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‘Merry Driftmas’: Westcoastees launches line of driftwood art-inspired Christmas sweaters, shirts

Artist Alex Witcombe used to wear a hat that said his company’s name, Drifted Creations , all the time. But between collecting driftwood for his art and tracking down Fergus the Fox — his sculpture that has mysteriously gone missing from public arts sites more than once — Witcombe wore that hat way out. “Until its dying days,” he says.
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Artist Alex Witcombe used to wear a hat that said his company’s name, Drifted Creations, all the time. But between collecting driftwood for his art and tracking down Fergus the Fox — his sculpture that has mysteriously gone missing from public arts sites more than once — Witcombe wore that hat way out. “Until its dying days,” he says.

Now, thanks to a new collaboration with Cowichan Valley-based designers and screen printers Westcoastees, he has some new driftwood art-inspired swag to wear. And so do you!

Launched just in time for the holidays, the new series features three of Witcombe’s well-known public driftwood sculptures. They include “Campbell River’s official greeter” Peabody the Raccoon, the massive Mayhew the Sasquatch sculpture located on Quadra Island, as well as the famous, aforementioned Fergus. Each T-shirt in the series includes the name of the sculpture along with the punny phrase, “Merry Driftmas.”

“I’m keeping one of each design for myself,” Witcombe says.

Drifted Collaborations

About a year ago, after seeing some of Witcombe’s sculptures, Westcoastees Creative Director Marija Midgley and her business partner Jayson Ward invited him to their production facility to talk about collaborating.

It was Witcombe’s first foray into apparel, but he says “it was a great experience.”

“Marija and Trevor are very easy to work with,” he says, adding that he’s excited to collaborate with them again in the future. “Perhaps we’ll collaborate on some designs that can be worn year-round.”

He’s also looking forward to doing some new sculptures in the New Year.

“I have some really cool pieces planned for 2020,” he says. “Stuff that nobody has ever really seen before.”

In the meantime, the Drifted Creations-Westcoastees collab series — including kids’ tees so everyone can match in family Driftmas photos — is available online. It’s also available at all three Westcoastees stores, located at 3277 A Government St. in Duncan, 910 Island Hwy. in Campbell River and #5 - 160 Corfield St. in Parksville.

(The Parksville location, the newest Westcoastees store, opened about four months ago following great success at the Summer by the Sea Street Market.)

To shop the designs, or learn about the generous Westcoastees return and exchange policy or Loyaltee Club, visit www.westcoastees.com.