Studio9Design

Surface Pattern Design Exploration

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I’ve always wanted to try my hand at creating surface pattern designs. What is surface pattern design, you might ask? It’s a skill in creating designs that are primarily used for fashion and home decor textiles, paper products, and much more. It is a decoration for many surfaces that are all around us. Having a background in sewing and fashion and with my skills as a graphic designer, I thought I would give it a try.

In between my client work and while the world is in isolation due to the COVID-19 virus I have the opportunity to learn about surface pattern design via Skillshare with a class by Bonnie Christine.

If you have looked at my portfolio you may have noticed that I love flowers. I paint them, I photographed them and I draw them. This practice is coming in very handy for surface pattern design.

Below are my sketches of some random flowers that I have photographed and a few of those photos, as well.

drawings

Using Adobe Illustrator and my Wacom tablet I created vector illustrations from my sketches, gave them some color, and then grouped them together in a pattern. I found my color combination from a book in my library called ‘The Designer’s Guide to Color Combinations’ by Leslie Cabarga. This combo came from the Art Deco section. I am very fond of Art Deco so that was a bonus find.

To see how this would look as a home deco pillow I mocked one up.

 

 

Then I played with another color combo and when enlarged this one looks pretty cool as a summer dress.

 

One more, a monochromatic version also looks nice as a home dec pillow that I mocked up too. As you can see there is no end to the options you can create.

 

Pillow-Mockup

 

I have a lot to learn in perfecting this skill but I have to say I’m very excited about it. It was really fun and the possibilities are endless and I love that!

 

 

Macro Flower ~ End of Life Beauty

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I’m learning how to take macro flower photography and what it is that makes it a good photo. This image turned out well because of the focus and clarity in the petal details and their crisp outline. I’m using my old beginner Nikon D40 but with my 55-200 lens I can get a pretty good shot. The shutter speed is 1/500, ISO 200 with an F stop of 9. It was a pretty sunny day in my garden where this was taken.

Even though it is the end of this flower’s life I think it is beautiful, hence the quote.

Winter Solstice Thoughts

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As I watch the leaves continue to fall from the trees this morning from my dinning room window I’m already thinking about longer days, sunshine and the warmth of the sun. The sunflower is iconic of all of these things as is seems to glow like the sun.

I’m loving macro photography. I took this photo with my iphone 8s and with a small amount of editing in Photoshop it is a crisp and fairly clear as I wanted it to be. I took this photo at my nieces wedding this past October.

The Value of Building Business Relationships

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Studying about the value of building business relationships over the years as an entrepreneur has given me a good understanding of how it works. It’s proven that people purchase from people that they have a relationship with given the chance. Building a business relationship instills trust whether it’s been established from prior sales or maybe just a conversation. Wouldn’t you purchase from someone that you know and trust?

I had someone say to me about a client who sells products online…”they just sell to their friends”. My response was of course; don’t you buy as much as you can from people you know or have a relationship with?

Building Business Relationships a New Perspective

While traveling last year, I saw this concept work first hand in a way that I didn’t expect. The experience was very touching and gave me the perspective on how important relationship building is for personal growth as well as business growth.

The last 10 years my husband and I have been traveling to Cozumel, México. We have stayed as long as a month at a time. I’m very fortune that I can work remotely from almost anywhere; all I need is the Internet and my computer, which has made this possible.

We’ve always rented transportation while there and we’ve always rented from the same company. The same owner and same two guys have always worked there, Thomas and Cesar. We’ve gotten to know them very well over the years and have built a mutual trust. That trust includes that we’ll take care of their product and we trust that they’ll provide us with a reasonable price. We’ve gotten to know them personally over the years and always look forward to seeing them the following year. They always ask when we’re coming back, too.

Changes are inevitable as the years go by and this year was the year for change. The rental business had been sold due to the owner passing away. Thomas and Cesar had to find a new place to work.

This year when we arrived much to our surprise we had to look for a new rental company. As we searched we also asked for information about our two friends.

Renewing Business Relationships

We checked out business after business walking up and down the streets we turned the corner and there was Thomas with a big smile. One of the other business owners called him to say that we were looking for him so he walked to meet us.

We chatted and ask about his family, talked to his daughter on the phone who always called my husband Abuelo (Grandpa). We asked about Cesar, who we learned worked for a different company.

Estella, Dale and Thomas

Estella, Dale and Thomas

Wanting to rent a scooter, we asked Thomas if this is possible, he asked, “how much did we pay last time?” Prices are all over the board. He worked his calculator a little then said, “Come, follow me”. His English is better than our Spanish but sometimes things are lost in translation. We walked and talked and passed the rental yard where he worked. Didn’t think too much about it but did wonder why.

Following Thomas, we crossed the street and went into another rental company. Much to our surprise there was Cesar! We chatted for a while, catching up. Thomas left saying we are in good hands, gave us his private cell number, we made a time to meet he and his daughter, now in high school, for coffee the next evening.

Cesar was able to rent to us for the same price as in the past, which was almost half the going rate. He also gave us his cell phone number in case we needed anything at all, he said to please call. We felt very well taken care of.

Cesar, Dale, Me

Cesar, Dale, Me

Knowing that we have friends here on the island is a great comfort when so far away from home. The value of building that business relationship over the years made for an easy business transaction and it was personally gratifying, too.

Another strong business relationship that we have built on the island is with Tony the owner of Burritos Gorditos. Over the past years my husband would take Tony’s burritos to eat during the day when out fishing. He can always count on Tony having his burritos ready for pick up the night before upon request and made perfectly for him.

There are many places to get burritos but we will always go to Tony’s. He is friendly, always knows who you are, and likes to chat about the island and his life on it.

Dale and Tony

Dale and Tony

These type of business standards equals success!

 

Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans

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Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans is new to me. I didn’t know about this program before and I’ve been to Cozumel many times. On our recent trip to Cozumel, México I noticed some fantastic murals on many of the town’s walls. They are created by artists belonging to Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans.  This is a world wide program. Because all the pieces had the artist name and their logo on it otherwise I wouldn’t have known about the program.

The goal of the Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans program is to foster emotional connections to and drive positive action for our ocean by

  • creating environmental, educational, public artworks placed to maximize community engagement and awareness-raising,
  • providing a multidisciplinary platform engaging community members in conversations about ocean issues and stewardship and
  • growing an inclusive, global community of concerned creatives inspired to utilize their talent to advocate for worldly matters.

Below are a few of my favorites that caught my eye for different reasons; color, message, and composition.

Besides being very large on the wall of a store I love the abstractness of this while still being able to understand what the shapes are:

This one is so long I took two photos from across the street:

 

I’m showing one photo from across the street and one close up. For perspective there is a street light and a bench which both look very small. I thought this piece was very clever:

 

 

 

Filed Under: Art

Watercolor Painting and Traveling

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Mexican Cup Watercolor Painting

Watercolor painting and traveling can be challenging. What should you take with you and what should paint when you get to where you are going.

Often finding something that I can get into painting is the hardest part for me. Flowers are a favorite subject because of the many unique colors and shapes. Of course, flowers don’t last very long to paint from real life. I can draw the composition out and get started then after a day or two paint from a photograph.

This painting is called ‘Mexican Cup’ because I painted it while traveling to and staying at Akumal México. This lovely cup and dish was in the condo that we rented. The bougainvillea bush that grew within the landscape, created a perfect color arrangement to paint.

Akumal is a beautiful small town in the Yucatan Peninsula of México between Play del Carmen and Tulum. The snorkeling is fantastic because there are so many turtles and colorful fish in the clear water. Akumal means ‘land of the turtles’ in the Mayan language.

I painted this about 10 years ago and is one of my first paintings. I can’t find the photograph that I used but in the photo below you can see my set up and small space from which I painted. I’ve learned that you don’t need very much room to paint and I think the key is to keep your subject matter simple so you can complete it in a reasonable amount of time. My style is realism so it seems to take a bit longer to finish than other styles. I use Arches 140 lb., block cold press paper so I don’t have to worry about the paper buckling when wet. I probably take too many colors of paint but that is what I’m comfortable with, which I think is key to success.

This painting makes a lovely card to send as a ‘thinking of you’ or ‘birthday’ greeting.  As my shop expands I will have copies available to hang on your wall.

Experiencing California’s North Eastern High Desert

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I found myself spending most of the summer in California’s North Eastern High desert country where the towns are small, the land is open and mountain ranges extend as far as you can see. Everyday these mystic mountains took on a new look depending on the weather and/or time of day giving my stay a bit more interest then expected.

 

It was like being stuck in an ‘Old American Western’ movie set where wild mustangs roam the open range covered with sagebrush. The arid desolate landscape of the high desert and mountain ranges provided the feeling of the harshness of this wilderness. There was even railroad tracks that took an occasional lonely train in and around the mountain. The vast landscape was dotted with ranches, some with cattle others with crops such as alfalfa. Old barns, small cemeteries, and even smaller churches begged to tell their stories of their past.

 

You can’t have an ‘Old American Western’ movie set without a saloon. There was one saloon that had the feeling of the past with the some perks of the present. They had kept the beautiful old woodwork and over the bar was a mural of hundreds of ranch livestock brands of the area, past and present.

Ranchers use these brands or combination of marks and letters to identify their livestock, which graze over large open ranges.

The ‘perks of the present’ was the delicious modern food and their own brewed beer that this saloon (bar/restaurant) offered. This was a delightful discovery that we indulged in often during our stay in the ‘Old American Western’ movie set.

Clothing Designer Logo

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I was asked by my friend Leslie, who is a very talented clothing designer, to design a logo specifically to be made into garment labels to sew into her one of a kind clothing. This was to be done remotely since she is in NYC and I am in California.

First step in the process is for me to understand how the logo will be used, her expectations of the project, timeline and budget. We were able to accomplish this via email knowing that if we needed to we could call.

I asked for some images of logos and typography that she found pleasing as well as colors she liked. She had a great tagline and a story of a nick name a friend gave her that she shared with me.

Her expectations were something simple, easy to read with playful sophistication. After exploration of different fonts and placement of the letters with the tagline, too. This is final logo that were printed into garment labels and could be used for any type of marketing collateral. It was great fun to collaborate with her on this project.

Leslie Gelber Logo

 

Return to Grand Bahama Island 5/2019

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Our return to Grand Bahama Island this time was for a short two week stay. Our stay in 2017 was enjoyable and a productive fishing experience for my husband. Stayed again with the same great hosts Pat and Ivan but at a different condo than last time which, we loved. It has a pool and a veranda overlooking one of the canals.

 

 

Port Lucaya Marketplace, not far from our condo, is lined with colorful shops, restaurants, condos and a port with the beach not far away.

 

 

 

If you are a nature lover as we are you will be amazed at the miles of unspoiled beaches. One of those beaches is Gold Rock Beach within Lucayan National Park. For a $10 fee you can park and spend all day there. We arrived early on a Monday, around 9:00, much before anyone else that usually come via tours.

 

 

The beach is miles long, the tide was down. We walked for 30 minutes to a perfect place to set down our things. I sat quietly to listen. All I heard were the waves and an occasional bird chirp. The breeze was light and pleasant. I laid on the sand to be surrounded by the calming movement of the ocean…peaceful. I watch my husband fish the low tide, in his happy place along the shoreline. I have a book and a magazine but all that feels right is to just listen to the absence of everyday hustle and bustle of life.

 

 

 

Nature Provides Exercise in Seeing

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It snows only a few times during the winter months where I live and each year it comes in different amounts and intensity. I love going out right after a snow storm for a walk and a little exploration. It seems extra quite and everything looks so different when coated with a glistening white blanket of snow. But there is more, this weather event has given me an opportunity for a great exercise seeing, not only looking but really seeing. What did I see…I saw new contrasts, lines, shapes, and textures that weren’t there just the day before.

Excited in a nerdy sort of way I ran back to the house to grab my camera. I had my iphone but I wanted my SLR camera with the macro lens to be able to shoot up close and also, give me more editing options.

The first things I see of course are the big deciduous oak trees with their large leafless branches now outlined with snow that has brightened them to a new majesty.

As I walk along I quickly discover new lines on the fence posts, the shape of a simple branch and the contrast of the red leaf that I hadn’t notice before, now shouts out ‘look at me’.

Having a white background, shapes of leaves on this bush stand out with each leaf now outlined. The shape of wire fencing turns into an interesting grid.

Back around the house I find the clothespins all lined up waiting for duty but will remain idle until it warms up a bit. I love the repetition of the railing pickets and how the snow builds up the same all the way along to the end. Oh, and the ice sickles, wow! We don’t see that very often, confirming that it’s cold outside!

The contrast of the daphine leaves and pink blooms shows brighter than without the contrast of the snow and giving us a reminder that spring is right around the corner!

That concludes my exercise in seeing. It’s been fun but now it can warm up a little!

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