Do What You Love

So here we are in Kyoto. Week 3 in our new home. I like to say it is ‘bijou’. I tend not to add that our entire apartment is about the same size as our kitchen at home… So it is small but we are loving it. We have a bakery next door, a tatami matread more >>

*** Today’s *shared stories* come from Jackie Stewart and Sue Bulmer *** Jackie Stewart It never occurred to me NOT to earn my living from doing what I love.  Well I suppose that’s not strictly true. When I was a student I worked in hotels and I’d wake to that sinking feeling of dread; wishingread more >>

Home of Yamagata Montedio J2 team I have been in a lot of football (soccer) stadiums in my time – from Argentina to England, Germany to Japan, including one for the FIFA World Cup Final. But I think thisis my favourite one – for the incredible mountain view, for the draft beer and fried noodles and forread more >>

It is really hard to put your finger on just what it is that Japanese people do that makes everything so beautiful, but there is definitely something. They have this aesthetic sense which I have never seen anywhere else in the world – simple, perfectly imperfect (see ‘wabi sabi’), treating space and shadows with as muchread more >>

One of the best things to do on a cold day in the countryside is to cook up a feast with deliciously fresh mountain vegetables. Kyoko gave me a couple of quick cooking lessons on making tempura and shabu shabu - yum…   Looking forward to learning how to cook lots of new things while here in Japan! Whatread more >>

Kyoko and Adachi in the jazz studio in their home – happy times! When travelling in rural northern Japan we stayed a few days with some very old friends of mine. I still can’t quite believe how I met them. Let me explain… Some fifteen years ago, when I arrived in this remote snowy place,read more >>

*** Today’s *shared stories* come from artist Sheri Ponzi and raw food coach Sasha Campbell *** Sheri Ponzi I am doing what I love. No matter what. Finally. At 42 years old, I’m finally giving myself permission to do what I love. It took some pretty serious smacks from the universe to get me here,read more >>

Just look at this work – isn’t it beautiful? British designer Helen Stevens is the talented surface pattern designer & illustrator behind the Surface Philia brand. Helen works through layering of illustration, collage and paintings with a unusual combination of geometrics and natural forms. We are thrilled that SurfacePhilia is one of our fantastic contributors for the Surface Patternread more >>

  Just received an image of the gorgeous bag designed by Katy Clemmans, the winner of a contest set by The Makerie retreat in Module 1 of ‘The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design’. It is a beautifully simple, two-tone floral design and we couldn’t be more proud! You can find more of Katy’s work on herread more >>

Simi Gauba  We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have two winners for the Print & Pattern Scholarship for The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design! Emily Truong (USA) and Simi Gauba (Sweden) were selected by Marie Perkins of Print & Pattern as the winners. Emily and Simi receive full places on all three modulesread more >>

We are jumping up and down with excitement over here – Rachael Taylor and I have decided to take the plunge and invest a significant amount (many thousands of dollars) in providing our pattern students with free access to industry leading trend forecasting website Stylesight! As the industry leader, Stylesight offers “visionary content and compellingread more >>

There was nothing but the sound of a waterfall, the wind in the trees, and our steps on the the rock as we climbed up the forested mountainside to Yamadera, a temple built close to the sky. The last of the winter snow hugged the temple buildings, and the sun peeped through the clouds. Upread more >>

As the second designer in this series highlighting talent from The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design e-course, I am excited to introduce you to Sian Elin. Sian is a fun, creative surface pattern designer and illustrator, who has “spent a lifetime seeing the world through pattern and colour; and observing how shape and form interact.’ There isread more >>

About 400 years ago Matsuo Basho, the father of Japanese haiku, walked the long road north to Yamagata, a beautiful snowy part of rural Japan. When there he wrote this famous poem: Shizukasa ya · Iwa ni shimiiru · Semi no koe Silence · Penetrating the rocks · The cry of the cicada It is a place Iread more >>

*** Today’s *shared stories* come from Tara Badcock (who is Birthday Girl today!) and Stephanie Gray *** Tara Badcock I cannot remember a time when I didn’t know I was an artist. I still have drawings I did in grade 3 that I could have done yesterday. At the time they were like little, definiteread more >>

We are thrilled to announce that one of our talented e-course students has been selected for the highly anticipated ‘Print & Pattern Kids’ book. A huge congratulations goes to Susan Lloyd! We think Susan’s work is beautiful, contemporary & fresh.  Rachael and I are like proud mamas! Susan says, “I studied printed Textile Design at Loughborough University. After graduation Iread more >>

Over the next few weeks and months I am going to share highlights of particular designers emerging from The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design course. Rachael Taylor and I have been absolutely thrilled by the quality of work, and are excited to see the class participants’ design careers unfold. For the first inread more >>

  We are thrilled to annouce that UK-based designer and illustrator Ian Dutton will be joining us as a contributor for Module 3 of The Art and Business of Surface Design (starts Monday!), where he will share an exclusive insight into life as a freelancer. His company ‘Ian Dutton Designs’ creates character designs, character licensesread more >>

Sign found outside a tiny gallery in Gion  Now here is someone doing what he loves (and not doing what he doesn’t love when he doesn’t want to do!) Love the essence of this philosophy…

Directional florals in ‘Oriental Bloom’ by Susan Lloyd (theprinttree@yahoo.co.uk) All week we have been showcasing the very talented students of ‘The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design’ e-course. We hope you have enjoyed seeing the variety of work & design styles! Module 3 begins on Monday and we cannot wait to see what gorgeousness emergesread more >>