About Nadia Lloyd

Artist | Designer | Event Planner

VOTED 2021 NOW MAGAZINE BEST TORONTO ARTIST AND TORONTO FACE MASK DESIGNER!

SHORT BIO:
Nadia Lloyd is a Toronto artist, designer an event planner best known more recently for designing face masks worn by Toronto Mayor Tory as well her  Black lives matter mask, designed in May 2020, worn by the Toronto Raptors. 
Making face masks was never on her radar, until the pandemic hit and she realized that she had a lot of her art printed fabric that she could repurpose along with sewing skills that she learned at a young age.
Her mission is now to focus on designs with messages that encourage people to have conversations on important topics, such as stop Asian hate, Every Child Matters and more. She also uses proceeds of her sales to raise money for various charities. To date she has raised over $22,000
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LONG BIO:

I started painting in 2010, after making the decision to sell my fitness business and take some time off.

From the very start I found myself painting abstract art and the Toronto skyline. Being self taught, I spent hours exploring various painting techniques on my own, and painting quickly became a passion and obsession.

In 2012 I started printing my art on various fabrics so I could make my art more accessible, affordable and functional.

Before I knew it, I was a full fledged designer with a collection of over 27 products featuring my abstract art printed as well as my Toronto Skyline design on home decor and fashion accessories.

Some highlights from 2014 include the CN Tower carrying some of my products in their Gift Shop and in 2017 I had the honor to design the employee uniforms for Tourism Toronto, and The AGO Gift Shop began carrying my products as well.

In 2020 when the pandemic began, I started sewing face masks by re-purposing cushion covers from my collection.

PPE was hard to find and front line workers were asking me for help so I put my skills to use, and began making donations of mask, to the tune of about 60 per week.

My first big break as an artist came in June 2020, when Mayor John Tory came to personally meet me to pick up one of my Pride Toronto masks.

He told me he loved my work and obsession with the Toronto Skyline and wanted to tell me in person.

He has proudly been wearing both my Pride and Canada masks ever since.

In mid July 2020, my second big break hit.

I released my BLM Toronto mask. It features the Toronto Skyline with the BLM symbol and I am donating $5 of each purchase to BLM Toronto.

My son and I collaborated on the design of the BLM mask, after having had some really difficult chats about racism and discrimination prompted by the murder of George Floyd.

We decided we wanted to design a mask that would engage people in conversation, and help raise awareness to create change.

In early July, I posted on social media that I wanted to donate these BLM masks to the Toronto Raptors and was hoping to find someone to put me in touch with anyone on the management side or players.

Within a few hours, Roberta Nurse, Nick Nurse's wife reached out to me to put through an order for the team, and photos of the Raptors in my masks started to flood in shortly after.

This amazing experience and opportunity has led to a flood of media TV and PRINT interviews , some of which you can see HERE!

In fact, November 2021 I was voted Now Magazine Reader's Choice Award Best Toronto Artist as well as Best Toronto Facemask Designer! See the Now Magazine feature HERE.

If you would like to book an interview please e-mail me at info@nadialloyd.com.

I am always pleased to share my story and answer questions.

IN THE MEDIA

FIND NADIA HERE

  • www.NadiaLloyd.com
  • info@nadialloyd.com
  • @NadiaLloydTO (all platforms)
  • 416-993-5833