Photographic Inspiration from a Surface Pattern Designer
These pictures were taken on holiday in Northumberland a few months ago. A compilation of shapes, shadows, lines and textures occurring from the elements. Next I will experiment with isolating shapes, and explore how they relate and contrast to one another. This will form the basis of a new surface pattern collection.
Inspiration can be hard to find when you actively set out to go and find it. Have you ever experienced seeing an everyday object in a completely new way? Well that happened to me this morning and instead of thinking “well that’s nice” I picked up a pen and sketchbook and began to draw…
As I started to wash up in the kitchen this morning, the stopper on the soap bottle caught my eye. I noticed a beautiful textural pattern. I began to draw the linear texture. The drawing process unveiled why it caught my eye. Whilst drawing I noticed how the texture was sometimes linear, sometimes pointed at the end or curved. The lines varied in thickness and length, the rhythms were craftily interrupted by delicate shafts of light. This stopper holds a wealth of inspiration for a whole series of new geometric patterns. My designs are created using photography, but aided by drawing. Drawing unveils the inspiration on how to create exciting patterns.
London based Contrado, are a company that custom print and make high quality products on demand. Recently they came up with a fantastic idea, to create a platform for hand picked artists and designers to print their work onto a huge range of beautiful hand made products. Artists can focus on creating designs and artwork, whilst Contrado take care of production and distribution. Surely this is teamwork at it’s most efficient and a pragmatic approach to design and retail.
All products are made in the UK and most are ready in 1-2 days
Browse through our new collection here!
Spring Inspiration…
Gathering ideas from my very own garden for SS 2018.
#distractionsandinspirations
Snippets of inspiration this week…
I am looking forward to beginning a new range…
Dog walk: Pattern, texture, neutral colours, random spacing
Back Yard: Composition, texture, weathered, neutral
Music workshop in a chapel : Geometric shapes, light, transparency, layering, contemporary
A selection of shapes, patterns and texture used for design inspiration.
34 hrs in NYC
Highlights include
A Walk on The Highline in the sunshine
Lunch at Santina’s
Central Park -standing in a park surrounded by trees & highrise
A performance of Don Carlos at The Met
A stroll through West Village on a Sunday afternoon -Bohochic street fashion
Lunch at The Spotted Pig
Urban Art on The Highline
Glass Reflections
West Village, elegant ironwork
The Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station
Clean, classical lines & light
Glass Reflections and Grid patterns
Buildings & Trees competing for height at Central Park NYC
Here are a selection of pictures I took on a recent visit to India. When I design print & pattern here in the UK, I like to look at the elements of nature at work, for example light, texture, shadows and reflection. The photos below however, confirm that my bright colour palette is inherited from the motherland!
Marigold Decorations
Edge of the Meadow makes sense of two very different cultures working together in harmony.
Autumn is one of my favourite times of year. After a long summer of never ending green the elements start to change rapidly in a short space of time. Clear air, and intense light, bring out striking contrasts and we can enjoy deep shades of reds, orange and yellow.
Beautiful objects fall to the ground, not forgotten and happy to be found!
Autumn Finds
Unlikely Sources of Inspiration…
I have taken thousands of pictures for design inspiration!
Here are some from the “Geometric /Manmade ” category.
From top left: Wire basket, Shadow from a garden chair, Shadow of wrought iron gate and chicken wire against foliage
Manmade patterns
From top left: Wire fence against corrugated iron, manhole cover, chicken wire.
BLOG AT EDGE OF THE MEADOW 