 |
| Soothing Pastel Plaid Wallpaper Available in my Spoonflower Shop and for licensing. |
I was walking with an artist friend along the beach one day and she asked me what inspires my creative energy. I looked around and said "I'm so inspired by nature." And then, she asked me what that looks for me? It's such a common thing for artists to say; "I'm inspired by nature". Most of us are, artist or not. It got me wondering how to explain what I mean and my process. Here's an example:
I had very vivid dreams in color and pattern as a child, still do to this day. Here's an article on dreaming in color; I believe it's up to 80% of people now dreaming in color. Perhaps it's because on every walk I studied every plant I came across and sketched and painted the leaves, flowers, buds, even roots and tubers into my sketchbook. I'd help my father dress the windows on Madison Ave and 5th Ave in New York City. The bolts fabrics for draping and elements to decorate where facsinating! My next door neighbor was a draper and I'd sit on her lap as she taught me to baste stitch drapery hems, find pattern repeats and make pinched pleats by hand. The fabrics were divine. I was surrounded by patterns, gorgeous fabrics and pychedelic colors from the 60's and 70's. You can imagine how after decades of sketching and painting and playing with fabrics, my brain is very familiar with patterns, forms and color. It's no surprise then, when I close my eyes to sleep, I see shapes and patterns in color in my mind. I see still life compositions and landscapes. Some are ok, while others are fantastic! When they're really good, I wake up, grab my ipad make sketches and color notations before I forget them. And that is how my brain thinks all the time. I've heard singer-song writers do this kind of thing with their craft as well.
Today I was asked to make a simple "loose" criss-cross pattern for a nursery. The client wanted wallpaper and bedding fabric for a nursery. Something soft and light - whatever I chose. So, I thought about it as I made my coffee. I went outside to walk in my gardens for inspiration. These flowers, pictured above, popped out at me almost saying; "pick me!" I instantly saw the colors in the soft stripes, I saw the whole nursery setup in my mind - the wallpaper, the bedding and toy baskets with this fabric as liners. So, I snapped the photos, uploaded them and got to work. I'm now in the process of turning this one pattern into a collection using these three flowers again for "inspiration" because I think in collections for product industries.
Most brands look for cohesive intuitive collections they can use across a family of products. For this next collection, I will spend time sketching and painting and turning my motifs into patterns and coordinates. I love using different mediums and for these flowers, I will do them in watercolor, then probably pastel. I just love both of those mediums. If you're interested in which watercolors I use click here, and pastels here. Also, here is the link to all of my favorite supplies here. The stripe pictured above with the rest of the collection will be license-ready editable files for multiple industries. And with the floral motifs, I will make art prints, note cards and originals available on my website. I truly love what I do. As always, I appreciate you, and thanks for reading. (affiliate links for supplies)
