Everything Will Be OK....

Everything will be Ok.... or so I hope.... I have been a little frustrated, a little discouraged and a wee bit overwhelmed of late. Sometimes you need to stop, breathe and then make something beautiful.

A Simple Reminder.

It also helps to have a quiet moment to yourself, a glass of wine and some good food.

Each Photo Represents 10 minutes Practice.

I am currently reading I Just Like to Make Things by Lilla Rogers. It was highly recommended by a classmate in the  Make it in Design Summer School I am doing. The book is full of prompts and exercises that both encourage and inspire you, filled with tips that steer you towards Making Art a Business. It is great for the the newbies (such as myself) that want to be Surface and Pattern designers as it is full of advise and interviews from professionals in the field. So far I am about half way through but the number one take home is message is .... be true to your style and number two.... Practise Practise Practise.

Here is a photo journey of one such practice prompt to see how you/I work.... Using a photo that was provided in the book you draw what you see.

"Only draw what's appealing. Stop when you are done and wait for the next bit of inspiration [...] you are to focus only on staying in a place of passion and creative motivation."

I gave myself 10 minutes of work time, between each step I moved onto something else. Maybe it was tidying up my work space or assisting my kids with a chore and or making breakfast, lunch or dinner and cleaning the kitchen. 

Each Photo Represents 10 Minutes 

I worked when I had time, it took me nearly all day but what surprised me is that I stuck with it. Flowers are not my favourite thing to draw. I don't have very much patience for them as I get frustrated that I can not represent them accurately enough. Because of the 10 minute cap I was able to keep looking at it with fresh eyes and stay on task. The time limit gave me permission to walk away and to be less self critical. 

What excises do you use to practice, how do you work? Is practice work or is it play, Can it be both?

Summer in Palm Springs a Retro Design Inspiration

Prompted by the Make It in Design Summer School I came up with this design...  Fun retro and reminds me of lounging next to the pool in Palm Springs... 

A forever Retro Shape: Ogee

Just for Fun, a mock up.

The Make It In Design Summer School is an amazing resource for surface and textile designers. Every two weeks a prompt is sent out full of inspiration, suggestions and resources. There is a range of ability from the never even touched Ai or PS and do everything by hand to seasoned professional who are just wanting something creative to build their portfolios with. I consider myself new but not quite new and am using the great online community to inspire and gently nudge me to keep at it (even though I could quite easily throw myself into shibori and indigo full time)! There are so many wonderful Designers out there.

(Oh yeah.... Don't forget to check out my Etsy Shop Scrappy Carp Living for a mini sale... For your use couponcode SOFTOPENING, 15% off orders of $5 or more....)

Just For Fun, Someone suggested I add Toes By the Pool As additional inspiration!

Also Next to the Pool In Palm Springs!

A Reason to Love the Process

One of the reasons I love doing things by hand is because of the results... Because you never know what you are going to get! I work both  digitally and completely by hand. From Silkscreening, Block printing to Hand dying fabric. Every process is something treasure and quite often my finished product is not what I had imagined. Here are my most current experiments with Shibori.

A simple  Running stitched resist, to make long stripes!

I used old scratched Up CD's to make large dots!

This was the most interesting.

 I folded it in half, one side as a triangle and the 2nd

side in a rectangle.

Really only the top runner stitched example was the one that came out most like planned, the Second and third examples were truly experiments though they too came out close to what I thought they may look like, just less striking than my imagined goal...

And Speaking  of Goals! I have been working hard on pattern and surface design, this passion is leading down roads I never knew where possible, my little shop Scrappy Carp Living is growing growing growing and my soft opening goal was to add 30 items! I did that last Friday. To celebrate I am having a soft opening sale. Please go check it out... Give me feed back, tell me what you think, what would you like to see added? and yes Clothing is coming soon.... I will have a Hard Opening at a later date.... Like any good restaurant, there are still kinks to work out, but I will announce that at a later date.

If you are so inclined please check out Scrappy Carp Living, enjoy a 15% off couponcode SOFTOPENING on all purchases over $5 until August 10/14 .... You will find more Shibori, Scarves, Macrame and Block Printed treats.