CREATIVITY + INNOVATION Page 34 of 50

Pattern course student selected for new children’s design book!

Posted on 2012-04-16 at 1:00 am.

We are thrilled to announce that one of our talented e-course students has been selected for the highly anticipated ‘Print & Pattern Kids’ book. A huge congratulations goes to Susan Lloyd!

We think Susan’s work is beautiful, contemporary & fresh. Rachael and I are like proud mamas!

Susan says, “I studied printed Textile Design at Loughborough University. After graduation I lived and worked in New York designing prints for the fashion, home and stationery markets, selling designs internationally.”

“I have exhibited at various trade fairs including Surtex, Printsource and Indigo.”

“I find inspiration in everything from fashion to nature to mid century design, vintage textiles and contemporary Illustration. I love to hand draw all the elements for my designs first before enhancing them within Photoshop and Illustrator.”

“I have a wishlist of companies I would love to collaborate with. I am currently building new ranges for my portfolio and building a brand new website for showcasing my designs”.

Susan now designs prints under the studio name ‘The Print Tree’, if you would like to get in touch with Susan you can email her at: [email protected]. You can also follow Susan on twitter @theprinttree.

Images courtesy of ‘The Print Tree’ – a varied selection from Susan’s portfolio.

Pattern course student selected for new children's design book! summer bloom blog

Pattern course student selected for new children's design book! the print tree banner blog

If you to know more about The Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design (the e-course) you can view the website here.

Surface pattern designer highlight: Bonnie Christine

Posted on 2012-04-15 at 2:00 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

Bonnie Christine (Image via Going Home to Roost)

Over the next few weeks and months I am going to share highlights of particular designers emerging from The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course. Rachael Taylor and I have been absolutely thrilled by the quality of work, and are excited to see the class participants’ design careers unfold.

For the first in this series, I am thrilled to share the gorgeous work of Bonnie Christine. Bonnie’s work is fun, fresh, stunningly girly, and completely unique and personal to her.

Bonnie says, “I love to weave parts of my life into each pattern, with each one you see you will have seen a little piece of my life and heart. There’s something so meaningful in the way we decide to color our worlds.”

So inspiring! If you want to see more of her work you can check out her beautifully designed website or her stunning and quirky blog!

Inspired? Why not join us for The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design!

Class begins very soon… find out more and register here

Ian Dutton announced as a contributor to surface pattern design course!

Posted on 2012-04-14 at 2:00 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

We are thrilled to annouce that UK-based designer and illustrator Ian Dutton will be joining us as a contributor for Module 3 of The Art and Business of Surface Design (starts Monday!), where he will share an exclusive insight into life as a freelancer. His company ‘Ian Dutton Designs’ creates character designs, character licenses and surface pattern design for the greetings, fashion and textile industries. Ian’s client list includes Boots, Hallmark, Mamas & Papas, Marks & Spencer, Next, Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s.

Ian’s designs come in a variety of repeats, stripes and placements with a delightful number of colours. Although most of his designs are mainly for the younger consumers, there are a few for the older, mature consumers. You can follow Ian on Twitter @ian_dutton.

Take a look at some of his fab fun designs…

Module 3 begins on Monday and we cannot wait to see what gorgeousness emerges from that! If you want to learn how to monetise your designs, join us! We are also thrilled to be offering the full course for a second series starting with Module 1 on April 23rd, click here to register!

<FOR MORE UP TO DATE INFORMATION ABOUT COURSE DATES CLICK HERE>

Bringing big creative dreams to life: Stephanie Guimond & Julia Dolowicz Harvey share their stories

Posted on 2012-03-19 at 9:00 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Bringing big creative dreams to life: Stephanie Guimond & Julia Dolowicz Harvey share their stories DWYL BLOG SHAREDSTORIES 650X250PX LR

Today’s shared stories come from Stephanie Guimond in Canada and Julia Dolowicz Harvey in England.

Stephanie Guimond

I’m an artist, a visionary and an avid left-brainer (read: I paint, dream big and I love spreadsheets). Doing what I love means:

a) creating meaningful work and revenue related to art and creative expression, learning and growth, space and community or business and productivity,

b) working with others to help them create their own meaningful work, and

c) making sure my chosen work is part of a bigger picture, supporting the life I want to create overall.

At least that’s what it means today.

After spending nearly 10 years coveting the possibility of multiple income streams and fulfilling work, in October 2011 I took the leap and left my government 9-5 job to pursue something more meaningful. (Full disclosure: when I told my boss I was leaving she generously suggested that I take a one-year leave which I did, so technically as I write this I’m on leave.)

I loved several aspects of my job and tried hard to make the 9-5 work, but the desire to do something different kept coming back every few years, each time more pronounced. I could no longer ignore it. Months leading up to last year’s decision to leave became fraught with hemming and hawing to the point where I just had to choose one way or another: branch out on my own or stay.

So here I am, smack dab in the middle of my journey in creating work as a solopreneur.

‘Blue Reflections’

I’m in the space between, working on foundational projects and products that fuel me day in and day out, but I’m not yet bringing in revenue. It’s a place of possibility and hope intermingled with fear and doubt, of satisfaction at seeing things come together and frustration at wanting them to come together faster.

It’s a place of opportunity.

Today my biggest obstacle is fear of never having a substantial income again, but I see possibility in others making a good living doing what they love and that pushes me to not give up. Through small actions I try to move through this fear as gracefully as I can, regularly calling on the Universe for healthy doses of faith, patience and confidence in my ability to make it work.

I am grateful for the opportunity to create work tailored to my soul and life goals. The journey started years ago, but I feel like it’s just beginning. Here’s to seeing where it will lead…

[Profile shot taken by Jag. Other images courtesy of Stephanie Guimond.]

Find out more about Stephanie on her website.

Julia Dolowicz Harvey

Bringing big creative dreams to life: Stephanie Guimond & Julia Dolowicz Harvey share their stories jules9

‘Doing what I love’ is about creating the life I want to live. It is related to my work but it’s also connected to my environment, my home, marriage, friendships, family, animals, community, the planet and even my spirituality. All of these are so important to me – I need to ‘do what I love’ in all of these areas. I need to be in tune with the very core of myself and honour what’s deep inside. There have been times when one area of my life is ok, the other fantastic and another abysmal; they all have a knock-on effect on each other. Happily I can now state that I am now doing ‘what I love’ because I am a Writer, Artist and Healer. This has led me to become an author, sell my art, teach workshops and offer reiki healing sessions.

In 2009 I was made redundant from my job at the University of Liverpool where I worked as a Career Development Manager – it was a good job that saw me travelling around the UK delivering workshops and presentations about how to create and develop your career, your life and your dreams.

I was gutted.

Having been at the university for 4 years, previously within the education team working with 16-19 year olds, I was always designing and delivering workshops and programmes. With a lecturing background, degree in Health, teaching certificate and counselling and NLP qualifications, it all worked beautifully.

It was only on being made redundant that I realised there was something missing. I was on auto pilot.

When I eventually finished work, synchronicity entered and family offered us a chance to move to France for a while. Two days after that phone call; an old colleague contacted me as she was moving back to Liverpool from Devon. Voila. We all house shifted.

Spending 5 months in France, we all went, me, my husband and Lucy, my adorable Jack Russell (she got her passport too). Here I immersed myself into my long-standing dream of becoming a writer and artist and I began to write my first book ‘Writing a UCAS personal statement in seven easy steps’. I started with subject matter of what I knew for sure, supported by my work history and background – writing expression statements to apply to university in the UK. I also reignited my passion for art and mixed media, buying a whole lot of art supplies from a lovely lady who was selling them to buy a motorbike. Once again, this sparked my sketching spirit, my love of colour, prisma pencils and paint. In my 5 lovely months, I practiced my French and living in the countryside. C’est moi!

Whilst in France, I began to create my cocoon art commissions for family and friends and I wrote, wrote, wrote, alongside developing my “ME mentoring” – where I support and mentor individuals who are suffering with M.E*/CFS* or Candidaisis, as well as career/lifestyle coaching. All of this I did over Skype.

*Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

Back home to Liverpool having pitched my proposal to a publisher just as I left France, I received ‘the email’ four weeks later to say they wanted to publish it!

I then set about continuing ‘to create the life I wanted to love and live’ back in Liverpool. I began to build a portfolio of work and got a job as a careers coach at a local independent school and also worked in a health food shop – this was my bread and butter money, enabling me then to focus more on my writing and my art around it.

Currently, I work as an external marker for Liverpool John Moores University’s World of Work programme and am putting finishing touches to my second book ‘Creating your First Ever CV in 7 easy steps.’ In April, I will begin my 44 Wisdom Card Project, which will see me complete a set of 44 oracle cards, art work by me, with messages and wisdom inspired by others and written by me and I continue to create my commissions in my quirky cocoon style and have completed 12 in the last year.

There is no doubt our style of life has changed – more so relating to money and expenditure as we are no longer earning a full time salary. Both me and my husband work for ourselves. He used to work in Iraq as a close protection officer and he’s now a passionate earth warrior and keeper of the garden – he’s a gardener. However having become more money aware I feel better off – with my life, my health and my creativity.

With hindsight, I wish I would have taken the leap and gone on some creative retreats sooner. Especially when I was working full time. If I had attended workshops even when I wasn’t ‘doing what I loved’, I would have nourished my creative soul. I went to Portugal in May last year to do a ‘Flora Bowley, Bloom True’ workshop and I wish I had done it years before. It was so releasing.

I now realise that travel and removing yourself from your familiar environment really does get creative juices flowing.

Having my own mentor early on to focus my creative business would have been a good move, to help me plan things a little more. I didn’t have a marketing plan, and still need to develop this side of me.

My big dream is to have my third book published called Healing ME Healing You, all about how I healed myself from ME/CFS when I was in my 20s; have an exhibition of my 44 Wisdom Card Paintings at a wonderful venue in Liverpool; and to illustrate and publish my mum’s poetry. She’s 76 and a poet, now doing what she loves! Big dreams! But then you did ask.

[Images courtesy of Julia Dolowicz Harvey.]

To find out more about Julia visit her website]

Life as a designer-in-progress: Petra Kern’s story

Posted on 2012-03-12 at 7:48 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Today’s shared story comes from Slovenian designer Petra Kern.

I would say my story is very basic and simple. It really is. But as I look back I consider myself quite lucky that things came to me in exactly this order and in this shares. I was journalist for women and lifestyle magazines since I was 19. As a friend said the other day, “Those were the dreams of that life.« But to become pattern designer suddenly became the dream of the life I am living now, and for the future”.

Yes, I always loved art I always longed to make it but I really never had the courage to actually paint and share my things. And I never really knew that a profession such as textile designer or surface designer even existed!

We all know those little nagging voices inside of us: ‘There are so many better than you. Oh, how would you do the art, you do not, repeat do not, have any art education. So we really need another artist anyway … ?’ Luckily the other »do what you love« voices were louder.

One day in 2009 I went shopping and my eyes were caught on set of cheap sparkling markers for kids. With those I created my first patterns.

These were my very first patterns and they made me drunk with joy and happiness.

It felt so good, that one glorious day when I was still on maternity leave (in 2010) I decided that I have to do this every day of my life or I am going to be very, very unfulfilled and miserable by the time I am eighty. Of course lots of fears came with my decision to do whatever it takes to live from my art and designs. I guess I can count myself lucky that every time I get down because of worries and self doubt those spirit-lifting voices suddenly appear with super strong power and scare those fears away for a while.

In two years my hand painted portfolio of patterns has grown, and I have tried every technique I’ve learned along the way.

I am still searching for my place in the world and right now I would describe myself as designer-in-progress who is ready to offer designs for licensing. I had to discover the whole new world of painting, mixed media, pattern design and computer skills in those two solid years. Now is time to find people and companies that will license my designs.

In your own business you overcome a lot of laziness and self doubt. I got through them with new computer pattern designing skills. I am totally self taught.

The greatest lesson my new business is teaching me every day is that once you have your own business nothing is too hard. You suddenly find a great amount of will inside you and a giant hunger for knowledge. Suddenly your little world become so much bigger and when you look around yourself you find that you are among your people who also do what they love. And one more thing – since I am doing what I love I am a person who loves Mondays. For me they are a beginning of a five day creative process. Totally worth it!

[All images courtesy of Petra Kern.]

Find out more about Petra and her designs on her website, Etsy shop, or Zazzle shop, or connect on Facebook.

Stepping into my creative self: Stacy Chizuk shares her story

Posted on 2012-03-05 at 9:00 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Today’s shared story comes from Stacy Chizuk who has a background in social work and a passion for photography.

Doing what I love is like unplugging from time. When I step into my creative self, I am not bogged down by thoughts of “to do” lists or haunted by plaguing “what-ifs” or the self-destructive “shoulds”. When I do what I love, that ticking clock in my head stops and a joy emerges that I often forget dwells in my soul.

I picked up a camera when my first son was born six years ago and I never put it down. My Canon is always thrown around my neck, riding shot gun in my car or stuffed down inside my diaper bag. I started with a basic point and shoot and have gradually upgraded throughout the years. My grandfather was a photographer and on his deathbed five years ago he asked me to carry on the tradition of photographing the family. I agreed wholeheartedly. Growing up I never understood why he would take my sister’s and my photographs so often. We would groan and hide from his large Nikon lens, especially during those awkward pre-pubescent years (picture the 80’s hair coupled with heavy black eyeliner). Then after the birth of my first child I understood. I appreciated the desire to capture a moment of time. In capturing that moment I discovered the challenge to comprehend the magic and mathematics of the light, decipher the mechanics of the camera, and to gaze through the lens as if my own kaleidoscope into the world. I became addicted.

I left the field of social work after giving birth to my first child. However, I still wanted to give back in some way without feeling I was losing myself in the giving. I had always loved writing since I was a child and taking the quote from a random postcard I purchased in one of those funky incense-smelling shops, I decided to “take the leap and build my wings on the way down” and I started a photography blog. My intention was to only post photos but it unfolded into a forum for me to write. I write for myself. I write to set free the incessant, sometimes humorous, sometimes solemn thoughts that camp inside my head. When I began to hear my authentic self in my words and see that self in my photographs, I discovered a feeling best described as a liminal moment. A liminal moment as described by author Rebecca Wells in her book Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, “Those moments apart from time, when you are gripped, taken, when you are so fully absorbed in what you are doing that time ceases to exist.” So I began Liminal Moments Photography.

Since starting my blog and a small photography business, I have been able to incorporate a piece of my social work self in photographing children in foster care that are looking for an adoptive family. Many of these children love the personal attention a photo shoot brings and they often are my favorite kids to capture!

Their ability to smile and shine despite traumatic childhoods is inspirational. When I see my photographs of these children displayed in public arenas, I feel both excited because the photograph truly captures their spirit, yet heartbroken because the reality is their pictures are there because they need a family to love them. My goal in taking their photo is to capture their essence, their spirit, their love. If I can do that, then hopefully I will have helped them in some small part along their journey.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes in her book Women Who Run With the Wolves, “a woman’s creative ability is her most valuable asset, for it gives outwardly and it feeds her inwardly at every level: psychic, spiritual, mental, emotive, and economic.” When I hold my camera in my hands or free my words through my blog out into cyberspace, I feel as though my soul is being fed. I hope it touches others and helps to ignite their creative spark.

[Images courtesy of Stacy Chizuk.]

To find out more about Stacy visit her website.

***

Join us for The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, – next class starts in April!

Les papeteries

Posted on 2012-03-01 at 2:00 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

Paris and paper are an intoxicating combination. One particular street in the 4th Arondissement, rue du Pont Louis-Phillippe, is home to Calligrane (I literally couldn’t speak this shop was so beautiful), Papier Plus and Melodies Graphiques. The handmade paper, precision and care of display, beauty and textures on every surface, ahhhhhh it was just perfect.

Take a look…

I also love Intaglio which has shops in both the North and South of Paris.

Take a look at this fab little video from Jamie Kripke/Visa which gives you a glimpse inside Melodies Graphiques.

More Paris posts here: Parisian markets / Paris story / Parisian cafes / Paris details / Window shopping in Paris

Paris story

Posted on 2012-02-28 at 9:28 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

Stole away from my desk for a little trip to Paris a week ago, visiting my first ever trade show and trying out my new camera. It was just what I needed, even though it was for ‘work’. I also had the most wonderful crazy serdipitous happening occur, but more about that another day.

All this week I am going to share some photo stories of my wanderings. Forgive me for my lack of words this week – running, running, running – and anyway, Paris doesn’t need words…

More Paris posts here: Parisian markets / Paris story / Les papeteries / Parisian cafes / Paris details / Window shopping in Paris

I was in Paris researching The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design – join us for the next course starting in April!

Britt Berg shares her story

Posted on 2012-02-27 at 12:34 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

Today’s shared story comes from Britt Berg.

Every day I pinch myself, wondering: How did I get so lucky? Have I really been able to find a career that I am passionate about? I am so thankful that every day I get to do what I love.

What am I doing – what is this thing that I love so very much? Every day, I get paid to write about pregnancy, fertility, and women’s health. And I get to do it from home. I write health articles and blog posts about reproduction, babies, and birthing. I love this!

Before I begin, I must confess that becoming a writer was never my lifelong dream. I always liked writing, but I wasn’t the girl in high school and college who was constantly dreaming of becoming a writer. So how in the world did I get here?

I guess you could say that I let my interests, not money or other people’s expectations, or any other conventions, guide my career. In college I threw practicality and convention to the wind. I studied what I loved, what fascinated me: issues of race, class, and gender, radical feminist theory, breastfeeding trends around the world, natural childbirth, meditation, and more. I took yoga and dance classes. I did what I loved. This combination of interests led me to go on to complete a Master’s degree in counseling psychology, with a focus on yoga and dance therapy as healing methods. Yoga therapy. Yup. Sigh.

And then it was time to get a real job.

Yoga therapy was awesome, but I wasn’t sure that I could really make a living as a yoga therapist. So I took my psychology expertise and started working at Emory University on psychological research studies. I worked with great people and started climbing the ladder into upper level research management positions. But I never felt fulfilled. I always wanted more. I wanted to love my job. I wanted to make more money with the time I had. I wanted to feel passionate about what I was doing. And I wanted to feel more connected to my home and family.

There was just one problem. My husband and I had two children, and he was in over his head in graduate school working on his PhD. I was supposed to carry this family of four financially until he was finished with school – several long years later.

Patience, however, was not my strong point. I was determined and I decided to go for it. In October 2008, at the beginning of his third year of graduate school, we sat down with spreadsheets and talked extensively, planning out how we could make my dream job a reality. We crunched numbers, drew up a very austere monthly budget and saved everything we could. Three months later, I cut my research job down to part-time and I tried to get as many freelance writing jobs as I could. I attended writing workshops, met other writers for coffee, and brainstormed ways to make this work. I networked and was very fortunate to have some very big “ins” into the world of health writing (you know who you are!)

I worked part-time for a year, slowly building my writing portfolio, writing for major online health websites. That year, I co-authored my first book – the second edition of Making a Baby – a book about pregnancy and infertility. Then, right after Christmas 2009, I was offered a two-month contract writing about pregnancy and infertility that paid really well. The money would allow me to save up enough money to leave my day job. I took the leap and quit my day job. I was a writer!

During those first few months, I became pregnant with our third child. So here we were: a graduate student, a brand new freelance writer, and three small children. Not exactly the most secure existence imaginable.

Thankfully, my career was blossoming. I was busy. I was full. As 2010 continued, I was making a surprisingly good hourly rate. I had to turn down multiple writing jobs because I was so busy. Recruiters would call and I couldn’t even consider those offers. Two years after taking this wonderful leap, I am still full – beyond full. I am making a very satisfying income doing what I love.

Doing what I love isn’t just about the writing or the women’s health focus, though, although I truly love my job and have a passion for these things. Doing what I love also means that I have a better work-life balance than I was able to have when I worked outside the home. As a mother of three, this is beyond valuable. While I miss the social contact of working outside of the home at times, I am so blessed and thankful that I can make a living working here at home.

World community, I believe that it is possible for you to go out and achieve your dream job. I am living proof that you CAN do it. Yes, you will have to make sacrifices. Yes, you may have to give up many things that you enjoy to make it happen. Yes, you will have to work your arse off. But as I continue on this path doing what I love, I am meeting more and more people that are finding creative and fulfilling ways to make a living doing what they love. Through telling my story here, I hope you will understand and believe that your dreams are within your reach.

Every day I pinch myself: Is this really true? Am I really so fortunate to be living my dream? Do I really get to wake up every day and do this job that I love? Thankfully, gratefully, miraculously, yes! YES! It is real, and it is so wonderful.

So think about what it is that you love, what it is that moves you, what it is that drives you…

…And do it.

[All images by John Berg.]

Find out more about Britt here and get your copy of Making a Baby here.

Do What You Love interview – Andrew Ooi

Posted on 2012-02-23 at 8:30 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Today’s Do What You Love interview is with Andrew Ooi, a Canadian ‘free folding artist’ who creates exquisite works from paper. I am slightly jealous of Andrew as he has exhibited at the ‘World Washi Summit’ which sounds like my idea of heaven! I delighted to be able to introduce his work to you, and get a glimpse into his life surrounded by paper.

(more…)