pattern love

So, who has signed up for SEWN? (Did you see what I did there?)  

This is a delightful class about creating pattern and sewn paper products from Mary Ann Moss at Dispatch From La

When I saw the #sewnclass hash tags all over Instagram from Sandra Kaye (@sandielovestoart on IG or sandrakayedesigns.blogspot.com) and Cat (@sea_story on IG or seaskystone.blogspot.com) I thought ooh, this looks different.  But is it me?  I'm a painter right? Do I want to make patterns? Shouldn't I be painting?  

But the thing is I haven't been painting for about a month now :-(   I'm not sure what's going on but my energy is very low so I had been thinking I needed something light and playful but with a bit of direction; something that would take me out of myself.  

I hummed and hawed about SEWN for a couple of days but mainly due to encouragement from Sandie and Cat (and seeing all the gorgeous work appearing from other lovely peeps on IG) I decided to go for it. And I'm so glad I did!

Who knew pattern making would be so addictive?

It's not so difficult to work out really.  I love making mandalas, and they are patterns of a particular kind.

My own paintings are full of pattern - albeit irregular pattern

I love to wear pattern

And my most favourite painter of all time is Matisse, master pattern painter of them all

Purple Robe and Anemones (Baltimore Museum of Art)

So I'm having a good time, hooked on painting patterns and now I'm making products with the pattern papers - this sewn paper book cover is my first project.  I've never sewn paper before; it produces such a beautiful textured product - I'm loving it. 

And I think, some weeks down the line, this is all going to feed back into my painting practice.  After all, my favourite contemporary painter, Flora Bowley, is currently queen of pattern.  So, maybe it's not all about a bit of doodling with paint and sewing.  Yes, it's great therapy and the repetitive nature of creating the patterned papers is very soothing but I think in the long run it's going to be more than that. I'm experiencing new ways and rediscovering old ways of making marks with the paint and also choosing different colours to my normal palette.  Somehow and sometime it will all work its way into my creative process. So stay tuned...

How are you spending your summer?  Are you painting like crazy or taking it a bit easy like me?  Have you signed up for SEWN and are you hooked too?  

I'd love to hear from you so leave me a comment below.  And I would love you to share this post if you've enjoyed it, just click 'share article' to bring up the usual options.

From my criss/crossy/sewn/patchwork heart to yours

Rachel xox