Samantha Schvartz creates memories with daisydoodles

For Samantha Schvartz, her creativity is the gift that keeps on giving.

A graphic designer and branding coordinator by profession, Schvartz is always seeking new avenues to explore her artistic skills. Her most recent is what she calls her “daisydoodles” which are live illustrations she does at events.

“DaisyDaisyink is my personalised illustration service,” she told WMN.

“Art is my first love but it is not always sustainable, so I have my 'day job.' And whilst this allows for some creativity, I craved the opportunity to draw more, so in February I started looking for a new project and came across live sketching.”

She offers her services to people who are hosting weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, showers and gender reveal parties etc.

“Because I’m a graphic designer I am able to take out the elements I need from the invitations and use them, so it completely flows through with their brand or their decor or whatever it is they would like me to use.”

On the day of the event, Schvartz, her assistant Jade Chamberlain, and her two wooden life-sized daisydoodles, the blonde Daisy Fae and brunette Maggie Mae arrive an hour before it starts and sets up a table close to the entrance in order to get guest as they are arriving. Her assistant takes photos and sends them to her.

“The guest doesn’t have to be posed or anything. I recreate their outfits and their hairstyles. If it’s a couple, both will be in the same illustration. I paint them on backgrounds which I have pre-printed to match the event's theme and host’s name, event date etc. Each one is then glittered and put into an acetate sleeve to protect it, and the guests get to leave with their bespoke keepsake.”

She said none of the images have faces, just eyes, because she tries to do as many guests a possible.

“It’s just meant to be a representation of the person.”

She said she started doing daisy doodles around Carnival time when she asked friends who were hosting parties if she could try it for free at their events.

“And they were like, ‘yeah, sure’ and that just spread the word. Then I did the TT wedding convention and honestly, the word just keeps spreading. We’re booked for the weekends for the next couple of months. I am absolutely thrilled with the way it has been going.”

Each illustration takes between five and seven minutes to do one.

“Generally, we stay at weddings for five to six hours, so the greatest number of guests I can do is 50. If requested, we take photos of everybody and then I complete the rest during the week after the event.”

Her price packages are based on what the host wants, and all wedding packages come with a complimentary bride and groom illustration, a bridal party illustration, and immediate family of the bride and groom.

“I do those after the event so it doesn’t take away from the guests’ keepsakes, and also because it gives me time to add extra details. I deliver those within a week after the event.”

She also does complimentary illustrations for the guest of honour at birthday parties.

But Schvartz also offers other creative services outside of events.

“I have just started offering a life-sized daisydoodle service where I illustrate a five-feet five-inches wooden cut-out,” which she believes are perfect for couples, and corporate events.

And with her bespoke illustration service, she said, “Clients can send me a photo of a person, family, pets etc, and I illustrate them and they can either collect or I can have them delivered to them within a week.”

So what is the significance of the daisy?

“It’s always been my screen name because it is my favourite flower. Actually, when I was younger, there was a line from a song I resonated with and everything became daisies. I also have two daisies tattooed on me. So when I was thinking of a name for this I just wanted to include DaisyDaisy.

“On the flip side, I’m a spooky person because I love Halloween and those type of things. But not everybody does and I wanted it to be accessible to everyone – a more appealing brand. It was a natural progression.”

And Schvartz has a lot of ideas and avenues to take the brand in for the future.

“The possibilities are endless!! There are a lot more ideas floating around in my head as well – the price of having an overly creative brain.”

She envisions it getting to the point where she will be able to create employment for other creatives.

“I have a lot of ideas for offshoots that will tie into it.”

Originally from the UK, Schvartz moved to TT when she was 13 and settled in Diego Martin.

“My dad was born here and my mom was British. I’ve lived here ever since.”

Schvartz said because she is a Capricorn, everything comes after work.

“Fortunately, I enjoy what I do.”

In her free time, she has coffee dates, goes on road trips and participates in artistic projects with her friends.

“We visit all the temples and Catholic churches in the country, and we tend to do a lot of art projects together because we all artistic streaks.”

And she has another love that sometimes gets intertwined with art.

“In my spare time I love to travel…I went on the most magical art retreat to Malone in upstate New York last year where I got to really focus on my art style and surround myself with like-minded people.”

For more information, follow @daisydaisyink on IG and Facebook or visit is www.daisydaisyink.com.