Meet our illustrator, Lily Piette

All of our illustrations come from (our founder Jennifer’s daughter) Lily Piette. A recent graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Lily has been drawing since the day she could hold a crayon. Also a musician-singer-songwriter, Lily tells stories with images and music just as Jennifer tells stories with words and food. We are so proud of this intergenerational collaboration.

Find Lily's most recent illustrations on the packaging of our For Good collection. From Coffee for Community to Walnuts for the Watershed, each item is a conversation starter, a values statement, and a delicious way to show what matters to you. Available in Build-Your-Own Boxes, Mix-and-Match Box, Ready-to-Ship Boxes, and of course, in Custom Projects by request.

Tell us about your work and your inspiration as an artist.

My paintings have recently revolved around neural processing (specifically the visual system). My paintings attempt to view these systems poetically– translated visually. Throughout the years, my paintings also have been inspired by character play and archetypal storytelling.

What was the first illustration you did for Narrative Food? And what is your process like?

My first illustrations for Narrative Food back in 2020 prompted the beginning of a series that I would continue for years to come. This series involves little people and animals interacting with large fruits, vegetables, and other cooking tools for the Narrative Food website and packaging. I am given an array of images of these objects, in which I find different/funny ways to have these characters interact with them. Sometimes the process is quite collaborative with Jennifer since there are so many ways to approach it– I like having outside input to avoid repetition. At the time when I was starting this series, my personal work dealt a lot with storytelling and creating complex, interactive worlds. This really helped me with the Narrative Food series as it wasn't too far off from what I was doing in my personal work, in terms of lots of people and things interacting with each other in strange ways.

Do you have a favorite illustration you've done for Narrative Food?

The little man hiding behind the big walnut has become a favorite of both mine and Jennifer’s! There's something just plain sweet about it.

Can you share one of your favorite food memories (maybe featuring your Mom)?

While the food memories I have with my Mom are endless, the moments that stick out to me are shelling fava beans, shucking corn, making pierogies, etc... the kinds of meals that are a bit more time consuming/detail-oriented where we could laugh together while we prepared our food.

Maybe you could share a story about early days at Narrative Food and watching your mom start the business?

Narrative Food was a HUGE part of my life growing up. What made it so special was all the farmers and makers that my mom had relationships with – getting to go visit the honey maker in Malibu after school or pet the baby goats at the farmers market or eating a fabulous meal at a farm in Santa Barbara. …And of course, being able to eat such incredible food growing up is a blessing that has made my relationship to good food really strong to this day. I am forever grateful for this!

Do you have any personal art that you'd like to share with our audience?

You can find all my paintings on my art instagram: @lilypietteart