This is one of the first patterns I made during my Immersion course, “Bud’s Brace”
Friends,
Late December of 2020 found me at a crossroads. Covid + a foster child with special needs had completely ravaged me of all of my goals and long-term plans. The foster child had left our home to go to a new home early that December (after 18 months with us), and while the crushing weight of his daily care had disappeared almost in the snap of the fingers, the shadows and residual effects of that experience left me feeling cautious and hesitant.
It was a time of internalization and reflection – me, trying to figure out who I was again, what I wanted from my life, how much I could really ask for. I knew one thing – I wanted to make my own art. I wanted to see what was in my mind, heart and hands when no one else was telling me what to paint.
My sister-in-law shared @BonnieChristine with me on Instagram, and as I visited her page, and then her website, the possibilities of what she was offering rolled through me like hopeful, invisible waves. I could make my own art. I could make my own art for fabric. I could make my own art work for me. My art could be my voice, expressing meaning and depth and hope.
I took Bonnie Christine’s class, Immersion, which truly was an immersion into all that the field of surface pattern design could offer. I learned Adobe Illustrator. I learned about repeating patterns. I learned about colorways and different types of prints and portfolios and licensing.
Surface pattern design, I learned, is simply the design of a pattern on any surface – notebooks, washi tape, envelopes, stationery, wrapping paper, wall paper, fabric, clothing. That pattern on your favorite sweater. The mouse you’re using. The notebook cover you’re jotting your thoughts in.
I took the class…and a whole army of hopes and dreams was born in my artistic soul.
This army is determined, my friends.
I’m over a year into this journey now and while I have no regrets, I frequently have to calm the urgency I feel to have all of my hopes realized, all of my dreams acknowledged.
One day soon, I’ll be a licensed artist. I’ll see the road ahead a little more clearly because I’ll have made it to the next step.
Until then, I feed the hungry dream.
What about you? Is there an army of hope for something in you?
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