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Our trip to Southern Asia earlier this year (here, here, here and here) was rich in visual and cultural inspiration.
I’ve honestly felt a little overwhelmed by how deep and far I could go into this vibrant feast of creative stimulus and output – whether to start with painting or stitch or print. And all the while I’m spinning the other plates of my self-employment as an artist: delivery/teaching and all the admin that it takes to run a small business. It can be distracting and actually difficult to get time to be creative some weeks.
So I just began. One day unceremoniously. Just where I was. No fanfare or special time set aside. I just started. I took off simply by doing a little each day – whatever I had time for.
As I teach screen-printing and mixed media textiles twice a week at MAC, I kicked off this intention by focusing my preparation for these classes on my Asia photos – and I have a lot to choose from as I took nearly 7000! inc duplicates for a better shot – you know? So to make that task less anxiety inducing, I split those into files: Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I currently haven’t got to the end of the 2.243 photos taken in Malaysia!
So if I was demonstrating cutting a screen-print stencil I based it on a motif from of a beautiful textile in the National Textile Museum in Kuala Lumpur or if I was making an example of free-machine embroidery for my Mixed Media Textiles class I referenced a drawing I’d done from a beautiful silk kimono.
Sometimes that was a basic quick line drawing, other times I had paints out to use. On some evenings I have doodled in front of the TV on my ipad pro – not that I’m especially proficient but it’s a great way to easily draw and digitalise your handwork.
It’s true what they say about ‘a little and often’ – gradually my pile of Asia work is coming to life.
I have a ta-dah for you today – a tablecloth I hand-printed recently.
One reason I like to keep blogging is to record such things – when I looked back to see when I started my Fish project, I was surprised to see the date on the upload was May 2017. It takes a long time for some ideas to percolate and evolve and then actually get made.
You can find the beginning of my Fish sketchbook workings here and here although the actual inspiration came back in Summer 2016 whilst on holiday in France when I saw a lovely tablecloth in Fragonard.
I’m very lucky to have the best p/t job freelancing at MAC Birmingham the most brilliant arts center.
And sometimes I can use the space which I needed to for this big print job.
As you can see, the following day I wasn’t so fortunate and was squeezed onto the floor of my studio at home!
It took about 20 hours to print using around 10 colours so I won’t be going into production anytime soon but it’s important to art-play as it releases surprising creative avenues.
And it did – 6 fishy themed surface pattern designs got designed last week to go to market. Now wo’betide anyone who spills red wine on it!
A little winters pattern inspired by this book.
Hurrah! my new 2016 calendar is printed and ready.
I think I like it more than last years!
I was short of a title idea then my daughter came up with “Eat, Sleep, Pattern Repeat – a year of painted patterns” – she is a genius!
Each month has a themed floral watercolour painted pattern design…
and a date grid bordered by the same design – another credit to Lucy for that idea (it really is a family business here sometimes!)
It is professionally printed on 250gsm card stock – a nice weight of paper to keep its shape all year and matte so you can write on it without icky, sticky, skiddy pen marks.
They are the same price as last year – £12.00
If you fancy one I have put some in my Etsy shop.
If you live in the UK you could pay by bank transfer maybe – that way I get to recoup as much of the costs as possible without having to pay fee’s – please email me at hello@claireleggett.co.uk and I’ll send the details.
If you live abroad – then using Paypal and Etsy is the way to go!
Some things are worth waiting for and this is definitely one of the them – I am actually now able to hold The Pattern Base book in my excited little hands!
The Pattern Base book is by Kristi O’Meara and edited by Audrey Victoria Keiffer – cofounders of the Chicago-based design studio and online archive The Patternbase.
It is a curation of 378 pages, showcasing a collection of 681 designs from 150 contemporary textile, surface, fashion, and print designers from around the world.
Illustrative, abstract, geometric, floral, digital and constructed textile patterns are all represented here and all the work is by up and coming designers.
I submitted my surface pattern designs way back in 2012 when this was a kick-starter idea and I had no idea that I would be fortunate enough to get two double page spreads but there I am on pages 228 and 229 🙆
I had been working on a group of paintings at the time featuring vintage china and cutlery and had developed some elements into these two pattens.
These went onto be selected to represent in the Illustrative category – brilliant!
It’s not everyday you get into print so I’m having a solo studio party today! 😉🎉🍸
It’s Moseley Arts market again tomorrow – was the last one really only four weeks ago?
Time seems to have condensed itself recently, don’t know if the days just feel shorter because of it getting dark earlier or whether my expectations for what can be done in a day are too great!
I have been in my painting cave this week re-stocking these hand painted notebooks. They are a labour of love, I’m not gonna lie, but the emphasis is defiantly on love.
The painting of these really gets my creative juices flowing for other projects and I just love doing them. Plus I added a ‘belly wrap’ (get me) which just finishes them off nicely.
9-3pm Alcester Road, Mosley, tomorrow 🙂
Over the last few weeks I have been using my Italian holiday photo’s for pattern inspiration.
Studying holiday photo’s is a great way to re-live a holiday.
First you examine why certain places, colours, paintings or cultural details inspire you to take the photo in the first place and then soon after the design prompt can be found again.
I looked up at a lot of ceilings during my week in Florence. Italians used to recline on a dais on the floor and so the ceiling was the most decorative feature of a room. Luckily for us we have iPhone reverse direction mode and so can photograph the ceiling without getting a crick in the neck!
These ceilings were from the Medici Palace and as soon as I looked up, I could see a repeat pattern calling out for development.
As I played around with drawings and tracings, I began to see which elements to keep.
The colouring came from generally soaking in all the colours I’d seen around me – I have quite a strong colour memory and often remember the colours of a place more than the details of names and places – not usually a useful quirk to have!
There was a lot of faded distemper, crumbling concrete, exposed brick, terracotta rendered house walls teamed with turquoise shutters or a painted door; the wall paintings are faded frescoes from Far Angelico’s painted cells.
I called this collection Soffito as it literally means a ceiling in Italian and doesn’t everything sound nicer in Italian!
Nell Whatmore Free Spirit fabric
I am just back from a day at the annual Festival of Quilts at the NEC near me in Birmingham, UK.
I wanted all of these!
I took loads of photos and was wondering how I’d edit it down however it turns out all I had to choose from were the ones that aren’t blurred!
embroidered book cover
I love this show because it has such a wide range of talent, concept, taste, technical and wit all played out using cloth in a quilted manner.
Karin Briden A pair of pants
This amazing quilt was called Every Text He Ever Sent Me by Lara Hailey and looks to me to have been stitched by hand – awesome!
Lara Hailey Every Text He Ever Sent Me
This one produced a wry laugh – it’s called Blog and records a daily activity in stitch not mega pixels.
Irene MacWilliam A Blog
Irene MacWilliam A Blog
But talking of pixels this one was amazing because close up it looked like random colours but from afar became a Peony.
Danielle Coolbear Jenkins Peonie
A lot caught my eye for colour or motif reasons like these birds flying.
Janie Harvey- Douglas
A Slight Murmur of Starlings
And it’s not all 2D work either there are books, clothes, 3D sculptures and even some items using all three at once!
Sally Snushall The Mouse and The Cuckoo Clock
There are of course always the old favourites like Kaffe Fassett…
Kaffe Fassett
Rail Fence Quilt
and here’s some gorgeous Sophie Digard scarves for a bit of eye candy…
Sophie Digard
Sophie Digard
Sophie Digard
And I even had company this year – my daughter has picked out a Flying Goose pattern as her choice of quilt for me to make her and today we were hunting down plains and patterns to make it with.
Marianne Mohandes
Full Circle
She wondered if it might be ready if she leaves for uni in 3 years or so, I was aiming for Christmas, so we’ve quite a wide deadline there thankfully 😉
Marianne Mohandes
Full Circle
A little belatedly I know but Happy Easter to you.
These designs are called Cheerful Bouquet.
I’m posting them as part of Jacqueline Auvigne’s “Spring Has Sprung” Pattern Showcase. Pop over here if you’d like to see more designs by the others who took part.
These boards show the whole collection of 9 designs in total, the motif’s of which sprang from the painted doodles of flower heads from a bunch of spring flowers but re-coloured to remind me of much warmer climes.
On Friday my other half and I escaped for a day to London. What we needed when I say escape, was a day full of distraction, busyness and retail therapy and where better than London for all of that. Plus the fact that it’s been a whole year since a saw a red London bus. I find them very nostalgic and need a London fix at least once a year.
We began our mooch on Marylebone High street. Designers Guild is a big favourite of mine and I wasn’t disappointed.
You know when you write those ‘Before I die’ lists or ‘Blue Sky Thinking’ dream lists? Well one of my top 3 would be to work at Designers Guild making gorgeous patterns.
We hit Liberty’s next which Mr L had never been in before.
They have a new stationary section and I got quite a few new papers for my backgrounds.
Liberty is a one of a kind. The building is panelled head to foot like a Tudor manor house and it’s full of well-chosen, inspirational pieces.
Then down the road and across is Anthropologie which wasn’t busting with must-haves but I did pick up one or two nice pieces.
I would still love to live the Anthropologie life even if I can’t afford it.
Want to see what came home with me?
So back to work tomorrow pepped up a bit by our trip but I’ll be wishing away the days until I can start playing with all these new goodies.
