A bit of a long stretch since last post again… I ended up in NJ for nearly a month finding out that a mother never forgets how to care for newborns no matter the age, but with that age, I found that it’s REALLY tiring. I was helping care for a set of twins- Great grandbabies (can’t share more than that)… a new thing for me, and one was a girl! I had never changed a newborn girl’s diaper… I had all boys and there are more grandsons than daughters.
I was participating in an Instagram sketchbook challenge during February, and did keep up for the first 17 days. The 18th day, the prompt was envelopes, which I had no idea what to sketch, until watching the twins swaddled next to each other…. in their little “envelopes”. This is the last sketch I did due to total lack of sleep and hands full with the little ones.
Since returning home, and after catching up on sleep, I began again with playing in Photoshop. I did manage to keep up with a few more Spoonflower challenges while I was away, and once home… there were three in a row that fit in with “my” thing.
I did the last two- Blue Flower Show Trellis, and Peep Feathers after home. Peep Feathers used sketches I did during the challenge of a few feathers with photos of some of my Peep’s (Guinea) feathers. I debated whether I would leave the feathers stark black and white or add color. I left it black and white for the entry. After, I did some playing with different versions with and without color. Below is one of the first versions- feather color inverted, placed over a background of one of my sunprinted fabric images that I manipulated.
Playing with the image of the sunprint, started me doing more with other prints I have photos of. I found I could end up with interesting tone on tone designs by duplicating the images, turning them, offsetting then and stacking them with various opacities… fun to see what happens.
Even though i am not able to do the actual painting right now, it is great to be able to take photos of some of my favorite prints and turn them into some pretty fabrics or patterns to be used on various products. A new batch of proofs has been ordered from Spoonflower and I hope to soon announce the availability of them for purchase.
I am a former textile artist and new pattern designer with a degree in horticulture, wishing to share my love of nature, flowers and gardens with everyone through my photos, sunprinted fabrics, and now pattern designs. Chronic Lyme Disease has caused major changes to the direction my life. I have to limit the amount of time spent digging in my gardens, and quilting has become more difficult. I discovered pattern design as a way to get art back into my life. I now use my gardens and photos to inspire designs that can be used on fabrics and print on demand items.
