When people discover Arts to Embers, they often assume I started by wanting to design products.
The truth is, I started by wanting to make more art.
Like many people, life became busy. Between family, responsibilities, and everyday commitments, I realized I wasn’t creating nearly as often as I wanted to. I didn’t need more inspiration—I needed fewer barriers.
That realization changed everything.
Instead of searching for the perfect art setup, I began asking a different question:
“What would make it easier to create today?”
Sometimes the answer was a smaller palette.
Sometimes it was a sketchbook that fit in a pocket.
Sometimes it was a better way to organize my supplies.
Every product I’ve designed began by solving a problem I or another artist personally encountered. I don’t start with the goal of creating something to sell. I start by trying to improve my own creative process. If a design genuinely helps me create more often, there’s a good chance it can help someone else too.
That approach has shaped Arts to Embers from the very beginning.
It also means many ideas never become products. Some prototypes don’t work. Others solve a problem that isn’t important enough to justify making. I believe good design is often about knowing what not to create just as much as knowing what to pursue.
The products you see today are the result of countless sketches, prototypes, revisions, and lessons learned along the way. They exist because they earned their place in my everyday creative practice.
My hope is that these tools don’t simply make painting or sketching more convenient. I hope they remove just enough friction that you find yourself creating one more time this week than you otherwise would have.
Because in the end, that’s why I design my own tools.
Not to build a bigger catalog.
But to make creativity a little more accessible—for myself first, and hopefully for you as well.
-Zak