Newton Paisley x Williams Sonoma

It has been my great privilege to work with Williams Sonoma, truly one of the best-loved brands in the USA. Just thinking about them makes my mouth water. I grew up with their chocolate peppermint bark as the great treat of all treats.

My goal for this collaboration with Williams Sonoma was to depict the complex web of life surrounding the crop that gives us chocolate, Theobroma cacao. No species exists in isolation and the “food of the gods” is grown best in natural agroforestry systems, where diverse trees provide shade and fallen leaves create microhabitats, enabling a great multitude of species to thrive. 

The design celebrates the Cocoa & Forests Initiative which is all about this approach: agroforestry, environmental stewardship and the prevention of deforestation. Wiliiams Sonoma chocolate is affiliated with this wonderful work.

I spent so long researching and thinking about chocolate for this design. It was heaven! Especially when Williams Sonoma sent me some of the products to put me in the right mood for creation. To learn more about the species in the design check out this companion blog post.

I love to think of my illustrations of wild species existing beyond the confines of frames on walls, or the pages in books. I like them to be touched and felt and thought about. As a passionate lover of chocolate (and Williams Sonoma chocolate especially), I am delighted to be inviting people to wild and mindful chocolate feasting!