Screen Printing in the studio Fern collection

Drawing isn't work for me, even though it is of course an important part of my work, it's also how I unwind and relax. Rather than pick up a book in the evening or watch TV, over the past ten years years often I've preferred to draw. It gives me a huge input of inspiration, as well as original imagery to use in my designs...

...or that's until this year, when my days have been so full on and labour intensive I haven't had any spare energy or even inclination, and drawing in the evening has been squeezed out! (I have at times wondered if I will ever draw again, but let's not head off down that train of thought!).

It's not all doom and gloom however as some of those sparks of an idea I've had whilst drawing have filtered into new textile designs. In particular a new Fern panel, as well as Fern cushions and napkins have hit the print table. They were a great success when I exhibited them last week at 'Handmade at Kew' and I thought I'd share some images here...(as I'm not drawing!)

Super size ferns drying on the print table..

With Luna! (she was not overly keen to pose, but she does give a sense of scale!).
Ivy fabric in the background...

With a fellow panel...

Two by two napkins drying on the rack...

Folded Fern napkins with Beech and a few Rabbits, not unlike the woods here in North Devon...

All now available from my website shop! 

I've just joined the 111 club set up by Patricia Van den Akker of the Design Trust. In 2017, I intend to take time, along with one hundred and ten other creatives (internationally), to properly reflect on and make informed choices about running my business in 2017! and thereby (hopefully) make more time for the things that matter most.

If it's of interest to you there may be a few places left  - find out more about it here ...

Monterey Cone journey's around the world with Åry

It has been a very exciting Autumn for my Monterey Cone, which has headed off in various re- designed forms, from its home here on the edge of Exmoor in North Devon, on a journey, not only to regions of the British Isles, but to the far corners of the world as well. Who knows it may well eventually find its way to Monterey!

Firstly this year I was asked by the Swedish company Åry to design a new tray collection. They liked my Monterey Cone cushion, but wanted me to design something exclusively for them. I scaled down the cone, added some pine needles, then introduced a change of scale by including some branches and cones of the Larch. Thinking that a few rare Heath Fritillary butterflies may well have visited my cone in the Heddon valley, I added these in as well.

It's not possible to print metallics onto these beautiful birch wood trays, so I decided to recreate a metallic feel to the design, keeping the look of the copper/bronze tones of the printed cushion. Getting the exact colour balance was painstakingly slow, printing many sample colours in order to achieve exactly the right tones.

When you're working on a project like this, it can seem a long time before you see the product, or even share any images. The final trays and table mats were launched this Autumn by Åry at Formex in Stockholm, then Maison et Objet in Paris and are even better that I'd hoped. I was so pleased and delighted to see them when Åry sent me a photo from their stand a few weeks ago. Now that I have some samples of my own, I thought I'd write about them...

Table mats and coasters...

Moorland co-ordinates (!) with my new hand printed Beech napkins...

I'm reminded of the fact that I drew the Monterey cone after I found it on the ground after a storm in the Heddon Valley on Exmoor, and it has brought so much inspiration to me as well as others.

...and if that wasn't enough, the Monterey Cone cushion is exclusively part of the National Trust's Artisan and Craft Autumn collection, in some of the larger shops and available online here!

I'm exhibiting at Handmade at Kew, in the world famous Royal Botanical Gardens, from 6th - 9th October. I have a few Private View invites left for the evening of the 5th October, if you would like to come, please email me with your postal address and I'll be happy to send one to you (while still available)!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Hard Fern green

As a self-employed designer/maker,  I'm pretty disciplined on the whole. I rise early, walk Luna and start work by 9am. I usually work until 6pm, but sometimes later. I also often work on Saturday and if I'm running a screen-printing or Photoshop workshop, I work all weekend. The plus side is of course that I love my work and as long as I don't beat myself up for not getting something done, in the main, no-one else does either.

These attractive little ferns, which grow everywhere here in North Devon are called Hard Ferns or Blechnum spicant (slightly strange name so called because of their leathery form (?)). I've made time to sketch a few of them, to feature in a new wall panel along with a couple of other ferns, which I hope to put on screen and print at a super-sized scale next week.

I generally design what I would love to live with myself. As Oscar Wilde so aptly said -

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken"...

In case you wonder what soft ferns look like? I'm attaching a photo of a Soft Shield Fern (Polystichum setiferum) below...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Old House New Home - amazing blind!

It's been a year full of new challenges..!

In February, I had a very interesting phone call from the television company, Amazing Productions. They were working on a fab new home makeover show called 'Old House, New Home' for Channel 4, currently showing in the UK (here), and asked if George Clarke, architect and presenter, could help me print something in my studio as a surprise present to the homeowner, Emily. 

Here's George in my studio!!! 

After working out what might be feasible in the time frame, we decided that I would design a blind that George and I would screen-print. The design was to be inspired by fragments of an old 1950's wallpaper that had been in Emily's bathroom. The wallpaper would have to go during the renovation and my new design would be an updated contemporary reference to it. 

I only had a very short time span for this, but enjoyed the whole project immensely -

Here's a few extra images; printing with George; from my sketchpad; and of the blind on the print table...

Always amazing...printing!

happy printers...

The two options on the colourway were fuschia pink and silver along with a green and grey which matched the floor tiles and walls in the bathroom.  Here's the pink in my sketchbook, but after sampling, the silver was selected...

Raw linen, chartreuse, charcoal grey and silver...

upside down on my print table...

and of course the final made-up blind in Emily's house..! 

Special thanks to the fantastic production team at Amazing Productions!

It was really lovely to meet George, also Emily, and the blind was beautifully sewn up by Julia at Finishing Touches' in South Molton.

Links...

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/george-clarkes-old-house-new-home/on-demand/62968-001

(It's the first episode by the way!)

http://amazingproductions.co.uk/

http://www.juliafinishingtouches.co.uk/

We are running a new Photoshop to Screen-Printing short course in my studio in September, also a "Photoshop for Textiles" short course at West Dean College this Autumn. More Autumn Screen printing and Photoshop for Textiles workshop dates to be finalised soon...

https://sampickard.bigcartel.com

http://westdean.assets.d3r.com/pdfs/original/13622-short-courses-2016-17-low-res-pdf.pdf

Colour from the season - Black Lace Elder - black

As an alternative to "a drawing a day" (which frankly for me is unachievable for one reason or another much of the time), you might like my motivational phrase to myself at the moment - "one leaf at a time."

So yesterday, in order to keep my colour notebook going, (which primarily of course I keep as my own colour and image resource, and inspiration), I decided to draw something simple, just an outline drawing. If all I can manage to sketch is a leaf, then find a leaf that I feel inclined to draw and enjoy drawing it!

Here are the wonderful colours I noted in this Black Lace Elder leaf. An intricate dark red purple leaf, the underside is a very French grey green with deep pink veins throughout. It's woody branches are a pale dry brown and the flowers themselves will be a foam of Champagne pink.

Not quite in flower in my garden - here's the outline pen and ink drawing, alongside it's gorgeous colours..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Screen Printing in the studio - Gorse

Gorse, in all it's yellow spiky splendour, is out in full bloom on the heath and lanes around Exmoor right now. It flowers all year round of course, but has it's real moment of madness in April and May. What I love most about Gorse is the mixed messages of sweet coconut fragrance from the pea flowers, alongside it's dangerously resilient thorns, and I've tried to capture something of this in my design.

This print for a wall panel has taken over a year from initial drawings and concept, to finally getting onto screen and printed. Maybe the best things in life do sometimes take a bit longer to reach fruition?

Here's the first panel being printed in my studio last week...

Very very dark green..!

Ouch..!

I'll be exhibiting the Gorse at these Fairs in 2016:

MADE - West Dean 3-5 June
Art in Action 15-17 July
Cornwall Design Fair 16-18 Sept

Spring Cushions for the National Trust

As fresh as February's temperatures, slate grey and white screen-printed onto unbleached linen, my new Spring cushions have sprung into the National Trust shops and online, featuring some of my favourite flora from my seasonal notebooks.

Exclusive to the National Trust's Artisan and Craft collection, you can claim one (or two) of these limited edition lovelies in their online shop here...

Forty Season Scarves cont...

When I noticed the Jay at the side of the road in 2012 on our way back from Cornwall (here) I would never have guessed that his colours would be the start of a new scarf collection but I've always found that as long as I take the first step, there's always the probability it will lead to the next.

I'm very pleased that they've been such a success, not least because I so enjoy printing them. At last I've had a chance to print a few to go on sale in my online shop (here). Every one is an individual having its own unique character, pattern and colour balance (just like people really!). The scarf you'll see in the image on the shop is the scarf you can uniquely own.


























Printing in the studio with Luna on the alert and a Swallow scarf...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Monterey Pine Needle green

Inevitably seasons pass and everything gets a little older. Even the Monterey Pine in the Heddon Valley was looking the worse for wear when I visited it last week after weeks of wind and rain. It seemed to be leaning over even more than usual. I went after the storms especially to gather a few of its needles for a new design I'm working on. Even after the tail end of Storm Frank (?!) I had to scramble around the banks to find a few small branches as it doesn't give up its cones, or it would seem, its needles very readily.

Challenging on the eyes to distinguish between the background and foreground needles, I had to really concentrate, not unlike drawing the Monterey Cone! (here).

Rich earthy colours of the needles...

A sight for sore eyes on a grey January day. The Hunter's Inn with Monterey Pine (behind the right chimney).

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.