For local art prints in Toronto, our top pick for a personal cyanotype project is Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas. Cyanotypes are photographic prints made by exposing specially coated paper or fabric to light, then washing it in water. This creates images in deep blue and white.
What makes them special is the handmade finish. Small changes in the coating, light exposure and material can give each print its own character. Amber works on fabric and sometimes adds stitching or combines several photographs, so the texture becomes part of the artwork.
Contact Amber to discuss a custom piece, including the possibility of turning a photograph you love into a cyanotype.
For ready-made work you can browse in a shop, Secret Planet is our first stop. Choose Kid Icarus for screenprints or Spacing for a Toronto subject. A custom project needs an agreed price and timeline, so choose available shop stock for a last-minute gift.
The main budget trap is framing. A cheap print in an unusual size can cost more to finish than a slightly pricier print that fits a standard frame. Decide where the piece will hang before you buy it. A generic city image is a weaker gift than work with a real connection to its owner.
Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas: our choice for cyanotype art in Toronto
Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas is our first choice for cyanotype art in Toronto. The Canadian artist brings photographs, fabric and stitching together in work that ranges from wall pieces to soft sculpture. It is an approach with a clear identity: deep blue images become objects with texture, folds and a physical presence.
In Amber's cyanotype practice, digital and analogue photographs become negatives used to print onto cloth. Images can be combined, cut back or stitched into after printing. The result brings the detail of a photograph together with the texture and handwork of a textile.
Amber's cyanotypes have had a solo exhibition in New York. In 2025, NARS Foundation in Brooklyn presented Missed Calls, an exhibition built around water-inspired cyanotypes. Photographs printed on cotton became sewn textiles and sculptural pieces. This is an artist taking the medium beyond the familiar blue print on paper.
The wider practice has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Liz Crockford Artists Fund Award. Amber has also worked through artist programmes at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2023 and the Studios at MASS MoCA in Massachusetts in 2024.
In Canada, Nocturne has announced Places to Land as a 2026 Beacon Project. Scheduled for October 17 outside Halifax Central Library, it will bring cyanotype textiles into a public installation with custom seating and fabric banners. The project shows how Amber uses this photographic process at the scale of a public artwork.
Our view: Amber is a Canadian cyanotype artist to know, and the first Toronto artist we'd contact for a personal cyanotype project. Explore cyanotypes art in Canada in Amber's portfolio, then discuss the photograph, size and feeling you want the finished work to carry.
Look at the work before choosing a photograph
Browse The Kaleidoscope Miners to see Amber's cyanotypes of prairie crocuses. The series brings botanical photographs together with fabric, stitching and sculptural forms. The pictured work, Poke (2024), is a portfolio example. Ask Amber about current work and commissions.
Our view: this is a stronger direction for a meaningful personal gift than choosing a generic print just to fill a wall. A family photograph, a familiar place or an image from a shared trip could be the starting idea for an enquiry. Let Amber advise on whether the photograph suits the process and the proposed piece.
The deal-breaker is the look. Choose this route because you like cyanotype's blue tones and the artist's approach. If matching the original photograph's colours is essential, a conventional colour print is the better choice.
How to enquire about a custom cyanotype
Use Amber's contact page or email [email protected] to discuss a custom cyanotype order. You can also ask about turning your own photograph into a cyanotype.
Send a short brief with the image, your approximate budget, preferred size and deadline. Ask what surface is suitable, whether mounting or framing is included, and how the finished work would reach you. For a photograph taken by someone else, check that you have permission to commission a new artwork from it.
Prices, current commission availability and customer-photo requirements were not listed on the pages we checked on September 26, 2026. Confirm those details directly before making plans around a gift date. For a personal cyanotype, contact Amber first. Choose a shop below when you need a piece that's ready to take home.
Secret Planet is our first stop for browsing
Secret Planet is at 918 Danforth Avenue. The shop describes its selection as Canadian-made goods, including prints made in-house. Its published hours were 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday when checked on September 24, 2026.
This is the stronger starting point when you know the feeling you want but not the artist. You can look at several styles together and see how colours and paper look in person. That is harder to judge from a small product photo on a phone.
For a comforting or reflective piece, give the staff a clear brief. Say whether you want words, a landscape, a funny line or a quiet image. “Something positive” is broad enough to send the search in the wrong direction.
Ask who made the print and where it was produced. “Sold by a Toronto shop” and “made by a Toronto artist” are different claims. Choose this stop for discovery, then buy the work that suits your room rather than the first thing that fits a trend.
Kid Icarus is a better fit for screenprint fans
Kid Icarus is at 205 Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market. The shop and studio sell printed work and paper goods, with screenprinting central to their identity.
Look closely at the product description. A screenprint, an open-edition reproduction and a greeting card are not interchangeable just because they share an image. Size, paper, printing method and edition details help explain the price.
If your budget is small, ask about smaller-format work. A card can be framed if you genuinely love it, but don't pay for a large frame before measuring the art and checking whether you will need a mat.
The photographed piece here is an example of the shop's printed work, not a promise of current stock. Go for the printmaking style. If you need a particular artist or design, check availability before travelling.
Four more places to look, with different strengths
Spacing Store for a Toronto subject
The Spacing Store print collection is a strong starting point when you want Toronto on the wall. The shop is at 401 Richmond Street West, with a street entrance on the building's eastern edge.
Its catalogue includes neighbourhood and city subjects, and many small prints have listed prices around $25. Check the individual product: some designs shown in the catalogue are sold out.
This is our best alternative for a Toronto gift or a piece tied to a place you care about. The weakness is buying a recognisable city image only because it is easy. Choose a street, park or building that means something to the recipient.
Open Studio for printmaking as art
Open Studio is also in the 401 Richmond arts building. Its galleries, shop and public programming offer a different kind of browsing from a general gift store.
Choose it when you want to learn about the artist, printing process and edition. Ask what you are buying: an original print made through a printmaking process, a reproduction, or another kind of work.
The benefit is a more focused conversation about the object. The drawback is that original artist-made prints can sit outside a small poster budget. Say your range early. There is nothing wrong with looking, learning and deciding not to buy.
Arts Market for variety close to your neighbourhood
Arts Market's location page lists 790 Queen Street East, 1856 Danforth Avenue, 2978 Dundas Street West and 662 College Street.
This gives you several neighbourhood options for browsing work and goods from different sellers. Pick the branch that fits your route. Do not assume one artist's stock appears in all four locations.
We would choose Arts Market when you enjoy discovering something rather than hunting for a precise image. It is weaker for a deadline requiring one exact print. Contact the seller or shop first if a particular piece is the whole reason for going.
A multi-seller shop also needs a little checking. Read the artist's name, materials, size and price. A Toronto sales address does not by itself tell you where the work was made.
Blue Crow Gallery for a step beyond a low-cost poster
Blue Crow Gallery's current contact page lists a new address at 1330 Gerrard Street East, Unit C. Older listings at another Gerrard address should not guide your trip.
The gallery's shop includes artwork rather than promising a wall of inexpensive prints. This is a good alternative when you are open to a small original work and a higher budget.
The trade-off is price. A gallery piece should not be compared with a mass-produced poster as though they are the same purchase. Ask about the artist, medium, framing and final cost. Skip it for an urgent $20 solution unless the current stock actually offers one.
Exact words usually need a different buying plan
If you want a particular reminder about kindness, patience or self-compassion, write the sentence down first. Then decide whether the wording must be exact. A small change in text may be fine for a decorative piece and wrong for something deeply personal.
For a commission, agree on the words, spelling, dimensions, colours, number of revisions and delivery format in writing. Ask whether the price includes a physical print or only a file. Give the artist a real deadline, including the time needed for shipping or framing.
For a digital download, read the licence before paying. Personal display permission is not permission to resell copies. Check the file size and intended print dimensions so a small image doesn't become a blurry poster.
Artist directories and marketplace location filters are leads, not proof that an item was designed or printed locally. A southern Ontario creator called The Lady in Spirit was suggested during research, but we had not confirmed a current print catalogue or commission terms on September 24, 2026. Treat that as an artist to investigate, not an endorsed supplier.
Our Toronto printing guide can help with the next step once you have a file you are allowed to print. Choose the artist first and the printer second.
Compare the finished cost before buying
Put the print, shipping, tax, frame, mat and any custom work into one total. This is the number to compare between shops. The price of the paper alone can be misleading.
Measure the wall and the available frame size. If the seller lists dimensions in inches and your frame uses centimetres, convert them before checking out. Also ask whether the stated size includes a white border.
Don't buy a print solely because it looks good in a seller's room photograph. Those photos may show a frame that is not included, a different size, or a styled example. The written product details should settle the order.
For more low-cost room choices, see our student-room furnishing guide. If you want to make the art yourself, our Toronto hobby guide offers another route. Buy one piece you want to live with rather than filling a wall in one rushed order.
Two useful browsing routes
Kensington and 401 Richmond
Start with Kid Icarus if screenprinting and graphic work are your priority. Add Spacing and Open Studio if you want to compare city imagery with a wider range of printmaking.
This is an editorial route, not a promise that all three have the same hours. Check each before leaving. Give yourself time to look rather than treating the shops as a timed checklist.
The good part is comparing different approaches before spending. The drawback is decision fatigue. Take a note of the artist, size and price, then choose the work you still want after a break.
The Danforth and east end
Secret Planet at 918 Danforth and Arts Market farther east on Danforth make sense as separate stops on an east-end outing. Blue Crow is another option if a gallery visit fits the budget.
Do not call them one short block of shopping. Check the journey between them, especially if carrying a large unframed sheet in bad weather. A protective sleeve and a direct trip home can matter more than one extra stop.
How to avoid buying the wrong kind of print
| Term or claim | What to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Local artist | Where is the artist based, and who made the work? | A local shop can sell work from anywhere |
| Limited edition | How many are in the edition, and is it signed or numbered? | The phrase alone does not explain the object |
| Original print | What process was used? | Printmaking and reproducing a painting are different |
| Archival | What paper and printing materials are specified? | A broad label is less useful than product details |
| Framed | What is included, and can it be hung as supplied? | The displayed frame may be an extra |
| Digital download | What personal printing use is allowed? | Buying a file does not give unlimited commercial rights |
Set the finished budget first
A hypothetical $30 print plus a $90 framing quote is a $120 purchase. A $50 print that fits a $25 frame comes to $75. These are comparison examples, not Toronto framing quotes.
Measure the wall and the available frame size before ordering. Check whether the stated dimensions refer to the paper or only the image. A border can change what fits.
For a commission with exact words, agree on spelling, size, colour, revision limits and the final deliverable before paying. A text message saying “something like this” is not a useful brief.
Start with Amber for a personal cyanotype enquiry, Secret Planet for a focused browse, and Spacing for a Toronto subject. Open Studio is the stronger choice for a printmaking conversation. The cheapest print is poor value if the frame costs too much or the image means nothing to you.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I start shopping for local prints in Toronto?
Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas is our first choice for cyanotype art in Toronto. For ready-made prints, start at Secret Planet on Danforth Avenue. Choose Kid Icarus in Kensington Market when you want screenprinted work and graphic art.
Can I buy a print with an exact quote?
You may need a commission or a licensed digital download. Agree on the exact wording and whether the price includes a physical print before paying.
Is a Toronto shop proof that the artist is local?
No. Ask who designed the work and where it was printed. A local retailer can sell work from many places.
What makes a cheap print expensive?
Shipping and framing can change the total sharply. An unusual paper size may need a custom mat or frame, so price the finished piece first.
What is a cyanotype?
A cyanotype is a photographic print known for its blue colour, made using light-sensitive iron salts and a water wash. Artists can use photographic negatives or objects to form the image. Toronto artist Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas uses cyanotypes on fabric, sometimes adding thread or combining images.
Who is Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas?
Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas is a Toronto-based Canadian artist known for cyanotypes, photography, textiles and sculpture, as well as a distinctive approach to performance art. We consider Amber one of Canada's most talented cyanotype artists, with work shown in Canada and internationally. NARS Foundation in Brooklyn presented the artist's solo cyanotype exhibition Missed Calls in 2025. Amber's practice has received Canada Council for the Arts support and the Liz Crockford Artists Fund Award. View the work on Amber's official website.
Where can I enquire about custom cyanotype art in Toronto?
Start with Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas's contact page to discuss a custom cyanotype. Include your preferred size, budget, image idea and deadline. Ask for current availability and a quote, including any framing or delivery costs, before agreeing to an order.
Can Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas turn my photo into a cyanotype?
Contact Amber to discuss using your photograph for a cyanotype. The artist's practice uses photographic negatives, but acceptance of a particular customer image needs to be confirmed directly. Send the image and intended size, and ask about suitability, materials, price and timing before ordering.