In the winter, he’d say, “Watch out for snow alligators!” We didn’t have a fenced yard at the time, so I think that was Dad’s tactic to keep us from going too far from the house. Driving on the highway, he’d point out these oil industry vessels and say, “My space brothers haven’t left the planet yet.” My father once claimed to be an alien from another planet. You’ve said that your whimsical artwork is inspired by your father’s “big fish” stories. In the early 2000s, there were a lot of cuts being made in education and because of the funding situation, I couldn’t go naturally into the career I thought I’d be going into. And since I hadn’t had a good experience with my art teacher in high school, I thought maybe I can give other kids a better experience by becoming a teacher myself. So, when I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life, I liked the idea of working with kids. In fact, I was a young babysitter-very few boys I knew did that. Even when I was a kid, I played with the little kids. What led you to study education at the UAlberta? Local illustrator and education alum Jason Blower reads his new book, Hello #YEG, in the H.T. With business booming and Hello #YEG literally coming off the presses, illuminate sat down with Blower to talk about his career trajectory and how his education degree informs his work. It was only later that Blower pursued additional art training-and ultimately, a career as a self-employed illustrator.

He then switched to the secondary education route (art major and math minor), but always with the goal of being a classroom teacher. In fact, he started off in the Faculty of Education pursuing a BEd in elementary education because he’d always enjoyed spending time with kids. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, the book is now available for sale at Chapters and Indigo book stores, and online at For all of his success now, Blower didn’t grow up with artistic ambitions. Written for the kindergarten to Grade 3 crowd, Hello #YEG teaches children about Edmonton’s history and landmarks, while incorporating concepts from the Alberta Education curriculum. Most recently, he created an activity book for kids called Hello #YEG, putting his bachelor of education degree to good use. On top of his commercial work and commissioned artworks for the likes of the Varscona Theatre and the University of Alberta, Blower pursues his own creative projects. He’s provided the visual flair for promotional campaigns for organizations such as the Alberta SPCA, and he is also the creative mind behind the new Lululemon storefront in Edmonton’s Southgate Centre mall. Well-known for his illustrations of Edmonton landmarks, Blower’s work has graced the pages of magazines such as Avenue, Alberta Venture, and Today’s Parent. Whether you know it or not, you’ve seen the artwork of education alumnus Jason Blower (’03 BEd).

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