News Feed

Introducing, Maple Proud

Jill Heinerth and Robert McClellan are a creative married couple who live in Ontario, Canada. Jill is the artist and designer and Rob is the guy who keeps it all together with duct tape and baling wire. Both Jill and Robert are filmmakers, photographers, and writers, with advanced degrees in World Curiosity.

Jill is a best-selling Canadian author, an acclaimed underwater explorer, and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s Explorer-in-Residence. You may have seen her on such programs as The Nature of Things on CBC. You can learn more about Jill and follow her expeditions at www.IntoThePlanet.com And read Robert’s latest books and rants at www.RobertMcClellan.com Rob and Jill started Maple Proud with the mission of bringing creative, high-quality CANADIAN-MADE apparel and other interesting products to people who want to support local makers, designers, and artist cooperatives.

Yes, most of our products are Made in Canada.

It has taken us quite a while to find small suppliers and partners that are based in Canada and use materials that are primarily Canadian-sourced. We think it is important to provide you with high-quality goods, made by well-paid, happy people. Canadian people. Our neighbours. If you are wearing our Maple Proud apparel you can feel good about the way you look, and that you are helping Canadian workers provide for their families in these very challenging times. Yes, we could have sourced our products overseas, and they would have been both cheaper in price and quality – but that wouldn’t be very Canadian of us, now would it? Thank you for doing your part to sustain the livelihoods of many talented, hard-working women and men.

Water as Jill’s design theme.

You may have noticed that water, the ocean, and sea creatures appear on many of Jill’s designs. There is a reason for this: Jill is a water person. She is among the world’s most accomplished underwater explorers, and has been to places on the planet that few people have ever seen. From diving inside Antarctic icebergs to discovering the remains of lost civilizations in deep Mexican Cenotes, Jill has spent a lifetime documenting the wondrous underwater realm. Oh…and she is an artist. Her family is chock full of creative people who have embraced the arts – from her grandparents on through to her young nieces and nephews, expressing one’s self with art is a family tradition. Jill’s formal University education earned her a degree in Visual Arts and Communication – a fancy way of saying she’s a talented graphic artist. We hope that you enjoy exploring some of Jill’s original designs here at Maple Proud.