From my hood tagger t-shirt

I created this T-shirt for my son-in-law from my IN THE HOOD textile design. I created this design by walking around my (then) Berkeley neighborhood and photographing all the tags (grafitti) on sidwalks, stop sign, walls, garbage cans--once I started this process I began noticing tags all over the 'hood---quite amazing really. I lived in a rather upscale hood in the Berkeley hills--yet here was all this grafitti art everywhere!

Next I took my photos into Photoshop and played around with them until I created this design...

Then I had the t-shirt printed at Zappos.com....if you want one, just e-mail me! the price varies depending on the quality of the t-shirt. My son-in-law says he gets quite few comments on this t-shirt when he wears it.

Textile Design School

As some of you readers may know (and some may not...) I am a student at the California School of Professional Fabric Design in Berkeley, Ca. I am finishing up a design portfoilio that includes, among the many original designs, traditional textile designs--like this one...a traditional Jacquard design. This one is designed to be printed on fabric, rather than woven as Jacquards frequently are produced. This is the color rough for the handpainted design which is 18" x 24"---I am currently painting this in gouache; a lovely monotone in creams.

At the school we are learning many techniques for hand painted designs, as well as computer aided designing. The designs are surface pattern designs, and can be used on textiles, wallpaper, stationary, wrapping paper, rugs, dishes--any object that has an illustration or design on it.

In completing this school program I am following a dream I have had since I was in my teens----I have always wanted to design surface patterns for fabrics and paper goods, but never knew where to go to learn the process. Then, I discovered through a friend — this school right where I live---here in North Berkeley!

I plan to find work as a designer when I finish. I would love to work full time for a company who prefers me to create handpainted designs. I enjoy creating on the computer, but I love painting — it’s my ambition to get paid to design and paint all day

ah! and I also believe that ...way will open...when the time is right. Meanwhile, back to painting...

F is for Flowers

One hand painted watercolor textile design


and one textile design created completely on the computer in Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop

"I'm late, I'm late for a very important date..."

Working at home---I struggle with time management--do you?

There are those "time wasters" right here on the computer. For me, it is Facebook and my fave wordgame Bookworm...oh! and Stumble Upon.

It is just so easy to get sucked in----surfing and reading and looking at other's crafts, rather than creating my own stuff. Then, before I know it several hours have passed. What to do?

1) try using a timer? to limit my facebook and other net time?
2) allow myself to read facebook and post there as a reward for getting work done?
any suggestions--- are welcome and THANKS!

oh--and I don't count daydreaming or my mind wandering as "time wasted" because I know that is necessary for my creativity.

This design was painted in gouache and then scanned into photoshop for layout, colors and so on...(I call it: "I'm late, I'm late for a very important date...")

Gotta go--time's 'awasting!

'Nother textile design

Last winter I found this cool old book on cut paper designs at a thrift store which inspired me to create a design by cutting paper--using an exacto knife. This past week I have been playing with my papercut design in Photoshop to make it into a textile design....

I have been rather absent here on my blog---I had blogger's "block"---but I have vowed to find something to post about at least every other day from now on.....so now I have published this---that vow should keep me posting...

so, dear readers, whom ever you may be--do check back here....as the creativity is again flowing...I hope your creativity is flowing, also!

New Fabric Design!!

My latest hand painted textile design....

It's all about texture.....with subtle colors.


Quote for today:
"Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future." — Robert L. Peters

Ghana Kente Cloth #2

After visiting the Craft Market, we went to another small village and visited a facility with numerous Kente cloth weavers, and glorious colorful Kente cloth covering all the walls. Here is one corner of the room.



The colors and variety of patterns were stunning--and admidst all this vibrant Kente cloth we began to bargain with the men selling the cloth.






Here is one weaver--weaving a Kente cloth strip on a loom



We could purchase the strips of handwoven cloth or a large piece with the strips sewn together





I couldn't quit taking photos of all the different colorways and patterns...


Among the handwoven Kente cloth--the vendors were also selling some printed cotton fabrics...and sometimes the Kente cloth was sewn together with the printed cloth, like this piece



I snapped a few pics of some of the printed cloth, also




I find myself wishing I had taken a few more close-up photos of the Kente cloth, but came home with one beautiful strip and a larger piece--for some reason, I was attracted to blues that day...

Applied Product Design: Foxyarts Shop

In between working on my fabric designing, I am trying out placing a few of my designs on products at Cafe Press. So far, I am testing how they reproduce with one design---I call this design "Meow!"

You can purchase these or take a closer look at the blank journal and mug at my Cafe Press shop Foxyarts.

Art and Inspiration

How do you become inspired to create something? When I lived in the Alaskan bush, most of my inspiration came from the nature I was surrounded by. Now that I live in a city --- I am still inspired by nature and the urban environment which surrounds me--but I find myself turning more toward books, magazines, and the net for artistic inspiration.

So, to get my creative juices flowing--I just go through my books or get online and look at other's artwork...I love both Ravelry and Etsy for inspirational websites since they are so easily searchable.....and books...

For textile design, these 3 books area great place to start:



For knitting--I love knitting stitch dictionaries....(because I like trying out new stitches and knitting swatches):





And sometimes I just look out my windows at the blue sky and fleecy clouds....daydreaming is another way to motivate the muse within.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "I have a promiscuous muse. My muse wants to own every color, work in many media, and in numerous genre." --Mary Klotz

California School of Professional Fabric Design

• Many thanks to Kim at the excellent and always interesting blog TRUE UP ("all about fabric, all the time..") who interviewed me about my life as a student at the California School of Professional Fabric Design. You can see her excellent interview here, and you can check out the school online here. Thanks Kim!

also here are some links to my own blog posts about my fabric design(ing):
Jungle Surface Pattern Design
Creative Every Day!
Painting Flowers
Plaids
Toiles de Jouy

Today's Quote: "You don't have to see the top of the staircase to take the first step." -- Martin Luther King

Jungle Surface Pattern Design

This "loose" style design is created with a felt tip pen for the line work and dyes for the colors....this playful design could be used for textiles, wrapping paper, scrapbook paper.....or for any number of products--how about a nice shower curtain with a jungle on it?

Of course, I am only showing a small portion of my design here--the original is 18" x 24" in size, and there are more animals....this is just a preview. I had fun creating this design ;-)

NEW HEADER

Well, I decided it was time for a new header for my blog (see above)--what do you think? I used some small portions of 2 of my own textile designs....feedback welcome! and thanks!

Creative Every Day: OWLS

Today I'm working on a new fabric design in gouache with a bright palette and owls....here is the work in progress:

Creative Every Day!

I've joined an online "challenge"---to be creative every day--and to post my daily creative endeavor on this blog. I may not post an image every day, but I will be CREATIVE EVERY DAY.
So, here is my creative piece for today---postage stamps from Zazzle.com with one of my flower designs. I originally created this all-over flower design for my textile and surface pattern design portfolio, and now I am using the design for postage stamps to promote my design business. The original design is painted in gouache. And yes, these are actual U. S. postage stamps which I can (and do!) use to mail letters.

Fabric Journal

I have started a visual fabric journal-- well the journal is sewn--but I am mixing paper and fabrics on each page. The paper is all my own designs---mostly small "roughs" from my fabric design classes (visit the design school here)--in color palettes I ended up not using, or designs I haven't completed. I wanted to create a textile "sample book" or "swatch book" with some of my designs--and so far this is the result. I used grommets and ribbon for the binding. Here the large flowers in purples and green on the pink background are my design--painted in gouache. I eventually chose a very different palette to use with this design.

The left page here is part of a of a flower design I created in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and the right page has part of a design painted in watercolors with inked linework (midpage).

On this page the orange arrows on lavender are my design--painted in gouache.

Here the left side is part of a "doodled" design--but I used a very different color palette for the finished design. I drew this in black and white, then scanned it into the computer and colored it in Photoshop. On the right, the dark gold, brown, and red design is another "doodle"--never used. The nice thing about the ribbon/grommet binding is that I can easily add pages as I make them since this is an on-going journal.

Painting Flowers

I have been obsessed this past week with painting an intricate flower design in the Jacobean style---a large design (17"x 24") in 9 colors. This is an assignment for my Fabric Design classes.

Here are some examples of the details---a small part of the overall design which I have completed so far. These photos were taken at my work desk inside--so the colors are not quite true. First I painted a "ground"--the background color (a beige, with some green in the color)---covering the whole 17" x 24" area, then I traced my design onto the ground, then began painting the design. The designing of the pattern and palette took several weeks--with many changes. I painted several "roughs" of small areas of the design, and revised my colors from these roughs--several times. It was a relief to finally get to the actual over-all painting, once I had my colors all mixed to match my approved roughs. The paint is gouache. The outlining is a red archival Pigma felt tip pen.




QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." ---Rachel Carson

Plaids

I have been spending quite a bit of time lately designing plaids in Photoshop--an assignment for my Fabric Design Classes, which hooked me in---so much fun seeing how this color blends with that color! So--here area few of them--I have many, many more---but I like these ones---at least today they are some of my favorites...tomorrow--who knows?





QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
"Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises."
Elizabeth Zimmermann, 1910-1999