The process behind my winter designs.

I had been meaning to start designing back in the summer months….well that was the plan, but I didn’t. Creative block and generally just having a good time meant it got sidelined. When the time came I was (gratefully) booked up to the eyeballs and actually struggled to get it together. Not gonna lie but the excess pressure really helped me get going and the collaging began once again.

I missed the boat on affordable pillow production (again my own fault) but being unsure of whether I want to be a product seller a brand or an artist I have promised myself that this year was dedicated to experimenting anyway so tried not to sweat worrying about profit. A healthy couple of months of freelancing also helped with this.

The one-piece of kit I did invest in was a proper scanner. I've been putting it off all year as I scrimp on things I actually need (but am still able to put in that glossier order I don’t need) and what a difference it made. Once I’d finished my collages they were scanned in and I would pull elements from them, often simplifying the designs and picking my palette! Here are the first tests. I then would need to tidy up some of the edges.

I also started painting…now I love painting and I hate it. I like the process, I feel deeply calm but I hate how slow it is. part of the excitement is getting some work together quickly and seeing it moving in the right direction. Nevertheless, this was helpful in the process and one of my goals for 2022 will defo be to start exploring a bit more canvas work.

Here come my ugly artboards. I wouldn’t usually share this but I wanted to show you the process. I played with some key parts of the cutouts (again refining them down for a more graphic finish) I thought I had it cracked but after some fabric tests, I changed the designs once again.