Back Home to Jervis Bay!

Do you have a place you go to recharge your batteries, a place that feels like a second home? That place for me is Green Patch in the Booderee National Park, at Jervis Bay. We discovered it about 15 years ago through a casual mention from a fellow traveller and it has become our go-to holiday destination ever since. It's about a five-hour drive from home, so it's not a place we go for a night or two. We usually stay for at least a week, and that's just where I'll be as you are reading this newsletter! There's no power or water, but there are hot showers. The absolute draw card is the pristine sheltered beachline with the whitest sand and the most beautiful blue-green water you will ever see. The number of campers is limited, and we prefer to go in the cooler months when it is less busy, so we can relax and get away from it all. It's close to Huskisson, a beautiful little town that has a fish and chip shop that offers gluten-free fish and chips - another draw card for me!

We will be here for 5 days this visit. I'm treating this quick get-away as the perfect opportunity to slow down, recharge, get inspired and start work on my next fabric collection, a follow-up to 'Riverview'. Phoebe Fabrics have been very happy with the sales so they've asked me to create a similar collection. At least I will be in the right location to be inspired. Wish me luck!

Telva's Toolbox

When I purchased The Ultimate Guide to Spoonflower for Surface Pattern Designers by Telva Chase, I discovered far more than just a helpful book. I was introduced to a designer who is willing to share her valuable insights and knowledge of the surface design industry. I immediately signed up for her free newsletters and have really enjoyed them. They're filled with thoughtful advice for creatives wanting to grow their skills and confidence in the surface pattern industry, and are geared more towards building a successful surface pattern design business rather than discussing the art of design.

You can find Telva on YouTube, Instagram, online courses, and through her membership community. She has also written two paperback books available on Amazon — The Solopreneur’s Guide to Surface Pattern Design and Telva’s Toolbox Companion Workbook — along with a wide range of downloadable PDF playbooks you can purchase through her website:

If you're interested in becoming a Telva's Toolbox newsletter subscriber, or are interested in discovering her many surface pattern design resources, head over to her website to learn more.

The Profitable Artist Summit

The Profitable Artist Summit is being held 12th-14th June. It's a free event and replays are available for two weeks afterwards so you can participate in your own time. There are lots of well-known presenters - Bonnie Christine, Cat Coquillette, Margo Tantau, Liz Kohler-Brown, Carrie Cantwell, Stacie Dale, Mable Tan, Erin Kendal, Colleen Underwood, Telva Chase, Mandy Corcoran - plus many others I'm eager to discover.

You need to register beforehand to take part.

Lindsay Phillip Butterfield

After a quick Google search I discovered the work of Lindsay Phillip Butterfield (1869-1948), a prolific and talented Arts and Crafts designer. He was one of Britain's most successful freelance designers at the turn of the century. Born in London to a creative family, he became known for his highly detailed designs filled with trailing foliage, stylised flowers, and intricate linework. While these were all common elements of the Arts and Crafts movement, you can see his work also embraced the flowing elegance of Art Nouveau.

Butterfield trained at Lambeth School of Art from 1887 to 1888, then briefly studied architecture before spending three years studying pattern design and the underlying geometry of plants at the National Art Training School in South Kensington, London. The school offered training "in the practice of art and in the knowledge of its scientific principles, with a view to qualifying [students] as teachers of schools of art competent to develop the application of art to the common uses of life, and to the requirements of trade and manufactures." His training at a school deeply rooted in the philosophies of the Arts and Crafts movement, and the fact that he apprenticed under several leading designers of the Arts and Crafts era, would have exposed him to the strong decorative arts traditions and the ideals of craftsmanship that later became such an important part of his work. He began designing in the 1890's, working free-lance for several leading textile and wallpaper manufacturers in England. He was a founding member of the Society of Designers (established in 1896).

Like William Morris, Butterfield worked across a wide range of disciplines, including wallpaper, textiles, stained glass, book illustration, and furniture design; embracing the Arts and Crafts belief that art should be integrated into everyday life. A keen gardener, he seemed deeply connected to the natural world and was heavily inspired by flowers, leaves and vines, but interpreting them in a slightly more romantic way.

While not as famous as his contemporaries such as Charles Voysey, Butterfield’s style of simplifying natural forms into balanced, decorative designs ensure his patterns still feel incredibly relevant for surface designers today — full of lessons about composition, flow, detail, and creating designs that invite people to slow down and really look.

If you'd like to learn more, or see more examples of his work, I found the V&A Museum's website a great resource.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find an image of him, or more about his personal life. If you discover anything else about him, please let me know.

Creative Boom

I've just discovered Creative Boom, an independent online magazine that celebrates creativity across illustration, design, photography, and the wider visual arts. Founded in 2009 by Katy Cowan, it regularly features interviews with working artists and designers, alongside thoughtful articles about building a creative practice, staying inspired, and navigating the realities of creative work. It’s a generous, down-to-earth resource that offers both practical insight and fresh perspective.

The website is very easy to navigate, and every article I've read has been so worthwhile. I'm hooked! Go to the website to instantly be inspired, sign up for their newsletter (delivered every Tuesday), or to learn more about their podcast.

“The Serene Art of Surface Pattern Design” is an article posted on the website that introduced me to the platform. It discusses the calming, almost meditative, quality that a well-crafted pattern creates, and how creating patterns can be deeply satisfying for both the maker and the viewer before profiling five designers who have built successful careers - Heidi Vilkman, Elizabeth Olwen, Naina Lamba, Katie Beardsley and Ulrika Jarl. Well worth a read.

'1000 Patterns' by Drusilla Cole

The images are organised into two sections - Pre-Industrial and Post-Industrial - and each section is separated into chapters for specific eras, or geographical areas. It's so well organised that it's easy to find designs that are, for example, Persian, Japanese, Indian, Celtic, Medieval, or Baroque. There's also a separate index at the beginning of the book so you can find patterns with a specific motif or subject. And yes, there's a chapter dedicated to Arts & Crafts. Perfect!

I don't know why I haven't spotted this book sitting on a bookshelf behind any of the well-known designers as they've presented a course or during zoom calls. Maybe, I have missed it and it's been in plain sight. Has anyone else seen it, or already own a copy?

Creativity Everyday

The 100 day challenge is slowly coming to a close. I definitely haven't finished 100 pieces of art, but boy has it been worth the effort to participate! It's been the best feeling to just start drawing without overthinking, with no pressure, no expectations and putting bits of spare time in my day to good use. I genuinely look forward to finding a spare half and hour or so to play. It's become a set part of my daily practice now - a positive outcome that I hadn't anticipated. Katie O'Shea really is an advocate for the challenge and seeing her output on a daily basis on Instagram really kept me focused, I just did the challenge in my own way!

From a simple sketch done one afternoon while lounging in my armchair, to a full-blown repeating pattern. It took a lot of tweaking, redrawing and rethinking once I committed to making a repeating pattern from an illustration, but I am thrilled with how it turned out. Then I created different colourways - of course I had to include blue!

That led me down a rabbit hole of creating some blenders and co ordinates. And again, I found myself in flow and came up with idea after idea. What a productive afternoon!

Another happy result of participating in the challenge, and Karen Abend's Sketchbook Revival, is getting used to working in one sketchbook at a time. I'm finding this really helpful. I no longer get muddled trying to find which sketchbook or piece of paper I created that motif on, or finding a sketchbook that has a spare page in it now I'm ready to draw. My plan is to continue using one sketchbook at a time, and in a perfect world, I will label the outside with the time frame it was in use. Let's see if I follow through...

Decals

When I bought my car 8 years ago I wanted anything but white, so I ended up with a white car 🙄 I promised myself that once I learned to use Illustrator I could create something that would make the car feel like mine. It's taken me all this time to feel ready. A few months ago I ordered custom car window decals on a transparent background from Vistaprint. I'm happy to say I'm really happy with how they turned out and how easy they were to apply.

Vistaprint only create square or rectangle decals, but by using Illustrator I was able to resize and rotate my illustrations to fit on one sheet, then I cut them out by hand separately. Isn't Illustrator great! I applied each of the bird decals to the sides of the back window, so they don't obscure my view and the business name sits next to the rear windscreen wiper. For less than $15AUD I customised my car! Such a fun thing to do, just for me.

Create For Yourself

Creating my own car decals and doodling for fun in my sketchbook has reminded me how important it is just to create for myself. A lot of my designing is focused on a specific outcome - a theme for a fabric collection, or to upload to Spoonflower, and I understand how important that it. But I believe it's just as important to design for ourselves. Every day I drink out of my custom printed mug, or use a roll of my washi tape to secure the packaging on an order, or send a card with my design on it I just feel that little bit happier. It reminds me how much I love what I do and I should be proud of what I've created so far. It also makes me take my designing, and my business, seriously.

So I hope you regularly take time to create things for yourself, that you'll love to use, or will make you smile every time you catch a glimpse as you walk by. I know that the majority of my favourite designs began with a spark of an idea, or a absent-minded doodle, not a rigid plan. And the more I allow myself to play in the snippets of time I find in my days, just to see if there is anything worthwhile to develop further, the more relaxed the process becomes, and the more fulfilled I feel.

I hope you have an amazing June!

Until next time,