Boyden Cavern

illustrations for gift shop products

Creating local products for special memories

Boyden Cavern Gift Shop is a small family owned business competing with large corporate tourism shops in the King’s Canyon region of California. They were looking for unique gifts that reflect the local area and remind customers of their visit.

I created a set of illustrations for Boyden Cavern to use on a range of items including art prints, mugs, magnets and more. During the process I also helped them pivot their business to include an online store and print-on-demand when a landslide shut their cave for the 2023 season and they were unable to open for the whole year.

“I worked with Coral Pea Designs to commission artwork to sell at my gift shop in California... The contract process was easy, which was nice since I hadn’t commissioned much artwork in the past. ”
— Maria Baker

We started with a list of local flora observed by Maria in the Kings Canyon area of California. I reviewed the list to determine their favourites, the ones that were easiest to adapt to a design for products, and the available background information on each plant.

I then created sketches each for a selection of the florals so the client could choose between styles and layouts. These were then developed into a set of designs including hand-lettering of the gift shop and plant names.

Since the flowers were native to a small area of California, USA and I am in Perth, Australia, I looked at plants that were related and had similar structures that were available locally to me.

Manzanita are related to blueberries, and have a similar flower structure, while the Lessingia flowers that were selected are from the daisy family.

“We worked closely to choose wildflowers that were native and somewhat unique to this area, but that also fit with the artist’s style and had good reference material since we were working together across such a large distance... The design stage was very fun, I was welcomed to provide feedback or opinions. ”
— Maria Baker

the process

  • Initial sketches to confirm layout and style

  • a laptop and large computer monitor show different shapes of a flower

    research into the chosen flowers

  • Close up of watercolour painting and notes on which colours were used and how they were used.

    Detailed notes on colours and shapes

  • Painting pink flowers

    Painting by hand the elements of the final designs

  • Stickers on a wooden tray

    Final product in Boyden Cavern's gift shop

The client was provided with 3 finished watercolour designs that were able to be arranged for different products from magnets to art prints. These reflect the local flora of the region and are unique to their shop.

mock up of a watercolour manzanita flower and berry design on a tea towel

You can find more information about Boyden Cavern and visit their online store here:

“I have already launched these designs in my online store and they are already popular! It is great to feature something that is so specific to my area that captures some of the beauty that guests come to see. I’m looking forward to expanding our wildflower art collection in the future!”
— Maria Baker, Boyden Cavern

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