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Just after returning from my month-long road trip down the West Coast (fantastic trip, btw), Issue #54 of Uppercase Magazine (July/Aug/Sept 2022) arrived in the mail! I love it when this magazine arrives! This Issue is all about Abstract Art and Design, and my answer to the question, "How do you personally define or interpret 'abstract' in art and design?" was included, together with my "Flow" pattern design. Thanks to Janine Vangool of Uppercase Magazine for including me in this Issue, it's so inspiring!
And if you can't read what I wrote from the above photo, here is my answer to the question:
For me, “abstract” art and design begins with a representation of something, whether physical (like flowers or a landscape) or intangible (like love or protest). In other words, it is not non-representational. Sometimes, the subject might be only slightly stylized, so a viewer requires little imagination to understand what it is. On the other hand, the image might be so “abstracted” as to be initially unrecognizable. But in all cases, I think abstraction requires pulling out those essential characteristics or the essence of a subject; then, maybe when the title is revealed or after contemplation, there is an “ah ha” moment when the observer gains an understanding of the artwork’s meaning. As a pattern designer, I try to reduce motifs in my abstract patterns to just their essential shapes and colours, while trying to ensure they are still recognizable for what they are.
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Be sure to check out my newest collaboration with Colombia-based REDFLAG SWIMWEAR! Several of my print designs have been included in their newest Collection of swimwear for Adults, Juniors and Kids! I am especially happy they chose some of my most fun and colourful designs! Check out the REDFLAG SWIMWEAR Shop!
Is this Bold? Is this Minimalist? I hope so because I've entered my "Ocean Sunrise" design in this week's Spoonflower "Bold Minimalism" Design Challenge! You could also ask: Is it a Dot? Is it a Stripe? Yes! I also designed this to co-ordinate with my "Daydreams" and "Night Dreams" designs too (see below)! I could really see all 3 of these as a collection of fun pillows! These are all now available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes! You can also link to the Voting Page and check out all the entries! Click the images below to see these designs in my Spoonflower Shop! 
These would be a FUN collection of pillows! From left: Daydream, Ocean Sunrise, Night Dreams. All available in my Spoonflower Shop!
I've entered my "Happy Harvest" design in this week's Spoonflower "Petal Solids Coordinates: Optimism" Design Challenge! The idea behind this Challenge was to use at least 1 of the 3 given colours of Watermelon, Marigold and Lemon Lime, to create designs to coordinate with Spoonflower's Petal Signature Cotton Solids fabrics. Link to my Spoonflower Shop HERE. And if you like, check out the Voting Page HERE! BTW: Both my "Happy Harvest" and "Shrooms" designs come in a few other colourways too! Scroll down to see them. All are available for sale in my Spoonflower Shop! You can click the images below to go directly to that design in my Spoonflower Shop! 
This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Vintage Nostalgia Wallpaper" so I decided to enter my "Orangerie" design in this Avocado Green and Burnt Orange colourway. Although I've created this design in a bunch of other colourways, I have a sentimental attachment to this one because I grew up in a house with a kitchen in these colours! We even had Avocado Green appliances and wall-to-wall carpeting in various shades of Avocado Green (if I knew then what I know now, I would have taken pics of that carpet)! But then my parents renovated the kitchen, and to me it ended up being much less interesting (they also repainted the garage door and window shutters from Bright Turquoise to Dark Brown, and although I do like a good Brown, I never forgave them)! If you would like to Vote, you can link to the Voting Page HERE (and I would greatly appreciate your vote for this one!) . With thanks to @theindoorsyproject for this mock-up!  I've entered my "Good Vibrations" design in this week's Spoonflower "Reworked Classics" Design Challenge! The idea behind this Challenge was to reimagine classic patterns, such as dots, checkers, plaids and...STRIPES! And of course, this design really needed some Groovy Retro Colours! Find this one (together with LOTS of other colourways) in my "Good Vibrations" Collection in my Spoonflower Shop. I had to make a new Collection because I went down the colour rabbit hole AGAIN and added it in LOTS of different colourways (and sizes)! If you would like to VOTE in this Challenge, click HERE! 
Colouring books are something that both Adults and Kids love! So I thought it would be a good design concept for this week's Spoonflower Design Challenge theme: "Home Hobbies". Wouldn't it be fun to get this design on Fabric, Wallpaper (especially Wallpaper!) or Home Decor and just start colouring in?! And I'm feeling the urge...I might have to add a colour version of this one too! Voting for this Challenge opens THURSDAY MAY 5 Link to the Spoonflower Design Challenge Page HERE! 
Some of you may have seen my "Sea Stars" pattern design recently in different colours, but here is the version I created specifically to enter in this week's Spoonflower "Petal Solids Coordinates: Pastel Comforts" Design Challenge! The challenge was to use 1, 2 or all 3 of the given colours (Honeydew, Lilac and Sky Blue, with Black and White optional) in a design. I ended up using a light turquoise instead of Honeydew (which is allowed)! It wasn't the easiest combo, but I hope you all like it! You can check out all the entries at the Voting Page AND DON'T FORGET: Everything in my Spoonflower Shop is 20% OFF until Sunday May 1!     When I googled "teamwork" to get ideas for this week's Spoonflower "Teamwork" Design Challenge, alot of images with people and mechanical gears came up. So that gave me the idea of adding fun faces into clockwork gears! But WHO KNEW creating happy faces would be so difficult? It took me alot of revising and adjusting to make sure the facial expressions didn't end up looking creepy or nefarious or troubled or weird...But in the end, I hope this one makes you smile! I think this one would be great for Back-to-School too as I also intended it to encourage science, engineering, mechanics and STEM subjects! Link to the Voting Page HERE. BTW: I entered the Dark Blue version, but when I asked in a Facebook group which I should enter, the consensus came back as the Cream version…then I missed the deadline to switch them. So Dark Blue it is! Also check out the Dark version in my Spoonflower Shop!  This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Petal Solids Coordinates: In Bloom". Spoonflower has asked for designs that use 1, 2 or 3 of the requested colours which this week are "Coral", "Grass" and "Peony" (these limited colour palette challenges are amongst my favourites to enter)! Designers can use additional colours, but SF recommends not more than 4 colors total (not including Black and White) to ensure the designs coordinate well with their Petal Signature Cotton Solids. I initially was pretty happy to see this week's 3 bright colours (it made me think of jelly beans for some reason)...UNTIL I tried to design with all 3 colours together. For some reason, it just wasn't working! So I decided to Divide and Conquer: I paired each colour with another colour to create 3 separate colourways of my "Jelly Beans" design, trying to make sure all 3 would Mix & Match too. And here they are: 1. CORAL on Purple 2. GRASS on Citron Yellow 3. PEONY on Blue Which one would you have entered? After going back and forth a bunch of times, I decided on #1: Coral on Purple. I just love the "neon-ness" of it! Aside from co-ordinating with the cotton fabrics, it sure would make some crazy wallpaper! Voting opens today Thursday April 14! You can check out all the entries and vote at the Voting Page AND you can also check out my Spoonflower Shop too! All these colourways and more are available in my Spoonflower Shop on Fabrics, Wallpaper and Home Decor in 3 sizes! 
Uppercase Magazine Issue #53 Just Arrived! And My "Peas Seed Packet" Illustration Has Been Included!4/7/2022 Issue #53 of UPPERCASE MAGAZINE (one of my absolutely favourite magazines, btw) just arrived! This Issue is all about GARDENING and my "Peas Seed Packet" illustration has been included in the "Seed Packets" feature section on Page 56 (see magazine pics below)! With thanks to Janine of Uppercase for including it!
This week's Spoonflower Design Challenge is "Garden Party" and I had a really hard time trying to decide which design to enter. But I finally decided on my "Fresh-Picked" design because it has Fresh Veggies in Rainbow Colours! That just says GARDEN PARTY to me! Voting for this challenge is now open until Tuesday April 12! Check out the Voting Page to see all the entries. And click HERE to see this design in my Spoonflower Shop! **ADDENDUM: My "Fresh-Picked" design placed 24th (out of a whopping 1148 entries!) in the Spoonflower "Garden Party" Design Challenge! See all the winners HERE!  With thanks to The Indoorsy Project for this picnic mockup!  For this week's Spoonflower "LainSnow X Spoonflower: Floral Wilderness" Design Challenge, Spoonflower partnered with woman-owned swimwear brand LainSnow which requested a small-scale, boho-influenced floral print in sage green, yellows and coffee browns. The winner will have their design licensed by LainSnow! I entered the first yellow version of my "Garden Wild" floral, but also couldn't help adding a coffee brown version to my Spoonflower Shop too! I would love a vote for this one, so I've added a handy link to the Voting Page! Thanks to all (voting closes April 5)!
I've entered my "Blooms" design in this week's Spoonflower "Maximalist Folk" Design Challenge! BTW: this design is available in other co-ordinating colours too! I wasn't sure which colourway to enter in the Challenge, but I ended up entering the first version. What do you think, which one would you have entered? Voting ends Tuesday March 29! Check out the design in my Spoonflower Shop HERE or click on each image below!
Several of my designs are featured in the new "Prints and Graphics Sourcing Guide: Kidswear S/S 23", just released by WGSN, the world's leading trend forecaster. If you are a WGSN Subscriber, check out what's coming for Kidswear Spring/Summer 2023 HERE!  |
AuthorJackie Tahara of UnBlink Studio Archives
September 2022
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All images on this website are Copyright © Jackie Tahara. All rights reserved.
If sharing, pinning or blogging my images, please always credit me and link back to my website. Supporting artists is a good thing to do! Thank you!
If sharing, pinning or blogging my images, please always credit me and link back to my website. Supporting artists is a good thing to do! Thank you!