Very pleased to announce that my "Be Kind" artwork was one of only 10 to be chosen for display in The City of Victoria's Art in Kiosks Public Art Program for 2022! The 2nd round of 5 artworks have now been installed in Downtown Victoria; mine is on the corner of Douglas and Broughton Streets, and will be on display until January 2023. Go have a look if you're in town!
I originally created this design in the early months of the pandemic (sorry to mention it), but I think it still remains relevant and serves as a "gentle" reminder. You can read my Bio and Artist Statement and more about this Public Art Competition, and see the other 4 winning artworks currently on view, HERE!
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If you don't know, FIKA is the Swedish tradition of taking time for a coffee and cake break every day. But aside from what you eat and drink, it's really more about taking time to pause and socialize with friends and colleagues. Sounds pretty good to me!
I've entered my new "Fika Swedish Pastry and Coffee Break" pattern design in this week's Spoonflower "Fika (Swedish Coffee Break)" Design Challenge! Look closely so you can see just how fun these flowered mugs of coffee and pastries are! I created them in a puffy "balloon-style", using a tool that I just recently discovered in Adobe Illustrator. Voting for this Challenge opens today and closes Tuesday September 27. You can link to the Voting Page HERE. BTW: I couldn't help trying this Illustrator tool out on a few other designs. Scroll down to see the fun results! All these pattern designs are now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes! Click the images below to see them in my Spoonflower Shop in Medium-Scale (Small- and Large-Scale also available)! When I snap a pic that for some reason I just really like, it's often because there's just "something" about the captured colours. Picking out these colours is one of my favourite ways to come up with new colour palettes for pattern designs.
For example, here is a photo I took at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk while on a coastal roadtrip to California in June, and I just really love this pic of a vintage-inspired ride. So I picked out some gorgeous colours to create a new palette...Expect to see these colours in a new design! How do you come up with new colour palettes? Do you use your photos too? Very honoured to see one of my designs in this absolutely gorgeous portrait of the iconic actor Tilda Swinton shot by photographer Chris Chapman in the Deadline Studio at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival 2022!
I invite you to check out my Instagram Post to read more about this collaboration in Chris' own words! When I travel to other places, I love going to markets where it's so interesting to explore all the unfamiliar things, particularly food, and especially fruits and veggies I have never seen or tasted before. So when I saw that this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge was "Otherworldly Botanicals", I immediately thought about strange fantastical fruits as a subject matter. So here is my new "Ambrosia" pattern design which I filled with graphic melon-like fruits on curly vines (of course, it HAD to have curly vines!) Voting for this Challenge is now open and you can link to the Voting Page HERE. I would love your vote for this one (voting closes Tuesday Sept 20)! This design is also now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes, and you can SHOP this design HERE (in the Medium-Scale, it's also available in a Small- and Large-Scale too!) And of course, I couldn't resist adding this design to my Spoonflower Shop in some other colourways too, see below! Each colourway also comes in 3 sizes. Click on an image to link to the Medium-Scale versions directly in my Spoonflower Shop!
This is my entry for this week's Spoonflower "Victorian-Era Florals" Design Challenge which I call "Victoriana". And of course, I couldn't help trying this new design out in several colourways: (1) "Midnight Blue" (for an antique kinda faded effect), (2) "Parchment" (nice soft colours) and (3) "Aubergine" (because I had to try some brights, as usual!) I ended up entering the first "Midnight Blue" version, and it seems you all agree that this colourway was the right one to enter when I asked a couple days ago via social media, YAY!
If you would like to vote (voting closes Tuesday Sept 13), be sure to check out the Voting Page HERE. And you can check out this design in my Spoonflower Shop too! I’m very pleased to show you the brand new book “Create Patterns with Different Layouts” by Manon Jodoin of Jodoin Studio just released and available for purchase on Amazon. This full-colour book features pattern designs from 18 designers (including me!), all organized by design layout, such as “One Way”, “Spot Repeat”, “Stripes”, etc. It’s inspiring to see how all the designers interpret the layouts differently and it’s such a great resource for both aspiring and established surface pattern designers! With thanks to Manon for including me! See below for a sneak peek inside...
Check out the Jodoin Studio WEBSITE where you can easily purchase this brand new book! This week’s Spoonflower Design Challenge is “Birding” and here is my entry I call “Birdwatching Love”! Scroll down to get a little peek at the process behind this design. If you would like to vote, you can link to the Voting Page HERE! I would love your vote for this one! Voting closes Tuesday Sept 6. And BTW: this design is now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes! ![]() See below for a little sneak peek into the early sketching behind my "Birdwatching Love" design! It's fun!
WHOOPS! I just noticed I forgot to post about LAST week's Spoonflower Design Challenge which was "Crochet Granny Square"! So, here is the design I entered which I call, appropriately, "Crochet Granny Square". Scroll down to see the INSPIRATION behind this design! Unfortunately, voting for this Challenge is now closed, but you can vote in THIS week's "Birding" Design Challenge (see my next post!) When I saw the Spoonflower "Granny Square Crochet" Design Challenge, I immediately thought of the blanket I bought at a garage sale years ago (see below). Ever since then, my husband has been trying to re-sell it at the many garage sales we've had but I've always said "No way!" One of the things I really love about this blanket (aside from the handmade-ness and obvious love that went into making it) is the randomness of all the bright colours. So although the design I entered doesn't entirely copy this blanket, I really tried to capture that colour randomness (and btw: I do realize that my design doesn't have squares)! You can now purchase my "Crochet Granny Square" design in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes!
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AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Archives
January 2025
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