Welcome back all, to another week's worth of my 'ABSPD Featured Designers'. Today I share the work and a mini interview, from the fabulous Claire Smillie.
Claire is the brains and beauty behind the hugely successful Passion for Pattern Bloghop 2, Which I took part in last month. Here is the link to have a read through if you managed to miss out .
And here is the link to the first round which I wasn't a part of, but spent most of my day reading.
Here is a little background information about Claire:
Can you tell me a little bit about your background in Surface Pattern Design?
From a really young age I have always been inspired creatively. I remember many a summer holiday spent creating my own little 'magazines' and 'fashion designs'.
As I grew up and became a mummy, I became a BIG scrapbooker and found the amazing worlds of mixed media and art journaling. I loved this new found creative world I was in. It was so addictive,all I wanted to do was to create. I felt like I had found exactly where I was meant to be.
Whilst scrapbooking I was always surrounded by pretty papers, gorgeous embellishments and beautiful designs. I had a head full of ideas and I felt so inspired to create my own designs to incorporate within my scrapbooking and to share with others.
I have always had a strong knowledge of computers and started to expand my knowledge of photoshop and illustrator to execute these ideas and begin creating my dream.
What made you apply for the ABSPD course and what have you gained from it so far?
It was because of this dream to create my own scrapbooking line that I signed up for ABSPD. In fact, to be more precise it was actually a tweet, from the wonderful Claudine Hellmuth, that made me first hear about the course and want to take it. i remember clicking on the tweet and reading all about the course. I couldn't believe my luck, it seemed right up my street! I was so excited. Throughout the course, I have learnt so much about the world of surface pattern design and now my dream is much bigger than just a scrapbooking line!
Can you describe your style and what methods you use to create your designs?
I always start with pen and paper (although more recently, that should be pencil and paper!) Once I have a motif I love, I will scan it into my computer and digitally manipulate to create my designs. Although my motif designs are usually created using pen, they are often inspired by my own personal artwork. I recently explored 'intuitive Painting' and so much imagery started to emerge within my paintings. I knew a lot of these would make great starting points for further collections, so I decided to start photographing and sketching the imagery for use later and boy am I glad I did! I now have a great little collection of sketches to use!
Where do you see your work progressing in the next few years, and what industry would you say you are aiming at?
I dream of having a collection in Paperchase, but I would also LOVE a range of Textiles and Home Decor products. Think cushions, wallpaper, duvet covers. I absolute love, love, love those antique looking chairs which have been covered with modern fabric and I would love to have one of my designs used on one of those!
Here are Claire's Latest Collection of Designs.
Fabulous yes?
Find Out more about Claire and her wonderful creations here:
www.clairesmillie.com
www.clairesmillie.wordpress.com
www.twitter.com/claire_smillie
www.facebook.com/designedbyclairesmillie
www.envelop.eu/shop/designers/p/detail/claire_smillie
http://society6.com/ClaireSmillie
http://clairesmillie.tumblr.com/
www.redbubble.com/people/clairesmillie
Until Next time.
