Last week I entered my first Spoonflower challenge. But Whilst I was doing that I generated a whole new collection. It was such a great creativity boost. I’m really pleased with the results. I’ve put the whole collection on my other website.
It’s had a little bit of attention on Spoonflower. The competition is really high though. Fingers crossed!!
It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post here. I’ve been so busy setting up my business in surface pattern design. There have been some delightful goings on in the children’s picture book area though. This weekend is the first book launch for Grace’s Mystery Seed. I was fortunate enough to meet the author the other day and she is a bundle of enthusiasm, so the lunch should be a lot of fun. This Sunday 24th March 2019 – 2pm, Ford Street Publishing, 162 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford, Melbourne
I’ve only made one new pattern this week but it was a good silly one. I’ve also been messing about with the colour editing in Adobe Illustrator which is definitely one of my most favourite things.
I had some delightful news today. The short lists for the Speech Pathology Australia Children’s Book Awards 2018 is out. I was delighted to see my name on the  5-8 year olds list for ‘My Super Special Granny’, just a above Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. Then I looked a little further down and there was my name again!  Horray!
A few hours later I looked through the 3 – 5 year olds list and there I am again! Wow, I need a lie down.
I was super excited to receive my first samples from Spoonflower this week.
I also had a lot of fun learning how to adjust colour pallets in Adobe Illustrator, and created some more delicate patterns.
Yesterday I made a major step forward towards seeing my patterns on actual products. It’s been just 6 weeks since I started from scratch with learning how to create patterns on Adobe Illustrator. So far I’ve produced around 26 patterns, including the ones I’ve just recoloured. My absolute favourite in this Gum Blossom print on the sports shorts. Gradually I am seeing a style and your pallet emerging. Yesterday though I discovered Art of Where. A company that does DropShipping. A word I had never come across. Basically they will print my patterns onto products and I can display them in my Etsy shop. So costumers can order them before they are actually made. I’m planning on getting some samples to check the quality, of course.
Now back to making patterns!
It’s been two years since I wrote a blog entry! That’s shocking, but I think it’s taken me that long to start getting to grips with what I really love doing creatively. It’s difficult for me to write a blog. It seems too self indulgent and like blowing my own trumpet. But if that what needs to be done to be part of a creative community and promote my work then I’m going to get into it. And I’ve got work I want to shout about now. I have discover surface pattern design and I love it!
Here’s just a small selection. I’ve opened a Redbubble shop and discovered Spoonflower and Weave Up. It’s certainly related to my children’s book illustration work and all the years of drawing has really helped, but this is what gets me out of bed at the moment.
It started with doing an amazing online course with Bonnie Christine on Creative Live. It was set at exactly the right pace and I learnt a massive amount about using Adobe Illustrator to create surface patterns. And now I can’t stop!
Yesterday I had the absolute joy of experimenting and getting to grips with photoshop. I was motivated to reproduce a pop-up piece I did for The 52 Week Illustration Challenge last year. It came together surprisingly quickly.
I have been thoroughly enjoying teaching a group of very talented young people at Oak Hill Gallery. Last week we ventured into the community rose garden for some observational sketching. I was really impressed with the level of focus and commitment and I’m really looking forward to seeing more.
