Thrive - Behind the scenes of a collection

There's something wonderfully cozy and heartwarming about folk art. It lends a sense of community, shared history, family and tradition; and with the holiday season right around the corner, it seemed only fitting to embrace the feeling of "togetherness" this theme conveys.

I've always fallen hard for the crafts and beautiful embellishments. Folk art is created in a wide array of mediums, my favorites being embroidery, beading and hand painting. I also love the bright colors associated with folk art, though to challenge convention, I implemented a cool-colored analogous color scheme, benching my favorite pinks and yellows that so often find their way into my work.

Below, you'll find a page from my sketchbook where I played with all kinds of European folk art motifs and patterns. Working initially in pen is perfect for the brainstorming stage of a project because it allows the artist to "think" less and quiet their inner critic. When you can't erase an imperfect design, you move on to the next clean space and just keep drawing, encouraging experimentation.

As I've said before, the design process is sprinkled with false starts and misdirection. But these early ideas help me move on to the next big, potentially winning concept. They push me forward. They prove whether an idea I have will work aesthetically or not. Sometimes traces of these early versions end up in my final six designs, and other times, they are archived and filled with future purpose. If you scroll down, it's interesting to see the minor changes between my works-in-progress (directly below) and my finished collection, all of which began using elements from my early renditions.

This pattern collection is one that became unexpectedly close to my heart as I began to emotionally connect the designs I created. Though "Thrive" is essentially a pattern collection inspired by the stories passed down through culture and ancestry, it also pays special tribute to my grandfather, who loved gardening, sharing stories, and who, after his passing, found his way back to our family in the form of a hummingbird (the reasons behind my floral and hummingbird motifs). To this day, hummingbirds hold a cherished, family meaning for us. They remind us of my grandpa's life philosophy: To work hard, but to also make time to taste the sweetness life has to offer...to not just survive, but to thrive.