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Idea
IDEAS come from a memorable sight, story, memory, emotional response to a situation, or group of symbols with attached meaning. My own ideas are largely inspired by my daily interactions at home and with the nature around me. Even the mundane, when viewed with curiosity, offers opportunity for wonder, emotion, and more detailed exploration. Beauty is everywhere I look. The ubiquitous cruelty and violence in nature can be beautiful, or at least, it reminds me of how precious, fragile, and miraculous life is. The drab or the maligned can become interesting and wonderous when looked at under a magnifying glass, or learned about through observation and reading. Some creatures display incredible beauty and symmetry that we just can't see from a distance or with the naked eye. Some are too shy, aggressive, or dangerous to get close enough to appreciate the intricacies of their feathers, fur, scales, and bodies or the strangeness of their behaviors. We can sometimes rely on the movement or mannerisms of an animal to convey its personality and habits. Not being able to get too close allows the imagination to play an active part in creating a more complete, if not always accurate, idea about a creature. And finally, when it comes to inspiration for ideas, the best thing for me has been to allow a little bit of self consciousness to show through, and never to take myself, or my place in the natural world, too seriously.
I capture ideas in a series of SKETCHES whenever a pen (or stylus, chalk, pencil or marker) and spare minutes allow. In bed with coffee, before the morning rush. In the parking lot, on a receipt or napkin. In the kitchen while I'm making dinner. On The back of an envelope or scrap paper, with drips of olive oil or marinara. These initial sparks, translated into hasty sketches, are refined, reimagined, and refined again, until they make their way into my sketchbook and TAKE ON A LIFE OF THEIR OWN. If the design is for a client, friend, or family member, the final idea reflects the subject matter, style, mood, aesthetic, and intended application of the client.
ART
ART: subject matter, motif, mood, style
When the idea, the SUBJECT MATTER, has become fully formed and refined on paper, I make the finished artwork in the form of a MOTIF. A motif is a finished single, dominant or repeating feature for my design. In a design with multiple motifs, all should be harmonious and in keeping with the theme, aesthetics, and feel of the finished design. Sometimes, a motif is a drawing on paper, a watercolor painting, or a drawing with a stylus and tablet. Often, the most simple drawings or geometric representations make the most striking motifs for pattern design. For softer patterns and designs, watercolor paintings give a more dreamlike, nuanced quality to the motifs. Arrangements of simplified figures, leaves and flowers in bright colors with minimal shading and blending lend a naieve style and a folkloric quality to the artwork. Where streamlined symmetry is important for a modern or contemporary design, I will often use a stylus and drawing tablet and computer to create perfectly symmetrical, smooth motifs. MOOD can be conveyed through the use of color, arrangement, spacing, and flow of motifs (busy, calm, fluid, energetic, joyful, quiet, moody). STYLE is often conveyed though the use of color (palette), line or shape quality, and pattern. Style is often imitative of historical styles or trends in design. Notable artists have an easily recognizable style, defined by patterns in their work that are unique and become the hallmarks of the artist. Sometimes, the client's desired style defines parameters for the design, and sometimes the motif itself dictates the style of the finished piece.
Design
Design: pattern, colorways, flow, movement, repeat, scale
DESIGN: After the artwork has been completed in the form of finished motifs, I transfer the artwork to the computer for digital translation and arrangement. If my drawings or paintings are detailed and colorful works of finished art, I use a high resolution scanner to capture all of the details and texture. If my drawings or motifs are simple, I sometimes take a quick picture, draw them on my tablet, or scan them into my computer, and use software to translate them into vector graphics, which are infinitely scalable and can be modified and reproduced in any size without losing quality. For both simple and complicated motifs that have been transferred to my computer, I can easily change the colors, the background, and layer and arrange the motifs to create a PATTERN or DESIGN. I can apply different color palettes to the same design to make a variety of versatile COLORWAYS. The way the motifs are arranged in a design creates FLOW, or a sense of linear or meandering direction for your eyes to follow. The colors and directions of the motifs can create an illusion of MOVEMENT or instill a sense of calm and serenity or order. The amount of movement and flow, combined with the colors and the subject matter can give the pattern its energy. After I have developed a pleasing pattern from the art motifs, I must make sure that the pattern can REPEAT seamlessly and infinitely. Finally, working from my computer with high resolution artwork or vector graphics allows me to adjust the SCALE of the artwork to best suit the intended purpose of the design. For example, the scale of a pattern on a garment will often be smaller than the scale of a pattern or motifs on draperies or furniture.
Application
Application: textiles, home decor, upholstery, design placement, details
APPLICATION: Once I have transformed an idea into artwork, and the artwork into a design, I am ready to have the design applied to TEXTILES, home decor, accessories, upholstery, clothing, wallpaper, you name it! I will submit my high quality digital file of the repeating pattern to the appropriate fabricator or manufacturer for printing or weaving.
Sometimes, I order finished pieces directly from the fabricator. For example, I recently designed some beautiful silk scarves and yoga mats for complete finishing by the fabricator. Often, however, I prefer to order fabrics to be printed and sent to me for sewing or upholstering. That gives me the ultimate control over the DESIGN PLACEMENT and DETAILS of my finished pieces. There is nothing like marveling at a finished piece of furniture, reupholstered with my own designs and thoughtfully detailed!