Asian art has always influenced my work. From the time I was little, I looked at photographs of Chinese art that my Grandfather loved. He brought me a lacquered cigarette box when I was young because the inlaid birds and flowers were so beautiful. I collected pheasant vases in cobalt blue and ivory - and… Continue reading I finally found myself as an artist – and I was right where I left me…
I love creating textile designs more than anything these days, and the program I use most often to create my designs is not Photoshop. Don't get me wrong...I use Photoshop every day and despite my initial reluctance to learn it, I do love it. But since 2009, I have been using Corel Painter for my… Continue reading How to create a batik effect in Corel Painter
It's strange how life sometimes throws you a hint. Even stranger is the way that a certain memory is stored with perfect clarity while the rest of the same day fades away. It was summertime, right before I went away to college and I was visiting a friend of mine. We were standing in his… Continue reading The first time I heard the words “Textile Designer”
Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220 AD. Wikipedia I wish I had the… Continue reading Creating woodblock prints digitally
This past year, I spent a great deal of time trying to refine and clarify my artistic voice. I really love a minimalist style and thought my art should reflect that. A concerted effort to fit my art into a very tight mold frustrated me beyond belief. I wound up being completely blocked because I… Continue reading Refining your artistic style
This past week, I participated in my first ever "Speed Design Challenge" and it was indeed a challenge! In fact, it might be the MOST challenging thing I've done in quite some time. A Speed Design is just that - produce a design based on a brief in a short window of time. It doesn't… Continue reading What a Speed Design Challenge taught me
I like setting goals for my business. I set really lofty goals and try to hit my targets, but when I'm setting those goals I forget that life is often busy and my business goals will undoubtedly take a back seat to the really important things like family. That's okay, though because goals are a… Continue reading The vision for 2020
I work a full time job in an entirely different industry from the art world. That leaves me scrambling to create content for Instagram, get my portfolio updated (and post the updates to my artist website sandandchi.com) Once all of that is done, I have to finish collections, design new elements, make new patterns...and the… Continue reading My December organizational binge
