T
hough each of the four artists took different paths to arrive at their final creation, the experiences that followed the process were similar — the nervy joy that came from seeing their design brought to life, brought off the page and stitched onto an NHL jersey.
“It was mind-blowing,” Sheth says of the moment she first held in her hands a Jets jersey adorned with her artwork. “Like, I cannot express in words how happy I was to see it. It was amazing.”
“It honestly didn’t really feel real until I saw the jersey,” Sihota says of her own experience in Calgary. “When I sent off the logo, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s really cool, I just did that.’ But seeing the jersey in person, it was breathtaking. I didn’t even know what to say. My jaw dropped.”
“I just loved the design, the quality, the texture of the fabric” Sohpaul says from Vancouver. “The stitching was perfectly executed. So, it was really exciting.”
“Me and my buddy were talking about how we made this happen — you know, we never thought we’d ever get the opportunity to do something like this,” Nerval says. “My family’s done a lot of community work and I’ve helped out with that, but I’ve never really done something myself, that I kind of started, from start to finish — with the help of friends, obviously.”
“Seeing all the colours come through so vibrantly and so beautifully — it was just such a proud moment for me,” Sihota continues. “But I wasn’t really thinking about myself. I was more so thinking about my family and how proud they would be. And how lucky I am to come from an immigrant household, and then to be able to do something like this.”
