When people ask me about my Sketchbooks I often describe it as a place to escape. But, you already know me too well. I can only escape from the real world for short bursts of time because the Creative bug bites me around every corner.
Looking back to when I was I young child, I understand now why I always felt compelled to draw, paint & do things other children at that age just didn't do. I can recall the day before my 21st birthday when my Gran handed me a stack of books that barely fit into one of those old fashioned box style suitcases. In fact, it wasn't just that one suitcase either, there were 2 large ones & a small school style carry case like the one in the image below. I had no idea that Granny D saved every single piece of paper I ever laid my hands on & wrote diary entries of our play dates. My English Granny was a gem in herself as she showed me so many wonderful things that I still continue to hold on the memory banks of many years ago.
When I opened that first book a flood of memories poured into my mind as the songs we sang while playing Mrs. Brown & Mrs. White began echoing with the sound of birds in the garden. Ir seems that both my Grannies had an affinity for their gardens, yet each taught me so much in their own special way.
We sang out laud, danced silly swirly dances & each day was a creative explosion of colour, glue & patches of fabric on paper dolls. Did you have these when growing up? Admittedly, mine didn't come out of collections like the ones I discovered on Google, but instead we cut out old magazines & used figurines from treasured finds at pawn shops.
As far as I know, or so I was told...
"You know Tanya", my Granny said. "These books were put together from the pages of your creative imagination & those little hands." I remember her saying this, because she held my hands in hers & kissed them the exact same way she did when I'd get hurt.
The mindful foresight of my Gran who was particularly fond of me & adored pretty golden threaded textiles as much as any lover of vintage stuff would, kept every memory I had ever created & bound them together in books.
She would bring off-cuts of those really expensive imported pieces after their clients collected their vintage furniture & rushed to show me the ones she collected that day. Our games continued into the kitchen where Grandpa would teach me the English words of every word in the Colliers Encyclopedia starting right where we left off the day before. Their love of art & craft projects, knitting & of course fabrics gave me so much to remember, although many of that is hidden from recall.
To give you the slightest idea of how deeply satisfying the entirety of my young memories are, you can just close your eyes & see how Surface Designs came into play in nearly all aspects of my life without me knowing, remembering or recollecting how it all fits together. It helps to ask those who are around what you loved when you where little as many of those very same memories will be with you forever. Where you learn & experience life, there everything you are comes together in an orderly manner to form who you become in the end. Your work shows parts of people who influenced you, moulded your thought & showed you the way. Just like I was shown how to connect all the dots as a Surface Pattern Designer. I guess it took all those years of accumulated knowledge, experimentation & hands on practice in every field of creativity to truly become who I am today.
So, before I get to far ahead of today's Blog Article, I don't want you to miss out on the 24+ years I was a Hairstylist. Thanks to my children, who loved watching those old VHS video tape footage of shows I did in the 90's, my memory stays clear on just how much I enjoyed the Avante-Garde side of being an Intercoiffure Hairstylist & the behind the scenes work we used to put in for competitions & shows was tremendously satisfying. I'll share some of those competition photographs here to give you a glimpse at what I got up to in my twenties before settling in a small town where I opened my heart to clients & the calmer lifestyle of the countryside.
Whether it's as a full time career, part time love of something you care about, or if you want to further explore your creativity, any form of Artistry though your creative endeavours can be uplifting, fulfilling & downright fantastic!!!
I feel the same about fabric, textiles & pretty patterns as I did when I designed those paper doll clothes during my visits to Granny D's house. You see, I am still that little girl with an ever expanding imagination & now, after all these years I can finally bring my passions for Sketchbooks, Vintage memorabilia & the ability to design into the world in the most unique way possible... And I would never have been able to it without the knowledge I gathered from Immersion. It changed my life & helped me figure out how to be more of who I wanted to be.
Wow!!! That was a magical ride down memory lane & all I wanted to do today was give you some insights into how you can accomplish your own version of creativity by learning the skills you will need to monetise a creative career & build your dreams:
+ Learn from the ground up how to build a sustainable Creative Career
+ Master Adobe Illustrator which fantastic for designing anything!
+ Create Repeating Patterns
+ Work in Collections
+ Build a Portfolio
+ Choose an Industry unique to your selection of Creative traits
+ Learn how to communicate with Art Directors (email etiquette + resources)
+ Discover & Focus in on Your Signature Style
+ Understand Contracts
+ Learn Licensing lingo
+ Hear experts on Copyrights & Fair Pricing
+ Move Your Career Forward with Hundreds of Industry Resources
+ Become a Confident Creator
+Showcase Yourself as an Artist & Designer
+ Design Your Unique Branding
+ Check in With Bonnie every week in a Live Q&A session
+ Stay Motivated
+ Follow a Focused Lesson plan
+ Be wildly inspired & fall in love with the Career You get to Craft for Yourself
My Immersion journey began because I wanted to stand out in the crowd & knew that I had much to show the world in terms of Creativity! Maybe you need this too & I wanted to remind you that Enrolment is only open once a year & even though you may have heard this from me before, it actually closes for new students at midnight the 22nd for American Students & midnight the 23rd for us here in Australia.
Just as a final heads up, this is the last year Immersion will be at this price. Find out more on the Surface Design Immersion Landing page with this link https://www.surfacepatterndesigners.com/a/2147504582/zEM8mxF6
Until next time xo
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