of people. On the silhouette's face, there is text that says "e commo thread... comm".

During the production of the latest issue, I talked a bunch about my difficulties with finding vegan illustrators to work on pieces for articles. It’s a problem I’ve run into before, but this time around I think it led to longer delays than usual.

As someone who has been involved in the creative field for a long time, I know how often artists and people in similar fields are asked to do things for free and promised exposure in lieu of payment. Personally, I would love to be able to pay both the illustrators and the authors for the work they do in making each issue happen, but it’s just not feasible at this point. Hell, I can barely pay myself right now.

So, whenever I approach an artist about wanting to work with them, I’m honest about these things. For the most part, people don’t respond, and I can understand why. However, some folks do, and I’m incredibly grateful to them for that. Some of the artists I’ve worked with have created pieces for multiple issues, and some have simply done one-offs. Regardless, their willingness to be involved is a great thing, and without them I know the magazine wouldn’t look nearly as good as it does.

With that in mind, I wanted to introduce you to the folks involved with this issue in the hopes that you’ll check out their respective profiles and show them support in some way.

Finally, if you’re interested in reading the articles related to these pieces, you can download the new issue here.

Monika Andreković

Monika Andreković is an artivist living in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. She loves to meditate, volunteer, eat plants, & create with compassion!

w: veganmonika.com ig: @veganmonika

Julia Beutling

Julia Beutling is a freelance illustrator living in Berlin, Germany. She loves fairy tales and all animals, and regularly supports activist projects with her art.

w: juliabeutling.com ig: @juliabeutlingillustration

Meneka Repka

Meneka Repka is an artist and teacher living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She holds a PhD in education, and teaches both university and high school courses. She also runs an “artivism” focused instagram account, Nooch.

ig: @meneka_repka & @noochdesignco



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