Following on from my last post about sampling, I was very excited on Friday to receive by express courier some digitally printed samples from Spoonflower.
Proofing or sampling is such an important part of the creative process. What I envisage in my mind can sometimes be quite different to the resulting physical work. Through sampling I edit, refine, take what is good and remove what is not working and sometimes go back to the drawing board and simply start again. The challenging process of trying to figure out how to ‘get it right’ and what ‘right’ means, is what continues to make me strive to understand my work and process more clearly. It can feel like unlocking a secret door for the first time, or like another piece of the jigsaw settles into place.
At the moment and for many reasons, I am thoroughly enjoying the medium of digital printing, predominately for is its immediacy, its low waste, use of water-based inks and its flexibility for design motifs. Colour palettes are infinitely multiplied in the digital space, and I love being able to use gradients and tone to great effect.
New work which will appear in my solo exhibition Recollected Patterns in October, extends designs that appeared in the original Collected Patterns show through pattern making. This intensive period of sampling finds me with mixed emotions. There’s the anticipation that comes with going from ‘drawing board’ to sampling. And then there’s problem solving when things don’t work out as expected and new options need to be sought out and tested. There’s also the pressure of the looming exhibition deadline and wanting to get it ‘just right’…