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A Messy Desk

Pile of patterns - Cotton & Flax

Lately, I’ve been spending too much time on Pinterest, collecting photos of beautiful workspaces and gorgeous studios, many of which are immaculately tidy. I’d have to admit, though, that my workspace is much less glamorous. In fact, right now it is piled high with my drawings, as you can see from my hastily taken Instagram photo above.

While it might not be as photo-worthy as the studios of my dreams, at least there is some proof of me working! I’ll have to aim for a more “blog-worthy” photo of my workspace in the days ahead.

Developing New Patterns

ink drawing - developing patterns

I’ve been working on some new patterns this week. This is one of my favorite parts of the process of making printed textiles, as I get to spend hours dreaming up new designs, and experimenting with inks and stamps and my favorite brushes and pens. Right now I’m working on creating larger versions of the many patterns I’ve sketched over the last few weeks, and I’m excited to see them come to life.

I create many (but not all) of my patterns by drawing directly onto tracing paper. I do this for a couple reasons: first, because I like to tape a piece of graph paper underneath, so that I can have a grid from which to work. While all of my textile patterns are hand drawn, I try to find ways to create patterns with some amount of regularity in spacing, and graph paper keeps me from getting wildly out of scale in my drawings. Second, I love being able to place the finished tracing paper patterns over a piece of unprinted fabric, and be able to get a glimpse at what the final product might look like.

I’m hoping to share a big batch of new patterns here on the blog in the coming week!

Bits and Pieces

Erin Dollar - artworks

I’ve been taking a lot of work in progress shots, and posting them on Instagram (my username is @erindollar, if you’d like to follow me). I love sharing parts of my creative process, hope to do a longer post about it soon.

Beginnings

Starting a new blog is tricky. At least, it has been for me. This is not my first rodeo, blogging-wise. I used to blog about art and design. Now, as I begin a new chapter of my life as an artist (under a new business name!), I want to start fresh. A new beginning.

Cotton & Flax pillows - S/S 2012

The pressure of the first post is immense. I want to start off my new blog with a bang, to proudly announce “Hello, I’m here, take notice!” But what could possibly be good enough for that first post? I kept thinking of new ideas: “What about a tour of my workspace?” “I know! I’ll post my full range of new work!” “Oh, even better, I’ll start with a tutorial!” Every idea felt more exciting than the last, but somehow it just wasn’t happening.

Cotton & Flax - Behind the scenes taking photos

So this is what I’ll share with you today. It’s a bit of a “behind the scenes” of my week. I’ve been trying to take better photos of my work: the textiles, the prints, the collages. I want to make them feel more tangible and show how they fit into a home. Documenting my work takes a lot more time than I ever seem to plan for. The perfectionist side of me will take 50 photos of the same pillow, each time changing the angle, the props, the lighting. It’s easy to get pulled into the most minute detail when you are looking through a camera lens.

Cotton & Flax pillows and Morgan the Beagle

But that perfected product photography isn’t really what I want to focus on for this blog. I want to share my new projects, of course, but I also want to share what my life as an artist and maker is like. I want to document the process behind what I create, and share the things that inspire me, because that is so much more interesting than those product photos. You’d never guess that below that stack of pillows, the first photo in this post, my friend’s adorable beagle was just out of the frame. These are the things I want to share. I hope you’ll enjoy.

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