Surface Pattern Design

Art Deco Inspired Architectural Birds Collection

This might be one of my favorite collections of all time. Inspired by Art Deco, with swallows because they just seem to be the most architectural birds out there.

A new holiday collection featuring gingerbread men, snowflakes, and pines. This is a traditional pattern and available in seamless repeat from my Fine Art America shop.

As seen in MIX Magazine from Colour Hive!

A few months ago, I opened an email from Marie at Colour Hive asking if I would allow the use one of my designs in a report she was preparing. I know Colour Hive is a trend forecasting company (they have AMAZING resources for designers) and naturally I said YES! I just received the screen shot and I can’t even put into words how excited I am to see my sea urchin print in Volume 65 of MIX…

How to know what sells for you

I thought we’d switch it up a bit and talk about the business side of art.  I’ve invested countless sleepless nights trying to decide what direction to take my art in, but the truth is when I sit down to design I really am inspired more by my imagination than by a certain aesthetic.  I tend to be a “seat of my pants” sort of artist because as I’m playing around with my designs I discover…

Abstract Layers Floral Print Collection

Abstract flower shapes, leaves with loads of texture, and scribbles all over with a smattering of subtle dots – this collection is fashion forward and trendy.

Hiking Frog – now I’m getting somewhere!

Yes, I’m still on my creature adventure, and this time I think I really see some improvement.  I started with a nice photo of a lightning struck tree and looked around the image for a place to situate my creature.  I decided this looks like a place where a little frog might pause in his hike to take in the view.

I did  a rough sketch of my frog (and found myself looking for “frog leg anatomy” on…

I completed my first creature and I’m not mad at the result – but the point was/is to improve my skills – so I can’t expect my first attempt to be completely brilliant because I’m working on new subject matter, and actually MULTIPLE new areas are involved in this process.

Not only am I doing figure work, but the creatures don’t really exist in nature, and I’m incorporating photography into this…

My new obsession – forest creatures

Inspired by my new art class – Aaron Blaise’s Hidden Creatures of the Forest – I have become obsessed with creating little creatures and putting them into forest environments I photographed.  It’s bad…like wakes me up at 4:00 a.m. bad.  Like gave me an art-related arm injury bad.  No kidding, I had to sleep with a heating pad because my forearm was over-stressed from drawing.  And on a daily…

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My Summer Art Class

Every summer I try to take an art class that is different from what I do every day as a pattern designer.  Recently, I’ve been looking a lot at illustration, and I have a few illustrators whose work I adore – but I am so not an illustrator.  I am a painter – and I see illustration as having a level of complexity and precision that I just don’t have in my art.  Scrolling through Instagram I came…

Cleaning up my “orphan” print files

I like to design in collections – it brings cohesion to my portfolio and allows me to fully explore a concept or technique before I move on to a new project.  Collections give me multiple options for my customers and allows me the freedom to experiment with colors and layouts without reinventing the wheel.

But not all of my prints fit well with a collection and since I’m prone to wandering…

How to create an Instagram Puzzle

I’m stupidly excited that I managed to create my first Instagram puzzle.  I’ve seen the accounts that use these and I think they’re so cool – but I thought it would be super hard to do it, so I just let it slide until tonight.  I saw someone posting that they’d sell you the templates and instructions to do this – but I realized that with Canva, I could probably work out my own method to build one.

I love this pattern collection because it’s so personal – both to the times we live in and to me.  It was inspired by the places we go to feel at peace while we heal.  During the pandemic, I really hunkered down in my own home, surrounded by pine trees – and felt secure and insulated from the outside world.  This collection is available for licensing through my Fine Art America site.

Pines and…

When you’re stuck…

I seem to struggle a lot with being stuck.  Still.  I kept thinking that would go away, but for some reason I start a new collection and wind up in the same place – somewhat happy with what I’ve created but unable to recapture that feeling that a few of my collections produced.  That euphoria that the new collection is without a doubt the best I have created so far.  When I look at a collection…