Patterns

Since becoming a full time mum (2 yrs ago) I’ve been taking a bit of a break from printmaking but a few months ago I started to find time for a slightly different kind of art. And I quickly became addicted to digital pattern making. As an art form it doesn’t need too much space, or make much mess, or need long periods of time devoted to it. So it is much easier to fit into my life at the moment.

So far I’ve created quite a number of patterns and uploaded some of them to Spoonflower (a fabric/wallpaper site) and some to Redbubble (who do T-Shirts, mugs, phone cases and art prints etc). I’m hoping to develop some pattern collections in the future. And I’m planning to re-imagine some of my linocut print designs as patterns too. 

My Spoonflower shop is here – http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/ceccaI’ve only got 4 designs for sale at the moment but lots more show up if you click ‘Designs not for sale’.

My Redbubble shop is here - http://www.redbubble.com/people/cecca-designs I’ve set up a number of patterns plus a couple of my linocuts and a watercolour on there so far.

Here are a few of my patterns so far:

Elephants (green & blue) 

 Fish (work in progress)

 Natural forms

 Ducks and frogs in the garden (Teal)

Striped Pigs & Ponies (Peach Melba)

V&A Fabrics

A few weeks ago I went along to the Victoria and Albert's Quilt Exhibition - Quilts 1700-2010 .
It's a great exhibition with some beautiful quilts, some of my favourites were the ones with amazing appliqued people, trees and animals.  I'll have to scan my photos to show some examples...

Anyway, as part of the exhibition's merchandising they've collaborated with Liberty and re-created a number of the original fabrics from the quilts. With beautiful designs dating from 1700+ I just couldn't resist. I haven't done any patchwork for a few years now, but I hope I'll have some time this year to put some of these lovely fabrics to use!

1. India Flower (Blue), 2. Seaweed, 3. Palm Tree (Blue), 4. Petals, 5. Stripes, 6. Seed Head (Blue), 7. Rose, 8. Leaf (Brown), 9. Shells

The Art of Recycling

I am a real horder, I can't throw anything away and I've been saving up stamps, old paper bags, magazines, old tickets, postcards, fabric, beads, broken china, bits of metal and plastic and scraps of anything, ever since I can remember. I like to think that I'll eventually use all the junk in a massive artistic outpouring of beautiful collages and altered art sculptures. I love patchwork, collage and mosaic partly because of their potential for recycling old rubbish into beautiful new works of art.

Kaffee Fassett's books on patchwork were a real inspiration to me and have so far resulted in 3 baby quilts, 4 cushions and 1 and a half full sized quilts. I've got a massive collection of fabric scraps taking up boxes of space. Gaudi is another icon and inspiration - Barcelona is beautiful because of his amazing architecture and mosaics. Again, I've got boxes full of broken plates, cups and tiles. I just love the mix of colours, textures and patterns.

The beauty of rubbish as art is that anyone can do it. I've got a fantastic book about 'Outsider Art' full of the amazing creations of hundreds of people from around the world. Nek Chand's garden in India is one of the most amazing, hundreds of mosaic people and animals in a concrete, landscaped garden. I'd love to see it one day, if not have a go at creating something like it! For now I'm sticking to paper, with a bit of collage and mixed media. There's something really additive about collecting and creating. I think it's a combination of the colours, patterns and images and the act of creation that I enjoy. I can't get enough!