About Kautzi

Kautzi is the creative outlet of Patrizia, a graphic designer based in St. Ann’s, Cape Breton. Born and raised in Germany, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication from the University of Applied Sciences in Aachen, in 2005. For more than 10 years, Patrizia has been working as a self-employed graphic designer. In 2019, she emigrated to Canada with her husband Linus. She brought her graphic design business along and continues to work for clients near and far.

In her spare time, Patrizia loves to create using her hands. Whether it is knitting, painting, or doing paper-cuts.  

Over the years, her work has grown into a variety of illustrations based on handmade paper-cuts. Patrizia enjoys cutting and taping together simple shapes out of old cardboard boxes, which she then scans and edits digitally. This process not only creates the illustrations’ characteristic rough and textured look, but also helps her to work more intuitively and playfully. 

Kautzi illustrations are inspired by Patrizia’s love for colours and nature, and her new home in Cape Breton.

Does Kautzi mean anything?

Yes, it does! In the German-speaking world, there is a distinction between Eule = owl and Kauz = owl. The distinction is purely linguistic and not based on a zoological definition. There is also the expression komischer Kauz, meaning someone is a bit of a strange bird. You’d use the adjective kauzig to describe a slightly odd, peculiar or eccentric personality.

Patrizia’s first designs were funny little owlish creatures, hence the name Kautzi.