New CatCoq Collaboration with Buvanha
One year in the making:
Introducing my limited-edition towel with Buvanha!
I've been sitting on this secret for an entire year, and I can finally share it with you: I've partnered with Buvanha to create a limited-edition travel towel inspired by Thailand, one of the most meaningful places in the world to me.
This collaboration has been such a special journey, and I'm excited to pull back the curtain and share the full story with you! I’ll tell you why I said yes to this project, the design inspiration, and the incredible nonprofit it supports. Plus how this tiger towel has literally traveled the world with me over the past year.
This piece is part of the Buvanha x Artists series, a global collection spotlighting artists around the world through one-of-a-kind travel towels. I’m honored to be the fifth artist featured, following an incredible lineup of creators who each designed a towel inspired by a meaningful place in their lives. 🖤
Why I said yes! to this collaboration
Lemme be honest with you: I don't take on commissions very often. In fact, I rarely do. A decade ago, I was doing a lot of freelance work, but I made a conscious decision to shift my focus toward licensing and education. Commissions are incredibly time-consuming, and I usually prefer to invest my energy into building my licensing portfolio.
But I don't want to abandon commission work entirely. It's an important skill, a creative muscle worth flexing from time to time. I work with a small handful of very carefully selected clients, and Buvanha is exactly the kind of partner I choose to work with.
When they reached out in October of last year, the timing was... intense. I had just launched The Art of Collections, my signature program, and it was literally in its first month. I was excited, busy, and honestly feeling stretched thin. But even in the middle of that whirlwind, I knew this opportunity was something I wouldn't regret saying yes to. And I was right.
Here’s a peek at what my design process looks like.
This is the first round of concepts that I sent to Buvanha:
What makes Buvanha different: Artist-first collaboration
Here's what really drew me to this partnership: Buvanha's focus on their Artists Series. At this point in my career, I prioritize working with brands that highlight the artist behind the artwork.
I've actually turned down licensing deals because of this. Just a couple months ago, I declined an art licensing opportunity because the brand didn't want to include my logo or name on the packaging. Yikes! Big red flag when companies don’t want to give artists credit for their artwork. If a partnership doesn't align with my values around artist visibility and recognition, it's not the right fit and I turn it down.
Buvanha is different. They include photos of the artist, share the story behind the design, and highlight artists’ stories of what inspired our designs. They put artists front and center in a way that feels genuine and meaningful.
In a world where AI-generated art is becoming increasingly prevalent, I believe this kind of artist recognition is more important than ever. I'm incredibly proud to partner with a company that shares these values and actively works to celebrate the humans behind the art.
Supporting Hand to Paw
Another reason I said yes to this project is because it has a philanthropic heart. With every towel sold, Buvanha donates a portion of the proceeds to support a nonprofit organization.
When they first shared this with me, I asked if I could choose my own nonprofit to support. I had a specific organization in mind (one that's very close to my heart) and I wanted to make sure this collaboration could make a tangible impact for them. Buvanha said yes immediately.
That’s how Hand to Paw became part of this story.
Hand to Paw is one of the most impactful animal welfare groups here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Each towel sold provides a hearty meal, deworming and a rabies shot for an animal in need. This means life-changing, tangible impact for these dogs and cats who desperately need it, and it makes this project mean so much more than just a beautiful design.
Hand to Paw is a nonprofit here in Chiang Mai that provides food, shelter, and medical care for street cats and dogs. I first met the founder, Amandine, several years ago and was blown away by the compassion and drive behind her mission. She and her team work tirelessly rescuing injured animals, coordinating mass sterilizations, and providing long-term care and adoption support.
I’ve been supporting Hand to Paw for a few years now. I have recurring monthly donations set up, but I also contribute a donation after any successful launch in my biz. (A portion of my profits always go Hand to Paw.) I celebrated my 38th birthday this year with a $1,000 donation, which helped fund a mass cat sterilization event over the summer: 193 cats that are no longer contributing to over-population here in Thailand! Hell yeah!
Animal welfare has become one of my greatest passions outside of art. So when I had the opportunity to align this collaboration with Hand to Paw, it felt like everything came full circle.
My Journey with Hand to Paw
Because I believe transparency is important and even more so when it comes to knowing what your money buys, I wanted to dive a bit deeper into Hand to Paw and why it their work matters.
My introduction to Hand to Paw all started at a community meetup I attended in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was a few years ago and I saw a Facebook post in a local FB group promoting a meetup for people who wanted to learn how to help street dogs in Thailand. The meetup was at Free Bird Cafe, a social enterprise run by my friend Lisa Bird that supports Burmese refugees.
Side note: shoutout to Lisa’s organization, Thai Freedom House. This is now my 5th year of being a monthly donor. TFH is one of the only full resource centers that supports refugees from Myanmar and minority peoples of Thailand. Your donation will directly support displaced people who are struggling to survive.
Anyway, back to how I connected with Amandine of Hand to Paw: I attended the “Wanna help street dogs?” meetup partly to support Lisa’s social enterprise cafe, but mostly because I genuinely wanted to know how I could help dogs. I see so many street dogs and cats here in Thailand, and I'd been wanting to do something about it.
That's where I met Amandine, the founder of Hand to Paw. And I am in awe of this woman! She is making an incredible impact for animals here in Northern Thailand. Not just dogs, but cats, and I've even seen her rescue a tortoise or two. Amandine and her team drive all over Northern Thailand responding to calls about animals who've been hit by cars or motorbikes, gotten into fights, bitten by cobras, or been mutilated by humans. They rescue, rehabilitate, and work to get these animals adopted whenever possible. Amandine and her team’s hearts are as big as their shared dedication to making lives better for animals.
Learning to Make an Impact
Last summer, I discovered five brand-new kittens in the parking lot of my apartment complex. I called Amandine right away and asked what I should do. She offered to help me get them all sterilized, and she basically held my hand through the entire process.
I was so nervous. I'd never done anything like trap and release (T&R) before, and I honestly don’t know if I could have accomplished it without her guidance. (I felt bad for the kitties and I thought about quitting multiple times.) But most importantly, she didn't just do the work for me. She taught me how to do it myself. She educated me on humane trapping, vaccinations, sterilization, deworming, flea and tick medication… all the critical components of caring for community cats.
That experience empowered me. I realized I could be self-sufficient and make an impact without straining her already limited resources. Now, I care for the street cats in my neighborhood. I feed them, socialize them (aka give ‘em love), administer medicine (as needed), and coordinate appointments for their vaccinations and sterilizations. I even have a local veterinarian on call who sends their mobile vet van to my apartment complex so we can do sterilizations on-site. (Much better for their stress than transporting them all the way to the vet clinic.) As I write this, I have two kittens boarding at the vet who just had their sterilization surgeries a couple days ago.
So to say the least, caring for animals has become a huge passion of mine. And any time I can blend my love for animals with my artistic talents, it's an incredibly fulfilling experience. This collaboration with Buvanha is exactly that: art and animal welfare, beautifully combined.
The Design: Tigers, Lotus Blossoms, and Thailand's Wild Beauty
When Buvanha asked me to choose a country that inspired me, Thailand was an absolute no-brainer. I've traveled all over the world over the past decade as a world-traveling artist, but I always circle back to Thailand. It's where I've chosen to make my home base, and it holds such a special place in my heart.
For the design, I wanted to use iconography and motifs that are classically associated with Thailand. After providing a handful of concepts, we chose the tiger as the central element. The tiger is a symbol of strength, courage, and raw power. And yep, of course if you hadn’t figured it out by now, I love cats. All cats. Tigers are synonymous with Thailand, and they embody that fierce, untamed energy that makes this country so captivating.
Weaving around the tiger, I illustrated lotus blossoms: symbols of grace, purity, and resilience in nature. The lotus grows in muddy water but blooms into something bright and beautiful. I think there's something really poetic about that contrast.
Together, the tiger and the lotus create a beautiful juxtaposition: fierce and delicate, powerful and peaceful, wild beauty and serene harmony. That contrast captures exactly what Thailand feels like to me. This is a place of magical contradictions where raw natural beauty coexists with tranquil spirituality: wild jungles, peaceful temples, bold colors and quiet beauty. I wanted to capture that duality through the imagery of a tiger and lotus blossoms.
A year of adventures: My tiger towel travels the world
Here's something fun: I've been waiting a full year to announce this collaboration, which means I've had my tiger towel with me for an entire year of travels. And lemme tell you… this towel has been everywhere.
The towel is designed to be the perfect travel companion: lightweight microfiber, quick-dry, incredibly packable. We've thrown it in our carry-on for so many trips this year, and it's proven its worth again and again.
I brought it with me to New Zealand for a six-week trip filled with hiking. It came along for trail breaks where I could fold it out on the grass and rest, and it even joined me at a stunning outdoor onsen overlooking a mountain river valley. (That towel was both granola and bougie within the same day.)
Back here in Thailand, I've brought it to the beach, on picnics with friends, and used it practically as… well a towel. Great at soaking up water and then being totally dry within a few hours. (Yay, microfiber!) Plus, sand doesn't stick to it!
When I visited family in the United States, the towel came with me. During my European summer (about two and a half months exploring Italy, Slovenia, and Hungary) it was a constant companion. I brought it hiking in the Dolomites in Italy (yes, it's just as great for mountains as it is for beaches), and I even took it to the famous Széchenyi Thermal Bath in Budapest.
This towel has literally been all over the world with me, and I can't wait to bring it to even more places. It's perfect for my lifestyle: I'm active, I love being outdoors, I love nature… and having this beautiful, meaningful design with me on my adventures makes it even more special.
A Limited Edition with Heart
This tiger towel is a limited edition, which means it will only be available while supplies last. It's part of Buvanha's Artists Series, where they collaborate with artists from around the world to create unique, one-time-only designs.
This partnership has been so heartfelt, so aligned with my values, and so personally meaningful. Getting to create art inspired by a place I love, support an organization doing incredible work for animals, and partner with a brand that truly celebrates artists… it's everything I could have hoped for in a collaboration.
If you've been looking for a high-quality travel towel that's as beautiful as it is functional, or if you want to support Hand to Paw's mission to help street animals in Thailand, I'd be honored to have you check out this limited-edition design.
Thank you for being part of this journey with me! Here's to more adventures, more art, and more ways we can make a positive impact together. 🐅🪷
