Why Canvas Printing is Still Relevant in Today's Digital World

As part of my on-going work to update the blog and publish fresh new content in 2024, I'm taking a look back over some of my favourite posts to bring them up to date and offer a new perspective based on my experience running The Canvas Works over the last number of years. 

This post was a short personal story about how I ended up running an online photo printing business in Ireland.  But it's also an article about the enduring power of printed photographs and their critical role in helping us remember the most important moments in our lives. 

I set up The Canvas Works properly in 2007. We'd been living in Ibiza in 06 and decided to come home and make a proper go if it. We moved to Kinsale, County Cork and never looked back. I was originally from Dublin and Lynne was from Northern Ireland.  Neither of those options appealed - we wanted a different way of life - and crucially, a different quality of life.

11 years later I realised a dream this past summer when I bought a 1973 late bay VW T2. Tom loves it and the memories I know it will bring us over the years to come help me justify the expense! The photo is of us at the top of The Healy Pass on the stunning Beara Penninsula in Cork. Pure magic.

Sometimes you have to look back to see how far you've come right?? And I suppose that got me thinking about the journey we've been on and why I love to print our customers' photos online.  

Each one is a story, each one is a moment in a personal journey.  Of course, not everyone makes me sit up and take notice.  But everyone of the photos we print means something to the person who is ordering it and hopefully, the person who will receive it.  It's a joy and an honour to be involved in that process and it's actually way more rewarding than I could ever have imagined.

When people ask me how I got into this business, it's a little hard to explain.  I went from Law to Advertising to Canvas Printing.  When people ask me why I stay in this business - well, that's a lot easier to explain.  I do it because I love it and take immense pride in it.  And I do it because I get to spend good times with family and friends - hopefully driving around the Wild Atlantic Way in my T2!

Whatever your journey is, I hope you find the time to print photos to help you remember the good times!