I've moved!!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I've moved my blog over to

http://groovitydesigns.com/ 

Please check my new work at http://marytanana.com

Sneaky Peeky...

Well, I'm FINALLY working on some new collections! Took me a while to gather my scattered thoughts and to simply sit myself down, tether myself to my desk with my trusty earphones, and create. I actually put together some simple mood boards, with my rough sketches, doodles, colors that I'm thinking about, and photographs of the look and feel of what I want to accomplish. Geesh, I've really come a long way in this department. Imagine me, I'm planning something, hehe! But honestly, designing a repeating pattern has a lot of elements and nuances to it, if you don't plan it out a bit from the start, it gets overwhelming! And the trick is....to make yours completely different than anything else that's out there! Whew. No easy task, folks.

I completely believe that with a pattern like this, the layout is key! If it doesn't look good and balanced when even in thumbnail size, I'm going to keep working on it until it does. Second of course, is the colorway and the style of how to color (fill, no fill, outline, thicker outline...etc.), do I create custom fills, patterned backgrounds...the list is endless. I usually concentrate on my main pattern first. Once I get that "right" in my head, the companion patterns follow and flow effortlessly.

I did these cute little motifs about a month ago in my "little black book" of doodles. The black folky florals are the ones that I've just digitally drawn, and the lighter layer below is from my sketchbook (I use this as a reference to trace on). Yesterday and today I drew them in Adobe Illustrator in the proper layers so I can add color properly to them later on. When I was finished, I was pretty astonished that the patterns resembled so closely those from my Ukrainian Pysanky eggs, made MORE than a few years ago when my vision was a bit more perky.  I keep these little eggs in a bowl in the living room. It's really funny how certain things stick in your memory. I can't remember people's names that well, but if I've seen a pattern somewhere?? It's stuck in my head!!! :D

These are made from goose eggs, each one took me 5-6 hours average. The process is similar in theory to batik, each line/stroke is painted on with hot wax, from a wax pen, also called a "kistka". The eggs (hollowed out and cleaned) are dipped in a series of dye baths in progressive colors. Wax is applied after each color to basically seal in that color. At the end, the wax is taken off with a candle flame, and et voila, THE REVEAL. Each little one is kind of like a surprise, you never know what you'll get.

NEW online magazine MOYO!!!

Today one of my designs was included in the very first issue of MOYO. MOYO is the world's first magazine dedicated to surface pattern design, brought to you by the founders of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (*MOYO is Japanese for 'pattern' and is pronounced mo-yor).

VERY excited to be a part of this and to kick off something so fresh and new!!!  Take a look!! I really love the colors, style and fun layout of this publication.

MOYO is the world's first magazine dedicated to surface pattern design, brought to you by the founders of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (*MOYO is Japanese for...



Vote for my design, "Jolly Jester"

Hi there, last day to vote for my design on the Bed Bath & Beyond Design Challenge! PLEASE don't just hit Facebook "like", that means you just liked the page, but you are not really voting. (gimme a 5!!)

Here is the link to vote, below!
http://atrium.threadless.com/bedbath/submission/jolly-jester/

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Module 2 final showcase

My work was included with some of my other fabulous e-coursemates on Rachael Taylor's blog!! Please check it out! We have just finished up Module 2 of The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, now onward to Module 3!!! So much talent out there! Very excited to be a part of this group!
http://rachaeltaylordesigns.blogspot.com/2012/08/module-2-final-showcase-part-5.html

...and just an FYI to any of you newbies finding my blog, The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, Module 1: Designing your way, is beginning August 27 2012!!! Here's the link for more info!! http://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/course/the-art-and-business-of-surface-pattern-design-module-1-designing-your-way/

ABSPD takes on Printsource

Had a fabulous day with a lovely group of ladies from "The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design" e-course!!  We met in New York City and attended Printsource's summer show. Printsource New York holds three shows a year, and is the premier show for surface and textile designs in the USA.  I had a wonderful time walking around the show (my first surface design show!), talking to a few companies, and basically getting a feeling for the industry and what's in store for me going forward. We had a bite to eat midday, and discussed our career history, current projects, showed pics of the kiddos, our work, and traded business cards and info. It was so refreshing to meet everyone in person! I started this e-course in April, and I've had the pleasure to network and meet some extremely talented people, share tips (thanks Schatzi!!), and get instant feedback on new work and designs via Flickr, Facebook, and email. Thank you to Rachael and Beth for starting this outstanding e-course!

Please check out what each of these designers are up to:
Rachel Gresham | www.rachelgreshamdesign.com
Helen Billett | www.meringueinc.ca
Deborah Velasquez | www.deborahvelasquez.blogspot.com
Emine Ortega | www.emineortega.blogspot.com
Femi Ford | www.femiford.com
Tanya Brown | www.schatzibrown.com
Mary Tanana | www.groovity.blogspot.com (me!)

Thank you all, LET'S DO IT AGAIN!!!

...and just an FYI to any of you newbies finding my blog, The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, Module 1: Designing your way, is beginning August 27 2012!!! Here's the link for more info!!  http://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/course/the-art-and-business-of-surface-pattern-design-module-1-designing-your-way/

My Tigerprint Banner

I uploaded this to Tigerprint on a whim, and how cool is this? 

Tigerprint was formed in 1996 when around ten people worked in a small office in Brighouse, West Yorkshire designing cutting edge card and wrap designs to supply to Marks and Spencer. They’ve come a long way since then, with over 200 employees and offices in Bradford, London and Hong Kong. Their continued focus on innovation and creativity means that they’ve become the sole supplier of over 5000 greetings products to M&S, making them the fourth biggest retailer of greetings cards in the UK.

This is a screen shot of their site. Check out some of the other fantastic banners too!