There are several meanings attached to May 1. It can refer to a series of festivals, derived from pagan traditions and celebrated across European countries.
Maypole, Padstow Cornwall, UK Bryan Ledgard - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ledgard/496597063/
There is International Worker's Day, first commemorated in the late 19th century on May 1 in support of the 8-hour work day.
German Protest SPÖ Presse und Kommunikation - 1 Mai 2013
And of course, "mayday, mayday, mayday" is a phrase that portends doom for planes and ships. It was coined in the earlier 20th century from the french phrase 'm'aider', or 'help me'. May 1 is the start of the countdown to planting my gardens, so by now, we're getting close to transplanting day! Enjoy the rest of the month.
Switching My Patterns
Looking back into the history of surface pattern design, repeats were created entirely by hand. Designers painted or drew their motifs with incredible precision before the artwork was carved into woodblocks or metal plates that would be printed in multiple layers of colour. The real challenge was getting the registration perfectly aligned so the motifs met precisely at the edges of the swatch, and the repeat appeared seamless to the viewer. It’s no wonder wallpaper and printed textiles were once luxuries reserved for the wealthiest homes.
This watercolour art, handpainted and designed in the late 1800s by Lachaise and Gourdet, demonstrates the precision required for translation to wallpaper. The yellow box shows the repeat.
As a 21st century surface designer, the same artistic principles underlie pattern design, but now software does much of the heavy lifting by facilitating pixel-perfect repeats. I create motifs through drawing, painting, photography, or digital line work and then use specialized programs to build exact repeating patterns.
For decades, the dominant software company in the design, photography and video space has been Adobe. As a graphic designer, I started using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign back in the early 1990s. Those same programs became part of my transition into surface design years later. Since I’ve now worked inside the same software environment for decades, my workflow is almost automatic. I switch between the three main programs with ease. I don’t think too hard about where tools are located or how the files are built. I know dozens of keyboard shortcuts by heart.
Over time though, I’ve watched these programs become increasingly complex and expensive. Features multiply, menus expand, and sometimes, there seems to be four different ways to accomplish the same task. As a solo creative business, the growing subscription cost has also become harder to ignore.
So, I’ve made a decision to do something I didn’t expect at this point in the journey -- learning a completely different set of design programs from the Affinity suite (for a significantly lower cost). It feels a bit like switching languages when I’m already completely fluent. The new language is familiar, but there is also a raft of new vocabulary and terms to master. Potentially changing programs means temporarily becoming a beginner again, and that’s uncomfortable at any age.
Still, I’m confident that learning new software is well within my capabilities. With the pace of change, ongoing software updates and the constantly expanding landscape of new apps to absorb, I think most of us have become inured to the learning curve. In my view, it is time well spent in re-evaluating whether the tools I use still serve my purposes and whether this up-and-coming competitor can measure up or even surpass them.
This is one of my own hand drawn patterns showing the repeat. I used Adobe Photoshop to deconstruct and rebuild this combination of elements from the original piece of art.
The clock is ticking towards my next annual Adobe renewal, so I’m experimenting, testing, and keeping an open mind. Whether I make the full switch or hang on to an old standby just in case, the experience has already reminded me that creative practice is never static. Design may begin with my imagination, but behind every pattern is a surprising amount of technical infrastructure holding everything together.
Creating Community Connections
On May 2, I co-hosted a sale of my products at my mother’s apartment in Toronto. In years past when I made pottery, we had done some sales together, and it always proved to be an enjoyable way to re-connect and introduce people to my latest creative endeavours.
Her lovely place is close to public transit and she has a long list of friends both at the apartment and in her wider community. I also invited a few of my friends as well. A number of the attendees are also subscribers to this newsletter!
I decided to call the sale Drawn to Pattern and shared email invites and printed flyers. My mom was able to do lots of in-person outreach too.
We held the open house style sale over two shifts: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm for her fellow residents and 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm for her wider community. I enjoyed chatting and explaining the basics of pattern design with all of them. Trying to describe more complex compositions such as a half-drop construction proved more challenging and required lots of wild hand gesturing! The day offered the opportunity to catch up on people’s lives and to meet many new people for the first time.
We provided some snacks and fruit punch, and people were free to look around at 12 of my designs on tea towels, 8 designs on 18” cushion covers, and 5 designs on 7.5' x 14” table runners.
I printed ten of this pattern above, Besque Blossom, from my Arabesque on Point collection. It’s printed on a material called cotton slub which mimics linen. Using ceramics from Morocco as a perfect complement was a great way to show this item in use. The others on display at the back of the table are samples of a few different patterns to help gather feedback before I decide to print more (or not). One of these patterns, Garden Geometry, second from the left, is a complementary design from the same Arabesque collection in a brighter colourway (it was sold). I printed cushion covers in this same pattern (see below) in a more muted colourway and these have also sold out. This will help me make decisions in the future about reprints.
This is my selection of towels from my Farmiliar Places Collection along with a new pattern called Goats of Perth County that fits right in.
Farmiliar Places with a new group of goaty friends!
My towels that feature landscape and spot patterns and my newest renaissance foliage style design (on the right) about my own town, St. Marys, proved popular for a big city crowd.
Towers of St. Marys is a new addition to my pattern collection featuring my lovely town.
Finally, I was humbled by the response to my towels that touch on my creative process including this one that I called My Cup Overflows. I find these meta designs about the process of making patterns are appealing when I am there in person to explain the concepts. The other design is my newest - Shakespeare and Swans.
My Cup Overflows includes a collection of patterns pouring down into a tea cup.
For those of you who may be interested in some of these items, I’ve updated my online shop.
Give It Away, Now
Here's a little pattern I created for Mother's Day that would be great printed out as a card. I realize the hectic Mother's Day marketing has passed, but here's hoping we can celebrate all the mothers in our life any time of year!
Several of my tea towels are now available online and I've added several table runners and pillow covers to the shop as well. Shipping is calculated according to the total order amount and is available only in Canada. I deeply appreciate all of you that have already been customers of my work and have provided feedback and encouragement! Over time, I hope to add more to the catalogue.
By the third weekend of May, I'll be attending the St. Marys Farmer's Market in person, selling all of my wares including my vinyl stickers. See you there!
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