Handog is a Filipino word that means offering or gift. 

While it is also my family name, it’s a fitting name to call this art and stationery shop. In so many ways, I see this shop as a gift – to myself as someone who has dreamed of opening my own small art business, and to you who may be looking for ways to brighten up your day or someone else’s. 

My name is Marj and I’m a Filipino artist currently based in Brampton, Ontario here in Canada. I’m not like other artists who have known they would become one since they were young. In fact, I only developed an interest in art at 28 years old when one evening, after a long day at work, while waiting for my train home to get less crowded, I picked up a cheap watercolor set from a bookstore on a whim. 

It took two more years before I decided to take this interest in art seriously. I took different drawing and painting courses online and practiced every day. As a pet lover who was living with several dogs back then, I started drawing dogs and shared them on social media. Eventually, I got inquiries from friends and family about pet portrait commissions. 

This became a whole pet portrait business that I did for two years before I decided to go beyond making art for others and starting making art for myself. So I enrolled in an intensive classical drawing and painting class at Galvez Atelier, an ARC-approved atelier in the Philippines. This month-long daily intensive class helped me refine my drawing skills which made me feel confident about exploring other mediums like watercolor and gouache.

Since then, I’ve dedicated my time mastering these mediums and finding my art style – which led me to painting illustrations inspired by food, nature, and culture. Being an artist, of course, made me dream of selling my original work one day and while I’m alive. While I do still dream of showing my work in galleries and exhibitions, I’m more drawn to making my art accessible and fun, in a form that I, myself, actually love and that’s through stationery.

This has been years in the making but now we’re today! Welcome to my little plot of dream.

I’m grateful to the following organizations for helping me get Studio Handog off the ground. The mentorships, support, and funding gave me the confidence and more importantly, the resources I needed to make my dream come true:

• Longo Centre for Entrepreneurship

• Brampton Arts Organization

• Work in Culture

Shop Studio Handog items in-store at:

Paper Marché
132 Ahrens St W,
Kitchener, ON N2H 4C7