Ever think about the weather patterns of the seasons? This week will continue to be a rollercoaster of weather with the snow and thaw cycle of early spring on full display. Lately I've been more and more intrigued as I start to look at colours and patterns in the depictions of weather through radar. Its swirling cycles will always have me completely outmatched in the complexity and unpredictability department, but perhaps this will be the next inspiration for a pattern collection! These bands of snow will be blowing in off Lake Huron later this evening.
Just when all the snow has melted, we're ready for another episode!
When My Patterns Meet Products
As a pattern designer, my goal is to see my designs printed on consumer products. Pattern design is, after all, accessible decorative art. Think of the damask wall coverings in a grand country house, or the patterns on the shirt you’re wearing. Wallpaper and bolt fabrics are among the many applications that feature the work of countless pattern designers around the world and that add a touch of beauty to your daily life.
With my background in graphic design and printing, it made sense for me to begin producing my own products rather than immediately pursuing the longer-term path of licensing my designs to third parties. But that raised an obvious question: how do I choose which patterns to print when there are hundreds of my designs to consider?
Often my decision begins close to home. Many of my patterns reflect local townscapes and landscapes, and the details I notice in everyday surroundings. Other patterns emerge more intuitively, as a response to colour, texture, or an idea that develops while I’m drawing. I usually share new designs with friends, family, and online communities to gather feedback before the artwork is finalized.
Once a pattern makes the cut, my next step is deciding what product suits it best. I started with tea towels a couple of years ago. I find this textile format feels surprisingly familiar with my background in print design on paper. A tea towel is small enough to hold in your hands, but large enough to showcase a more complex design.
One of my newest designs - Towers of St. Marys - bordered by the band and stripe.
As soon as I had chosen the format, I used my graphic design skills to lay out the overall look of the towel, creating a template that I can use for future designs. I've used simple elements, including a band and stripe border, to create a recognizable brand style.
After some early success selling these towels, I’ve begun expanding into other home décor items, including throw pillow covers, and later this year, table runners and placemats. Since table runners are a new size ratio, I’ll be producing a few samples to check on the scale, colour and material before committing to a larger run.
Looking ahead, I plan to reach out to more local businesses for partnership opportunities and to participate in community events such as the St. Marys Farmer’s Market. My experience so far suggests that there is a strong appetite for locally designed products. The challenge, as always, is continuing to find new ways to connect those designs with the people who might enjoy them.
Persistent Inspirations in My Pattern Designs
I’ve been thinking a lot about design periods and artists who continue to inspire me. Whether I know their names or not, their work continues to reach out across time and space to find their places in my creative heart.
Art Nouveau/Arts and Crafts
The whiplash curve of Art Nouveau motifs has appealed to me for decades. Women, and botanical elements such as poppies, lillies, honeysuckle and acanthus leaves are consistent subjects. The level of craft in these hand painted pieces grow even more impressive as my knowledge of pattern design widens. In my travels around Europe, I often made it a priority to seek out the expression of art nouveau themes across countries.
Tied in with this aesthetic is the Arts and Crafts movement, spearheaded by William Morris in the UK, in which makers sought to handcraft and decorate everything including architecture, furniture, stained glass, silver, textiles and wallpaper. I aspire to live life in a creative way and include making ceramics, photography, gardening, cooking and baking and designing patterns in my daily life.
William Morris' and Co. wallpaper swatch, 1915. (Creative Commons)
Tryptic panel for Glasgow Tea Rooms by Margaret Mackintosh from 1900. (Creative Commons)
Hexanthus by Katherine Moffat.
Illuminated Medieval Manuscripts
Over the course of centuries, talented and sometimes unnamed miniaturist artists and scribes created masterpieces of illustrative art around sacred texts. They used decorative borders, dense storytelling in small spaces and stylized plants and animals. Whether it’s the Book of Kells, the Lindisfarne Gospels or any number of precious volumes created on parchment and vellum in the Middle Ages, these are endlessly fascinating. I am enjoying building up my own storytelling designs with dense motifs.
Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels with intricate knotwork and stylized animals. (Creative Commons)
Flemish artist Simon Bening (1483-1561) painted these incredible borders in this Spanish Rosary volume. (Creative Commons)
Detail from my finished Shakespeare and Swans pattern.
Mixed Geometrics
My interest in geometrics goes back to my art school days and learning about the work of Paul Klee. Klee was a master of colour theory and colour blocking. He produced an astonishing quantity and range of intuitive, expressive and inventive work over his lifetime. He often contrasted his large areas of colour with spidery fine lines.
In my own drawings I often take a similar approach. I combine geometric shapes with textured marks and occasional representational elements. Using markers and fine liners, I create areas of colour and draw over them with thin marks, creating a balance between structure and spontaneity.
From there I begin to experiment. I take slices of these drawings and rearrange them into repeating patterns. What begins as a loose geometric composition can evolve into a complex and sometimes surprising repeat.
Paul Klee, Hafenbild, 1918. (Creative Commons)
Katherine Moffat, Houses, 2023
One of the pattern results when taking a slice of my drawing and re-constructing it into a repeating pattern.
It's a fascinating exercise to look back at my growing body of work, always aware that there is a long line of artists and creators predating my life that continue to have a strong influence on my output.
Putting a Hex on You
This is nothing nefarious, I promise! It's just a free copy of my Hexanthus Pattern for you to use digitally or in print, whatever you choose. May it bring some lightness to your day!
I use the classic acanthus leaf in a hexagonal design.
Online Shop
My Farmiliar Places Collection tea towels are now available online. Shipping is calculated according to the total order and is available only in Canada. I deeply appreciate all of you that have already been customers of my work and provided feedback and encouragement!
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