It’s amazing sometimes how just having one idea, deciding to act upon it, and persevering can quickly snowball into an artistic business.

Acting on her idea, Marnie Eikenaar has created her Nelson B.C. based business Poketto, which consists of stationary, notebooks, cards, photo books, as well as a clothing line for children and adults – things like sleepers for infants, tee-shirts for children, and adults.

“I liked the sound of Poketto, which means pocket in Japanese. My husband is part Japanese, and the name symbolizes something small that started in my pocket – a small idea that has grown.”

The British/West Coast native studied Interior Design and Fine Arts foundation courses at Kwantlan University in Richmond BC. She also received an Interior Design diploma at Pacific Design Academy in Victoria B.C.

“The reason I wanted to become a designer was because I liked to draw. I had a small business in Victoria for a few years but I found the industry not what I wanted – not enough drawing; it was more about meeting clients. I liked the clients; but I preferred the studio environment and the creativity involved with it.”

Marnie decided to give up the business and in 2002 moved to England where she married her husband. They lived there for five years where Marnie worked for a textile designer as a graphics designer and manager. There, she also got started with screen printing, illustration work, and took courses in graphic design, Photoshop, and web design at Brighton University. While working for the textile designer, ideas for Poketto started developing and Marnie began making screens.

When Marnie’s husband got accepted to Selkirk College for Environmental Science here in Nelson, they moved in August of 2007.

In Nelson, the launch of Poketto continued, starting with a display at the juried Kootenay Artisans Christmas Market. Now, Marnie is selling at Nelson’s Global Underground, Shades of Gray in Rossland and online at www.poketto.etsy.com.

A definite bear theme runs rampant throughout Marnie’s line; some of her clothing is called Bear Wear. Her drawing of a Mama Bear was inspired by a book she read a year ago called The Bears and I. She says, “reading the book helped me to understand bears and alleviate some of that fear that I had surrounding them. It made me more aware of the plight of bears.”

Living in Nelson has already provided Marnie with many opportunities. She relates that living here has put a fire into her to work on other projects such as her new graphic design business creating logos, business cards and eventually websites. Email poketto.design@gmail.com for more details.

Marnie has come a long way from being a young girl who drew on anything she could get her hands on – including coffee filters. Starting with something small and having it grow one step at a time is a very satisfactory thing for a girl who has since worked hard transforming herself into a creative business woman.