The More you use it, the more you have....

"You can't use up creativity,
the more you use it, the more you have"
Maya Angelou

What started out as a single drawing, kinda a doodle in the top right hand corner of my sketchbook as I was researching midcentury modern design motifs is starting to take on a life of it's own.

I asked the question in my last blog post "can you see it evolving?". 

Simple motif goes through a transformation. Work in process

I Didn't post yesterday, one thing led to another, led to another and my day was done... 

I did sneak in some drawing here and there and came up with this simple little tulip motif.

I have been working on it in illustrator today, playing with live trace,

building it with shapes and with the pattern maker.

Process.

original Motif

Adapted from a mid century modern design motif.

live trace

As you can see not very nice.

re-worked with the pen tool and shapes.

But What about a pattern?

Can you imagine? Originally I was thinking about using it a border for an illustration I am working on but as I play and yes by playing I also mean learning I can see how to take it beyond just a simple motif.

Love the 70's garish colours!

I love repeating patterns that start with a simple motif, that gets expanded  and turned into an evolving complex idea.

I keep seeing whale tales, fish scales and  scalloped edges!

Can you see it evolving?

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?

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.