They've Arrived!! - samples from my new 'Give Thanks" collection for a leading fabric manufacturer!

These samples arrived at the weekend.  I knew they were on their way but I didn't know how great they'd look!  The details are printed brilliantly and the colours are just singing!  I loved creating this group of designs - there were also turkeys, squirrels and pumpkins.  The rich autumnal colours were a bit of a departure for me (as were the turkeys) but these have ended up being some of my favourite designs from my own collection.
This is now my third group of fabrics produced by this well know manufacturer and if they'd let me, I shout their name from the rooftops!!
I've photographed them with some fuschia pink bougainvillea from my garden and my new 1970's paperweight because they set off the pinks and oranges in  the designs so beautifully.
The paper weight actually has an interesting (if sad)  story behind it - but I'll leave that for another blog post another day.

Do these colours say 'Italy'?

I've been in Rome for four years now and have been planning (and failing) to do a series of Italian themed designs since we arrived.  Well - Summer's on the horizon again -  the sky is blue, flowers are draping themselves over the walls, we're planning trips to Tuscany and the Island of Ponza,  and I spent yesterday morning running around the center of Rome, past the Colosseum and the Forum, in The Race for the Cure.  I'm feeling inspired.
I've started with a series of illustrated Italian scenes (the sea, the countryside, the city etc) and am planning to continue the theme into smaller, repeated, all-over co-ordinates for fabrics and finally food related designs, suitable for kitchen-ware.
The big question was color.  How would I do this without turning it into a big, old, rustic cliche - i.e. without using red, green and white (the colours of the flag are evocative of Italy and it's cuisine but are so overdone and are very Christmassy looking too)?  
How would I make it modern yet distinctly Italian, retro cool but also bright and warm? After hours of messing about with about fifty colour combinations (went down the acid yellow route for a while - eek!) I hit on this - and I'm really pleased with it.
Here's how my brain worked;
Soft tomatoey red - perfect for when I need to draw...an Italian tomato. It lends warmth (think old, enameled pots and kettles) and is a compromise on the Italian flag red too.
Fleshy, shell pink - always useful for people and compliments the red.
Salmon pink - like the stucco on so many houses here (including mine).  Also good for people.
Retro blue - covers both sky and sea.  It was inspired by a beautiful, brand new Fiat I saw parked outside the local cafe the other day.
Dark teal/French Navy - for high contrast but also a crisp, smart, contemporary neutral.
Minty green - need I explain this?  It creeps into everything I do.  My studio is this color.  But it does serve a purpose too.  It's a beautiful, popping accent colour and evokes the traditional green part of the Italian flag  - and I can't do food/plants/countryside without a bit of green!
Soft warm-toned grey - a much needed neutral and another favourite of mine (my living room!). I think it's a modern and sophisticated alternative to beige and makes everything look updated.  
Warm, peachy ivory - adds to the warmth yet lifts the designs with some light and space.
I've posted a sneak peek of the group with these slices (above) from two of the designs.  I'll post the rest when they're done!
What do you think?  

I WON!!!!!!!!!

http://tigerprint.typepad.com/competition/2013/05/female-surface-pattern-competition-the-results.html

Ha ha ha!!!!
1st go - nothing.
2nd go - shortlisted to top ten.
3rd go - Runner Up.
4th go - Yahooooo!!!!!
I am soooooo happy today!  In case you're wondering why... I entered my designs in the Female Surface Pattern Tigerprint Competition along with 700 other designs and this morning I found out I'd won!!
It's my 4th attempt and I seem to have made an incremental progression each time from no result to winner.
Tigerprint produces beautifully designed products for Marks and Spencers and it's a real honour to have their design team recognise my work.   Thank you so much to all of you talented, hardworking Tigerprint designers/judges!!  You've made my day!

Merry Christmas!

It's been 4 months since Christmas and I was missing the miserable weather, the weight gain, the stress and the expense so much that I thought I'd cheer myself up by drawing some bits of holly and a snowman!
The added bonus is that Christmas ALWAYS sells.  It's great to have a well-rounded portfolio with birthday cakes, Valentines hearts, sweet little animals etc - but you can almost guarantee a Christmas sale if you get the recipe right - a recognizable palette and familiar imagery with a little fresh twist.  I LOVE designing for Christmas.  I'd happily do it all year round.  Since everyone's been saving up their pennies for a big splurge at Surtex I thought I'd get some Christmas designs sent out beforehand and try to tempt them.  That's my cunning strategy so don't tell anyone!

My Prize for being a Tigerprint Competition Runner Up!

Look what I got in the post.  Was a bit mystified at first as couldn't remember ordering this from Amazon but then it all clicked into place.  Who loves inventive Typography?  Those folks at Tigerprint!  It's my prize for being Runner-Up in their Male Pattern Competition!  Have started to read it and, while I can appreciate that a book on the history of fonts might not be everyone's idea of a good read, it's actually really interesting - just read the part about the horrible creep Eric Gill, of Gill Sans fame!  Who knew that a typographer could be so repugnant.  You want to know what he did now don't you!  Well you'll have to read the book! (or you could look it up on Wikipedia I suppose).

Dude

Okay - attempt number 3 at the Tigerprint competition.  Last time I got shortlisted so this time I'm hoping I'm in with a chance. The theme is Male Send - i.e. something blokey.  I liked the word 'dude' because it looks like a simple geo in itself so I added it to some blokey motifs and used a contemporary menswear palette.  I'll be honest - I was actually thinking of young Harry Styles when I drew those bowties! Wish me luck!!!!

The Garbatella

I spent Easter this year lying in bed mainly sweating.  I was struck down with a flu type thing on Wednesday and didn't get up until Saturday. On Sunday there was a feast at Nonno's, which was another day spent indoors, and by Monday I felt like a goldfish swimming around a tiny bowl.
So off we marched to visit The Garbatella in Rome and take a few photos.  My husband was born in this neighborhood and took me there last Summer for the first time - and I was blown away!
It was built in the 1920s and was based on the model of the British social housing of that time - blocks of housing surrounding communal gardens.  The original inhabitants were laborers from rural villages so they tried to incorporate rustic, medieval architectural features into the housing blocks or "lottos" as they were called.  The combination of the "modern", social aesthetic with the old, rustic one creates one of the most unusual neighbourhoods I've ever seen.  The other element that adds to the "film set" quality of the housing is the general state of disrepair.  Most of the walls are grey, showing barely a trace of the original paintwork, graffiti (largely political) is everywhere, rusting air conditioning units hang under ornate balconies.  It appears to be a lost world of low-rise houses amidst a typical urban sprawl of high-rise apartments.  It's still inhabited by blue-collar Romans who've passed the leases down through generations.  Washing still hangs from every building but gentrification is also evident in the odd carefully stripped door and strategically placed Bougainvillea.  Some of the houses have already been renovated with a charmless, yellow stucco but I imagine that over the next few years the whole thing is going to be transformed - not necessarily for the best.  As unshaved men in wife-beater vests hang out of netted windows smoking (yes - really.  I'm not making this up), Prada-wearing iphone-users amble beneath the magnolia branches.  I'd love to buy a property there but it's already way out of our reach!