My name is Amy Pretorius.
I am a designer and printmaker based in Amicwaciwaskahikan
(so-called Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory.
I love illustration, branding, layout design, and all things print!
Navigating Growth Campaign
A campaign to engage small-business owners as prospective members of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, created through an in-house practicum.
Insectarium: Conference Design
A system of design deliverables created for an entomology conference called Insectarium.
Intuitive Eating Booklet
An introduction to intuitive eating, delivered through illustrative and typographic elements organized in a booklet format.
Book Design
A redesign of a young adult fantasty book series, focused on illustration to create an immersive, fantastical atmosphere to draw in readers.
2010, 15 x 16", Linocut, 2024
My first memory of Alberta is of a magpie flying overhead. I was fascinated by this bird and its long tail. They are birds I have always heavily associated with my home province. But magpies are often seen as pests, outsiders, and general nuisances.
It’s not easy being queer in Alberta, with a lack of representation, a hostile government, and the social ostracization that comes with being an openly queer kid. But the queer community within Alberta is strong and fiercely protective, and after years of feeling out of place, I found solace with other queer art students when I learned printmaking in university. We bonded over late studio nights and used art to create joy, to resist, and to communicate. Printmaking is a place I can explore my identity, relationships, and outlook on the world. Despite a conservative majority, I am strongly rooted in the prairie I grew up in. This print is a love letter to my home province and the community I have found within.
I came across this arrangement of a nursery rhyme, which posits that the number of magpies seen will tell your fortune:
One for sorrow,
Two for mirth,
Three for a wedding,
Four for death
During my last semester of university, I thought a lot about my impending graduation and the change and loss I would experience.
I have been a student for so long that graduating feels like the death of this version of me and this phase of my life. The magpie funeral, a ritual of care performed by my favourite birds, allowed me to deal with these feelings. Additionally, my first memory of Alberta is of a magpie flying overhead, and I associate them with my connection to home and the development of my creative practice in Alberta. The presence of four magpies, one dead and three mourning, connects to the nursery rhyme and my nearing symbolic death.
Four for a Death, 20 x 14", Etching, 2025