Gwen Frostic loved nature. She loved all nature―animals, birds, plants, snow, stars―but she seemed to have a special fondness for trees. In her book, These Things are Ours, she wrote “somehow a tree exemplifies a great unconquerable spirit”.
Fabrics, wallpapers, gift products and decorative papers are great sources of surface design inspiration. Examining the patterns, illustrations, and other artwork on these surfaces reveals a profusion of design motifs and patterns.
Once you start noticing them, patterns appear everywhere. Patterns can take many forms from abstract ideas to observable behaviors to rhythm and rhyme. But the focus of today’s discussion is visual patterns―regular repetitions of an element or motif―that can be observed through sight.
Tap, tap, taptap, tap! The flower hammering continues. This week hundreds of clover leaves, hydrangea florets and maple leaves felt the hammer’s blow.
Nothing says summer like a freshly mown country field―cut grass drying in the sun―sweet scent of new hay filling the air. The frenzied activity of haymaking―everyone racing to get the hay done before it rains. The situation instantly brings to mind the old adage to “make hay while the sun shines”.
Some things just go together―like peanut butter and jelly, pen and paper, cup and saucer, brick and mortar, or flowers and hammer. OK that last one, “flowers and hammer”, is an unlikely pairing. It’s certainly not one you’re going to see on a greeting card!
Yet, flowers and hammers are the basis of a fun, natural dyeing project I’d like to share with you.