In 2010, Kevin Chow gave his girlfriend, Jamie Mason, a teddy bear to match the beloved stuffed bear he'd owned since childhood. She decided to name it Rawry, a perfect match for Kevin's bear, Pohly. Little did they know at the time that they had just named her teddy bear alongside their future art business, Rawry and Pohly. It would be another four years before the pair began blending their art styles together, beginning in September 2014 with little more than dollar store markers, acrylic paint, and a shared love of the arts.
Today, Kevin Chow and Jamie Mason are the Canadian artist duo behind Rawry and Pohly, an art line instantly recognizable through its signature odes to 'childhood wonder' expressed through striking geometric shapes, mixed media and bright pop culture references. The pair has dubbed their artistic style "Contemporary Saturdays," a direct nod to Mason and Chow's weekly routine of watching Saturday morning cartoons together, a habit they have never grown out of since childhood. Rawry and Pohly were featured at this year's Toronto Fan Expo 2026 and its co-creator Mason shared with the Dispatch, "Inspiration comes from childhood nostalgia, things that we love, games, or even animals that we love," Mason said. "My partner and I create all the artworks together."
This weekend marks Rawry and Pohly's first time ever bringing their work to Toronto. "We mainly sell through markets, conventions and events like this," Mason said. "We're actually from Calgary, Alberta, so this is quite far out for us in Toronto and we love it here. It's really fun."
Both artists have embraced art in one form or another throughout their entire lives, sculpting, painting and drawing since they were first able to hold the tools. Both were also born and raised in Saskatchewan. Chow grew up in Moose Jaw, where he studied animation at Sheridan College before earning business and marketing credentials. Mason is self-taught, with two degrees from the University of Regina, in English and education. She later worked at the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District, where she developed an interest in public art.
What began as a shared hobby became a full-time business by 2015, when the pair started representing their own work at comic conventions across Calgary, setting up in artist alleys as a vehicle to share their love of pop culture with the community. Most recently, Rawry & Pohly have focused their artistic endeavours into the revitalization of Chinatown in Calgary through the arts. Rawry and Pohly have multiple featured art installations tied to the revitalization of Calgary's Chinatown, including a bus wrap titled "The Bus To Chinatown" in 2024 and a sculpture, "Bok Choy Boy," at the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre in 2023. Their motto, "celebrate your inner child," runs through both the convention work and the public commissions alike.
Mason shared that feeling ready to take that first step in sharing your artwork doesn't always have an obvious timing, "Always start before you're ready," she said. "You're never going to feel fully ready and you just have to go for it no matter what. And even if it comes out not the way you thought it would be, you will learn so many things if you just go at it."
Between sets at the booth this weekend, Mason has been splitting her attention between her own paintings and the trading card tables nearby. "I love looking at cards, collecting cards, playing cards," she said. "I play a lot of Magic: The Gathering." It tracks that Mason spends her downtime at Fan Expo hunting for cards. Rawry and Pohly's entire practice runs on the same instinct that keeps sending her back to the Magic: The Gathering tables: the pull of collecting, revisiting and staying inside the pop culture worlds that shaped her and the artwork she produces.
For anyone who can't catch hem at Fan Expo this weekend, Rawry and Pohly's work is also available through their Etsy shop, RawryAndPohly.
