Pattern Design Heaven - as promised...

In truth, I expect there is a little bit of pattern design heaven everywhere. Even in the desert the light changes and the sands shift bringing new inspiration daily. But after two solid weeks of concentrated work refining my proofs ready to be printed, I was somewhat 'patterned out'. To have a complete change of environment was just what was needed.

First Rouen which, though I've only visited twice for overnight stops, is fast becoming one of my favourite places. A city of fretwork cathedrals, Joan of Arc, cobbled streets, and medieval buildings.

There is an abundance of wrought ironwork in France, from the elegantly simple to the very ornate (see a selection here). I confess to a bit of a thing for wrought iron. I think it stems from Sundays spent looking at the 'angels and leaves' altar rail in the Methodist Church of my childhood. Also maybe the toddler hours spent tracing the bannisters at home (followed by more, older, hours spent dusting them).

Although the patterns I create are not all 'traditional' in style, I do love looking at old patterns. One of my favourite resources is the book 'Pattern Design' by Lewis F. Day which I treasure for its old diagrams and inspiration, although rather less for its archaic (1880's) language.

Pattern design heaven really kicked in when we reached our home for the week. Billie & Ben, the owners of La Grande Maison, allowed me to photograph the old original wallpapers they found when they bought the house, some of which they have managed to restore and keep.

They also showed us the, as yet undecorated, old ballroom, a quite atmospheric and lovely room. If you look carefully behind the mirror you can still make out the words written by German soldiers stationed there during WW2.....

Nearby, Chateau Villandry provided another opportunity to gourmandise on period patterns:

This holiday was also heaven for the company we kept. Twice a week Billie & Ben cook meals served in the old wine press room - you don't have to go if you don't want to and if, like me, you can't eat what they are serving that night, they are very happy for you to take your own plate round. We met tree surgeons, industrial chemists, stone carvers, (all English), a teacher and an illustrator of children's books (both French). And we met Billie & Ben, actually both professional musicians.  Best of all, for me, was that I happened to have taken some of my printed designs with me. I showed them to a sixteen year old guest studying GCSE Textiles and told her about the Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design course. And then other people showed interest in seeing them. The feedback was amazing.....I am an artist!


So, if you're feeling jaded and inspiration-less, leave the house behind and travel. Even if, for you, it can only be a walk around the block - go with eyes & mind open to what's hiding there. I promise you will either see something new or see the old in a new way.

Love

Catherine

My silk proofing is here!! Sneak preview!

Having clicked 'send' for the file below to go the my chosen silk printers.......

......I got back from France to a note from the Post Office telling me to pick up a parcel. Da da daaaaaah!

Last year was the year that got away from me. I'd intended to have products to sell for the Autumn lead up to Christmas and didn't make it due to those pesky personal circumstances. I started the New Year with renewed good intentions, making use of the 'Do What You Love' New Year's Revolution kit to focus my thinking. Not a new way of thinking for me as I've worked on & developed projects in various fields over the years, but it's always useful to get a timely nudge and reminder via a well loved blog.

So, back in January I decided I wanted to

• be more balanced & focussed, less stressy & impatient; 
• become more confident in my artwork and in my ability eventually to make some income from it;
• to have created a product with which to test my quality and appeal 

The kit suggested we write down things we believed were true about ourselves but which were holding us back from our goals and then, in the adjacent column, write the things we believed could become true for us in 2014 (ie the opposite of the first column). Mine looked something like this: 

Holding me back		Could become true in 2014
I can’t settle on what my style is / should be / could be		Through the ‘Make it in Design course’, I will find my style
I can’t decide what patterns etc suit what products best		Through the course and through practice / prototypes, I will learn what patterns suit which products
I find it difficult to believe in my abilities as an artist		Through the course and through practice, my abilities and therefore my confidence will grow
I find it difficult to believe the world has space for / needs / desires my art / product		Thorough market research will allow me to discover my niche market
My lack of self-belief and my proneness to a guilty sense that I am not financially justified in attempting this path, diffuses my focus.  This is partly rooted in the sense that, as a self-taught artist, people won’t take me seriously.		By committing to the course I will overcome that sense that people won’t take me seriously. I will give myself the necessary breathing space and time to develop, experiment, learn and ultimately discover whether or not I can make it work.
Since I believe I am only on this earth this one time, I HAVE to commit to trying this thoroughly or I will end up on my death bed, still asking ‘What if?’ and ‘If only I had…..’.   Melodramatic but, oh so true!

How am I doing now, eight months in?

• Definitely getting more of a sense of my style and of what suits what product (more on this in a future post); 
• I am much further down the road of self belief and belief in my artistic abilities (again further blog posts planned, identifying critical milestones on that road). This has lead to a more relaxed attitude to a time scale for achieving sales of my work (although I'm obviously gearing up for the autumn test marketing phase);
• I am writing business plans and doing market research for the scarves I plan. Working consistently with that distinct single product in mind has offered a very useful exercise in developing my style without getting bogged down in achieving a properly repeating pattern (a skill we cover in more detail in the next module);
• Notwithstanding any scarf business I develop I am open minded about where my patterns will take me next. The next module covers designing for wallpaper, for example. 
• I'm definitely more balanced and focused, less stressy & impatient. Frankly, giving myself permission to go for it has taken a lot of pressure off and I've always been better when I have a clear goal in mind.

Finally, as I said at the beginning, my proofs are back. Time to wake my 21 year old son, have a 'discussion' about 'what time do you call this, to wake me up, Mum, you've deprived me of my last half an hour of sleep!' (luckily, our spats are always over quickly), so that he could take on a new role as trainee fashion photographer in the back garden. Lighting conditions were not perfect as the sun had started to shine piercingly around the corner of the house next door - but still, what do you think? (Oh and many thanks to the unknown surface pattern designer who designed the pattern for my frock - which I love & if any one knows who they are, I'd love to credit them?)

And after that little fun episode I'm off to analyse them in more detail before making final decisions about which ones to use initially. I know some adjustments are already needed - for example where some colours aren't coming through strongly enough compared to others; where perhaps I'm not sure I've got the scale right; where maybe a particular motif may not be right for a scarf after all. Difficult difficult decisions that will take some time. I'll be reaching out to my local friends to collate their opinions too. I'm already in a quandary over one square which my husband and I are convinced is not right colour-wise but which my mum and dad think is one that works very well - a difference in generational taste perhaps, and something to think about when marketing? And I'm going to make a note of the hex numbers of various colours so that next time I want something printed I'll have more of an idea of how they'll work out. 

Proofing hasn't been a cheap exercise (paid for through some long held back birthday money - thanks to my in-laws) but I do think it's been a vital part of my learning & development curve, and a very vital part of ensuring the quality of my final product. I love this work and this process so much that I am become hugely particular about all the details. There is no way I'm putting these scarves up for sale until I am convinced they are completely ready...... completely perfect.

All my love

Catherine


PS In my next post I'll tell you all about my holiday which - quite by accident, we managed to book in pattern designer heaven.

Developments & friends

I blog when I feel I've got something to say or when my head needs clearing. I haven't felt that need for a while and then - well, it got so that I almost didn't dare. My last post seemed to touch such a chord in people I became like a successful first time novelist who just knows she's going to fail with her second book.

And finally, all of a sudden today, writing this became the one thing I needed to do.

Partly deliberately (trying to concentrate on developing style & other things, also a patch of less than brilliant health) I've kept off the FB page of the Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design course. I have however found it a real boon to keep in touch with Charlotte Brown of LottiBDesigns once a week-ish by email. I contacted her originally via her website after I saw her Spoonflower page as I couldn't believe that she even needed to be on the course. I've since been privileged to see some of her new work - she's very good and intends to do all four modules of the course. I think she'll be a real success. In the meantime she's also developed a RedBubble shop.

For those not in the know, Spoonflower is an American company who will digitally print your designs on fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap and decals. They run a weekly design competition too which is very popular.

I have a Spoonflower shop too. Impressed with my first attempts at designing I was desperate to have something printed up. For me, fabric is always the inspiration so to discover a service like Spoonflower was amazing.

I discovered the hard way that this side of the Atlantic we get charged customs duties on what we buy from there.  My sister commissioned me to make Christmas presents for her to give people. I costed it all out and it was all fine with her. Received the fabric, made the items, sent them off (didn't have the facilities to photograph them). And then received the customs bill. Coming as it did  at a time when our personal circumstances changed, it was a real blow.

But when you open that first package - oh - it's like having that new baby in front of you! You can't stop looking at them, open mouthed with amazement: 'I did that!!!!!'.

I'm hoping to have another moment like that soon. I'm developing my style by designing what I hope will be a collection of silk scarves. I've been researching UK based digital printers for a while now, searching the web, sharing what I find on the FB page and picking up tips from my colleagues on there, getting samples, doing costings, upgrading my blog.  A little nervous but also very very excited! I haven't shared my designs on the FB page yet but am running them past one particular colleague from there, Whitney-anne Baker. Whitney-anne works in a variety of media: photographic, digital and paint. The link is to her blog  - I particularly recommend the post of 12 January 2013 for all my creative friends. She also has an Etsy shop. This is one of my favourite pieces of her work - it reminds me of those days when strong unexpected sunlight pierces heavy leaden skies and gives spirits a sudden lift.

Anyway - nice talking to you - back to work now!

Love

Catherine

Parenthood & Progress

(You'll notice a new style to my blog. I'll talk about that - & why - another time.)

I thought I wouldn't be posting again until just before Module Two of 'The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design' course started in July. That has now been postponed until October as tutor Rachael Taylor-Davies is due to give birth to her first child in August. Having been there & done that bit of my life - believe me, Rachael, you will need the time!

Parenthood affects us in many many ways. I defy any first time parent to predict how with any accuracy. No matter that others describe and try to tell us in advance - the sheer difference between before and after is immense.

For the first few months your conversation is likely to contain little else (sometimes to the point of tedium for others - a bit like discovering patterning in middle age, really, now I come to think about it...  :-) )

Almost every waking thought has, perforce, to consider your child's needs & welfare in relation to your plans. BTB (before the birth) you think - "oh, well, yes, of course!", whereas the reality can be difficult to adjust to mentally, physically & emotionally. Everything takes so much time - nappies, feeding, washing their clothes, nappies, feeding, washing their clothes, nappies, feedin.......

I remember even with my second child, saying to my sister (whose children are a few years older than mine), - "I just want to know when I get my life back?" She laughed - "that doesn't happen for years, Cath!"

But would I be without them? Unequivocally no! With them, you experience such heights of emotion & love that I genuinely believe you cannot gain from other sources (not to say you can't experience great highs from other things - but the nature of it is different).

My boys are stunning in the sense that they genuinely sometimes stun me. When bathing my then two year old youngest, chanting some kind of counting rhyme, as you do, I idly asked "if you had three ducks and I took two of them away, how many would you have?" And he answered correctly. So I asked another and another. And he kept getting it right. So I called my husband. And our boy answered correctly for him too. Truly a breath taking moment.

And those moments when you can't keep a straight face for them. On holiday in the tent, trying to be firm about going to bed, he looked up at me and answered, stern faced, hand on hips, "Mummy, I am ver ver coss wid yooo!"

This same child is now 16 and I have to look up to him (I'm 5'2", he's 6'). It's very odd when that happens with them. My eldest (6'1") looked down, reached out & hugged me, laughing "it's really funny having such a little Mummy!"

Thanks, love! But truly, I mean it, thanks - because you are my wonderful child and I will always love you.

Our capacity to fulfil our dreams and whatever it is that we feel we were put on this earth to do (other than procreate and perpetuate the species) is affected by our children's existence when they are young (hence my complaint to my sister). After my last post some people thought I was being hard on myself; not at all - I just want to be the best that I can be, and as I replied - "that doesn't come without a little pushing". But also I think, without a little selfishness and determination in the way you allocate your time. And I personally don't think I would have done this well when my boys were younger. I would have felt constantly conflicted between their needs and the needs of my art. So I put them first then.

And now? Last week was half term and I am on a term time only contract. My son, being 16. didn't need my constant input (would have outright rejected it in no uncertain terms) and got on with his own projects. We met up from time to time, comparing notes, making each other a drink here and there. Twice in the week he made the dinner with very little direction from me. Occasionally he burst in to update me on something exciting and yes, I had to tear my concentration away from what I was doing. Once, when I'd come to a natural pause with my work, I went to his room, curled up on his bed and we chatted for an hour or so about his stuff. It was great!

And in between all that, with greater time available, I made steady progress:

Parenthood gets better and better. And less intensive.

Two more small things I have to add on the subject of parenthood and art:

• although no-one encouraged me in art at school as such, my Dad always did. He seemed to see an artistic ability in me that he didn't necessarily see in my three sisters. On holidays he would invite me and not the others, to go sketching with him. I owe him & thank him for that and much subsequent encouragement.
• when my eldest was six months old, I wept on my health visitor that I was "so lonely and so boooooored".  She sent me to the doctor who said I was 'in a rut' and that I should find a little time for myself. So I began painting every Wednesday evening. I won't claim that has continued unabated ever since: life and its rhythms change too frequently for that. At times my art has been only that thing you do on holiday. 

But it was the beginning. And while I am grateful I now have the time to develop myself without the conflict and pressures of sleepless nights and teething babies or sick babies who can't tell you what's wrong and all that goes with that, there is at least one thing I am envious of with my younger ABSPD colleagues.

You have discovered your passion early. The rest of your life, in which you can develop it, is way longer than the rest of mine.

Make the most of it - make some time for yourself every day.

Much love

Catherine

Wrestling with my headless chicken!

Well, long time no blog because the very real work of finding my style has to take priority.

This blog was not started entirely as a means of self promotion (far from it) but because my previous blog, (supporting a sponsored swim for a small charity I then chaired), became a therapeutic way of reflecting on my progress. And I enjoyed it. And other people seemed to enjoy reading it.

But while others on the course happily commented on heads & eyes full of patterns (as mine had been for two years), all of a sudden my head was full of the urge to blog about how difficult I was finding it.

None of the following is a reflection of the course itself (which is excellent), it is just how I personally responded to it. Trying to keep up with blogging as well as the course meant I did neither well. I paid lip service to some of the exercises, and posted designs and drawings I wasn't at all convinced about eg:

Hideous, isn't it!

Something had to give!

Pre-course explaining to my Mum, I said: 'You work on it and work on it and it doesn't work & it doesn't work and then all of a sudden there comes a moment when the design.....becomes.....itself!' It is a slightly mystical thing on occasion and my work requires a certain period of gestation and reflection. The demands of the course (with the demands of normal life too) made this requirement nigh on impossible to achieve.

The demands of the course? To read something online everyday, to create every day with new exercises most days, to browse for inspiration online, to scan in your work and upload it (can take ages), to take photos, upload them (really takes ages with my equipment!), to file all your hand-created work to protect it (& I created a lot).

And (if you are dutiful & caring and supportive of others) to comment & give thoughtful feedback on other people's work. There are 237 members of the private Facebook group and at one point I realised I was trying to keep up with 37 of them! Can't be done!

Also if you upload something yourself, the urge to keep looking to see whether anyone else has commented on it is quite strong. Many of us fell behind and went through periods of feeling somewhat fraught - but we picked each other up and got through. If you are thinking about doing the course I would say 'yes, definitely do it, but go in with open eyes - and manage yourself! Log on once a day only!'

This particular module has no requirement that you have Photoshop &/or Illustrator, but they do provide 'Bonus Technical Workshops' covering basic parts of these, for those who are interested. I've been using Photoshop Elements v2 (ancient) but just before the course I upgraded to the Creative Cloud version (blithely thinking 'how different can it be?' - I soon found out!), as well as Illustrator CC, as I am aware that a particular design might be used on different surfaces and at different scales. I cannot (yet?) find a way of changing the scale of a Photoshop design without it damaging the digital quality of the image.

Cue more headless chickening about:  I like the subtlety of what I produce in Photoshop and cannot seem to replicate it (yet?) in Illustrator. On the other hand, there are things I used to be able to do with Photoshop Elements that I can't seem to do in the upgrade (yet?).

In Illustrator I like the relatively straightforward way I can now do a box repeat and I like the security of the digital quality. But I don't always like what it does to my art work when I image trace it. For example, I like the pattern I made below (I'd even say it might fit whatever my style turns out to be) but when I zoom in I'm not so keen on the artwork - which I liked in its original state. I'd love to know what you think of it.

'Stark trees'

 So many learning curves to travel at once - what of the purer pleasures of the course?

• Drawing & painting much much more
• Having a set of structured exercises through which to develop my style
• Learning the principles of putting pattern collections together (although the stripe needs work):

'Deco windows'

• Creating some work I am very happy with (although - because it's in Photoshop I still worry about it's digital integrity):

  

  'Lungwort ribbon weave'

• Discovering how to add one of my designs to a scarf 'mock-up' - although I don't yet know how to create such a mock up in the first place. Looking again I like both of these....

  

  'Abstract lines'

  

  'Blue Roses'
  Originally a design for my sister's birthday.

• Receiving positive & constructive comments both on current & past work. I've 'met' some wonderful and very supportive people (some of whom I can tell already are going to go far)
• People appreciating my sense of humour, as (confessing to dreading doing 'characters'), I uploaded the following scary page!

Hmmm - some way to go with this exercise, I feel!
Though it's not something I'm 'drawn' to anyway.

• Discovering new artists & designers - like Charlie O'Sullivan and Matthew Willamson who do very different but interesting work.

The positive & the negative: it's all is part & parcel of doing what I love (patterning) and an aspect of what I love about it is the intellectual challenges it presents. If I am not challenged to think & create - who am I?

I now have a few weeks grace before the start of module two so I'm afraid you won't be hearing from me for some time.................. :-)


Love

Catherine

Just wanted to share.......

We had a day out last Saturday. Youngest son had gone to stay with eldest at Uni - perfect excuse!

Finally made it to Gallery Pangolin in Chalford near Stroud, a gallery based on the premises of a metal foundry specialising in casting metalwork for artists (including such 'luminaries' as Damien Hirst for his work 'Verity' - sited at Ilfracombe).

Detail of plait - Verity by Damian Hirst

Detail of Hand - Verity by Damian Hirst

The most impressive discovery I made there was Terence Coventry - someone I was unaware of - but truly love his angular take on things. It reminded me of my angular rose sketches:

My take on the roses bought for my birthday.....

The real thing

After that we made our way through little lanes to Cirencester - a bustling Cotswold market town - with lots of little shops full of pattern inspiration!

Patterns I like - although I'm a little old for bright yellow footwear....maybe! :-)

Patterns I feel somewhat neutral about - they're okay and in the right circumstances I'd buy

Patterns I dislike - - the cats are cute but I don't buy cute!

As well as a wander round Brewery Arts, there was also a little 'pop-up' studio gallery next door. Through the doorway I spotted a pattern.......had to venture inside. Admiring the work it became obvious that the two - well, do we call them women, girls, ladies - people? Obviously people, but forgive me I took to them straight away which means they feel like friends and colleagues.

It's the second time that, when chatting to artists curating their own work, there has come a curious sideways glance and the question: 'Are you an artist, too?'

Cue a childish little skip of pleasure and excitement from me (my inner child is still there, 49 or not!). Perhaps I sound like I know what I'm talking about - but I think it's the joy and enthusiasm that pours out when I talk about these things. Anyway, we chatted courses and tastes and Illustrator versus Photoshop.

Meeting them made my day, so I'd like to introduce them to you now: Jan Jay & Shelly Perkins.

Enjoy,

Catherine

Defining moments

As I said  in a previous post, I'm partly doing this course because it promises to help me pin down my style. I get so bowled over with the wonders of possibility that I want to sample everything. I am some half-starved wretch, making up for years of not properly feeding myself artistically.

Last week's exercises were about loosening us up and trying different approaches. Seeing what felt good, what felt contrived. What produced a pleasing result, what didn't. For example, mark-making:

I can't believe I'm 49 and have never systematically explored my brushes like this before - it was so empowering (and sooooo chilling!).

I think I have identified three enjoyable lines of enquiry so far:

• doodles in pen eg:

• free, flowing paintwork

• and digitally transformed photographs like the one I showed you in an earlier post

Guess what! I think I was doing all these before!

But rather than frustration building up, I find it reassuring that my 'self-taught' approach turns out to have been valid.

Another exercise we've 'done' (and by that I mean I've started!) is build up a collection of images of patterns we love and attempt to define what it is about them that works for us.

So far I find I tend towards a softer colour palette based on the natural world (although, my favourite colour is a zingy turquoise - work that one out!). I favour designs that have an overall fluidity and sense of movement to them. I frequently prefer abstract. I like subtlety (whether colour or detail).

I've started a Pinterest board to hold it all and aim to start another called 'Patterns I don't like', to view the contrast. Still working on it - not ready to share it yet.

Rather than pinning me down this course continues to widen me out. And I love it. I just wish there were more hours in the day.


Make sure your day is as good as mine,

Catherine