Motivated, inspired, excited... etc.

Wrapping Paper inspired by Fig drawings

It is difficult for me to some up in a few lines all that has been happening to me over the last 5 weeks. I have been working hard but the results are already showing and I feel more confident and inspired in my work. I am always excited to tackle a new brief and look forward to new projects with eager anticipation. I have returned lovingly to my sketchbooks abandoned over the years and replaced with computer aided technology. I am experimenting with anything and everything to try and find my "signature style" which I hope that in the future will help me be successful. I have also learnt so much about collecting inspiration, drawing and sketching, colour and colour palettes, and different scources of pattern design. I could go on, there does'nt seem to be enough words to say how much I have enjoyed and, even more important, how much I have gained from taking part in Module 1 of the e-course "The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design".

The course is designed and run by two extremely talented ladies Beth Nicholls and Rachael Taylor. Here again it is hard to describe in a few lines the high quality and quantity of information shared with the students and the unique and exciting way that it has been presented. Obviously an innovative course and probably the only one of its kind, I would'nt have missed it for the world. Luckily for me I have another 2 modules to complete so I will be sharing more of my opinions about the course and posting some more of my work in the near future.

Summer Delights - coordinate pattern designs

P.S Some of you may have noticed that I have included captions to my photographs and even incorporated them in with the text. A first for me, there is hope yet that I will become a technical whizz-kid... fine chance!

The one that got away.

 

I have been designing some coordinate patterns, designs which go together to form a collection or a family of patterns. They can also be called complementary designs because they are just that. I designed this Flowery Summer repeat pattern and I really like it on a white background, it is so fresh, bright and clean and puts me in a good mood. However, when deciding on which coordinate designs and colours to chose for my collection it just did'nt fit in anywhere, so it got left out. It can enjoy a small moment of fame on my little blog. See the chosen colourways here on Flickr.

Crepe paper streamer scarf

Over the weekend I had the chance to design this lovely "high end scarf" as part of the e-course I am doing, The Art and Business of Surface pattern Design. The theme was Celebration and I managed to do a moodboard to get me in the right frame of mind for designing. I fell in love with some photographs of some lovely crepe paper streamers with frayed edges... my mind made up I got down to designing. Although I worked all weekend I thoroughly enjoyed myself. You can see a bigger version of the scarf on Flickr with a description of my design decisions. Hope you like it?

This is the 5th and final week of my e-course and it has been a super experience for me, I have learnt so much and feel inspired and motivated to continue working hard on my surface pattern designs. I think my poor blog has suffered a bit as all my spare time has been taken up designing. However, I hope to find more time to work on my blog (and come to think about it, Spoonflower!) again soon :D

More Hearts

I am very busy doing the wonderful "The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design" e-course. We have moved on through sketching, colour and pattern. I am loving every minute of it and learning so much. 
One of our first exercises was to search for a shape around us ( I chose hearts ), now, four weeks into the course and tens of lessons afterwards, I am still seeing them everywhere!

World Lupus Day 2012

Today, May 10th is World Lupus Day. Lupus, or SLE is a chronic condition where the immune system attacks the body and can cause a multitude of complaints. It can be very severe and in some cases life threatening. Being a chronic illness there is no cure, however, with drugs a patient can control the disease and in many cases lead a normal life.
So today is World Lupus "awareness" Day, please take five minutes to look at a couple of these internet sites and become familiar with the disease.

www.worldlupusday.org
www.lupusuk.org.uk 
www.lupus.it
www.lupus-europe.org 

This morning whilst out and about looking for colour inspiration I came across these images of Butterflies. A butterfly is widely recognised as the symbol associated with Lupus, as some patients have a characteristic rash on the face which can sometimes resemble a butterfly. So look closely at my images and give a thought to the many who suffer through Lupus. 

Thanks.

Spoonflower "Retro Kitchen"

I have entered the latest Spoonflower competition which held the theme of Retro Kitchen. I own an Italian recipe book dated 1960 which apart from being full of lovely dishes to cook, it also contains some lovely illustrations. I have used the illustration style to create 8 of my own illustrations which in turn create my fabric design. The repeat is very simple but I think it reflects a late "fifties" style, very sparse and a bit faded. The background has a texture designed to create a linen feel to the finished printed fabric. See the seamless repeat, which by the way is called a half-brick repeat... (see I am learning something), HERE on Flickr.

Inspiring patterns around us

Over the last two days I have been out and about with my camera looking for inspirational patterns that can be found around us. I took over 140 shots and have selected only 26 to put on Flickr (I think I was quite well behaved considering). If you want to take a closer look at them here is the LINK. Now down to real work... it was so enjoyable just walking around and taking pictures of whatever took my eye.

Sewing lessons

As part of the Do what you love - Surface Pattern Course, we are being encouraged to experiment with different ways of drawing and sketching... even with a sewing machine! I have been experimenting and "trying" to draw with mine... poor thing. In fact I kept the same tension and was very careful not to exaggerate, I did'nt want to break anything.
The result was a very enjoyable couple of hours, two pictures and lots of ideas to try out some other time.