A little shout out and ask for support for my friend and colleague Deborah Velasquez. Deborah has recently launched her Kickstarter project The Large Print Project
For those not familiar with Kickstarter, it is a crowdsourcing, fundraising platform for all creatives. Individuals dream up a project and ask for support to help back their project. It is a successful platform, with 44% of projects reaching their targeted goal to date.
Deborah is a maker. Her passion is art and design, whether it be hand carving her stamps or silkscreening her scarves.The goal of her Large Print Project is to raise funds to purchase the silkscreen equipment necessary to produce larger, multi-color works of art. The equipment will help create and make in larger quantities and help move her creative business to the next level.
Deborah is passionate about her work. She is a supportive friend and colleague in our design community, always offering up advice or encouragement.
I have enjoyed watching her growth over the past few years.I admire her tenacity. She is always learning and always available with an open mind to discuss new ideas and projects. She enjoys the challenge that art provides and is always ready to tackle a project. This is her biggest one to date!
Help bring Deborah’s project to life. She is half way there ~ her deadline is December 10th. Backers can donate anywhere from $1 up. The beauty about being a backer is you even receive a little present in return! Really! A nice little thank you for your support. (You have to visit her page to find out more!)
All details are over here on The Large Print Project. I love her video and watching her in action. Always in amazement that she never gets ink on those beautiful rings of hers too!
Do you ever wonder how other artists and designers come up with their creative ideas? I do!
I am very happy to have Femi Ford on the Creative Process pedestal today. I love her beautiful, bold and vibrant printed patterns.Femi is a mixed media artist with a background in art and printmaking. I have always been a bit curious as to how she incorporates her art into surface pattern design.
Today we get to see how her creative mind works!
What inspires you to create?
Inspiration usually finds me when I’m working in my garden or in my studio. Most often it is a natural pattern that gets my brain going rather than color. Color excites me, but it’s usually the last thing I decide on. My most exciting moments are when I don’t have a plan and I create a wonderful, accidental texture that I just know will make a great pattern!
Her mini assistant!
What medium do you like to create in?
Printmaking is my favorite medium, followed closely by painting on canvas or drawing loosely with ink on paper.
Do you keep an art journal?
My sketchbook is really a rambling, mess of experiments that are connected by a fine thread of inspiration. I look back at it to remind myself of how I arrived at my current projects. I use my phone to grab quick reference pictures while I’m out and, OH BOY, do I love Pinterest!
Do you work on just one design from start to finish or do you have a number of different designs on the go?
I always have a number of designs going at once. It’s a challenge for me to focus on one collection at a time, but I’m working on it! My work is slowly evolving in style because I like to work in different mediums…but I’m happy with where I am.
Do you prefer to design for a brief/competition or your own personal inspiration?
I do like to work towards a particular trend but with the freedom to interpret it on my own. For the most part I’ve stopped doing competitions because I feel like companies are trying to get something for nothing. While the exposure might be good, I think it devalues our work as artists.
What time of the day are you most creative?
I’m most alert from 9am – 1pm. But I do pull the occasional all-nighter if the kids are asleep early and the music is flowing!
Beautiful mock ups. I love seeing the patterns created on actual product. These beautiful designs are for sale on Society 6!
Beautiful work Femi! You have inspired me to try something new.
Guess what today is? The last day of school-yippee! School out for Summer!
Bad parenting is already in full summer mode – late nights,missed meals,no rules.. I can barely get my son out the door this morning, late for school on his final morning!
I was fortunate to win this beautiful, handmade journal on Petra’s blog just a few weeks ago. I have been excited, patiently waiting for its arrive all the way from Slovenia.
Who doesn’t love a notebook? The perfect place to record thoughts, jot down a favorite recipe or doodle a beautiful motif for a future pattern. I am very impressed with the quality and I admit to setting a high standard for my notebooks. The paper is smooth with a good weight.Perfect for use with black ink, my tool of preference.
I really enjoy looking at all of Petra’s design work. Her work is hand drawn with ink, watercolor and acrylic paint. She leans towards florals that are feminine and intricate. I love her attention to detail.
I admire her use of color. She has a wonderful way of combining colors that just make me feel happy! Petra has a lovely portfolio on her website. Pop over for some more beautiful examples of her work. Make sure to check out her mixed media paintings too.
I am very happy to have met Petra through The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course. Since graduating she has started her own creative business and is actively pursuing her dreams as a full time surface pattern designer. She is an inspiration.
To find out more Petra, please drop by her website and facebook page.
To purchase your own lovely journal, please drop by her etsy store.
Welcome to the world of Rex Ray~ Great name. Great work.
Have a watch..
After watching this video I just wanted to climb right up there beside him on the desk and have a heart to heart chat about his journey, his experiences and generally what makes him tick. I believe we all need a mentor to help guide us on our journey. I have decided I want him to be mine.
Rex…just text me! ( because it doesn’t hurt to put it out there..)
I love everything about this video ~ his work, his attitude and how he represents himself. What struck a chord with me was his daily collage work.. Oddly, I stumbled upon this video just a few days after I had made the decision to try to create a daily collage.
Serendipitous?? ..I am taking it as a sign from above..
As you may know, I love paper. I may even have a paper problem. I have stacks of it. I have been known to secretly retrieve it from the recycling.
I have been spending the majority of my creative time these days working on my intuitive painting skills.Very enjoyable, but I do find that I often need to step away from it every so often just to give my canvas a chance to rest, recuperate and regenerate.
Collage, especially with a limited palette, is a breath of fresh air. I dont struggle as much with it. Right now I am sticking to homemeade papers, pen and thread… but I know I wont be able to resist adding some paint in time.
Playing with textures and composition. The theme for this group is “Out of the Woods”. I have incorporated a lot of my homemade woodlike paper and birch bark from my very own birch tree.
One of my goals for this year is to actually build up a body of work. Instead of flitting around from project to project, my goal is to concentrate on working within a theme/subject. Spend some time thinking about the subject at hand and finding different ways to represent the same subject. I have been trying to work on this concept with my poppy paintings. Why not do the same with my paper projects?
A small part of my brain also thought it may be beneficial for my upcoming surface pattern design course… Well it seems that Rex also thought it would be beneficial and who am I to argue with his success.
Every time I question the what and why of this whole creative journey, I come back to this ~ I love all the possibility. I love the zen like feeling and the a’ha moments I have when creating. I may never reach my ultimate destination, but what entertainment it has been along the way.
spaark.wordpress.com 