Instagram – Diana Kelley – Surface Pattern Designer

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I set myself a simple list of art goals this year: (1) make lots of things, (2) practice small, (3) don't rush the prep. Of those three, the second, practice small, is super important; first because it makes (1) possible, also because working small lowers the stakes on any single effort: you try, you practice, you do multiples, get in lots of iterations of an idea as you work through it. If it goes awry, the investment is small and you can start another and practice some more. Sounds easy! (Also kind of hard, if you're a perfectionist with an aversion to rough drafts.) Anyway for my first work of the new year I made this. It's not small, and I didn't plan my palette in advance (not necessary for every work/everyone, but a problem for me because I never do it, and I should, hence (2) "don't rush the prep") but it's art, so. Something happy for my son's bedroom; watercolor, watercolor pencil, neocolor crayon. Warming up for a colorful year.⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #printdesign #makeitindesign #miidlivehub #watercolor #watercolorpainting #colorpalette #geometric #geometricart #artforkids #artistsofinstagram

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Just seeing how watercolor looks on polymer clay. How's your Monday?⠀
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(You can't just watercolor on polymer clay though. This piece was painted with Schmincke Aqua-Grund watercolor ground first. Still testing different surface options; maybe absorbent acrylic gesso next?)⠀
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#experiments #polymerclay #watercolor #watercolorpainting #schmincke #artistsofinstagram #showyourwork

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When you’re on the phone for ages but you need to do An Art. (I don’t usually work with wax pastels, but a little semi-forced time with them has encouraged me to give them more of a trial. What new materials are we all looking forward to trying this year?)
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#sketchbook #colorstudy #neocolor

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Amid the holiday bustle, I'm still trying out little experiments. This is my first test of cyanotype on polymer clay, and it turned out pretty well! I previously tested watercolor pencil on this same little piece, so the background color isn't white--also a useful experiment. I'm going to hang this little cutie on my tree to represent 2019. Happy Christmas Eve, friends! .
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#cyanotype #cyanotypeprocess #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #blueprint #handmadeprint #alternativeprocesses #altprocess #sunprint #prussianblue #photogram #worldcyanoday #cyanotypeonclay #cianotipo #cyanotypie #polymerclay #showyourwork #designprocess #surfacedesign

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Friends, Society6 is having a special artist promo right now, where you can get 35% off anything in my shop using a special link (click the linktree link in my bio to get the promo). The sale lasts until 12/16--which is also the holiday deadline for standard shipping. I recently put some new holiday-ish designs up, so please think of me when you're shopping for Christmas and Hanukkah! .
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#society6 #society6art #society6artist #society6shop #shopsmall #holidayshopping #surfacepatterndesigner

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Long ago when I was a new knitter--15 years ago maybe?--I knitted these mittens for my mother. I came across them last week when I was at her old home for Thanksgiving, continuing the trying but necessary work of sifting through her things. I'd lost my own mittens a few days before and so I brought these home with me, where a few days' wear revealed the weak threads, the tiny nibbles of moths. I still have the yarn I used to make them, and my first thought was to match the thread, an invisible repair. My second thought was this. Visible repair, wool on stranded mittens, in loving memory.
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#visiblemending #darning #mending #knitted #knittedmittens #handknit #wool #mothweek

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Such a fast turnaround from Thanksgiving to Christmas! I'm feeling holidayish but also like the year is speeding to a close before I'm ready. I'm updating my Society6 shop today with some new designs especially suited to gift wrap. Hello December, let's get a few more things done in 2019!⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #patternillustration #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #patternobserver #printandpattern #showyourwork #colorpalette #miidlivehub #geometricpattern #tilepattern #wrappingpaper #giftwrap #society6artist #society6shop #holidaydecor

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Surprise sun today, so I have some cyanotypes cooking. We'll see how they turn out, but meanwhile this is one from earlier in the summer--the days of cooperative light, how I miss them. 🙂 Cyanotype of embroidered netting on Canson Montval cold press paper. Happy Friday!⁠⠀
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#cyanotype #cyanotypeprocess #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #analogphotography #blueprint #handmadeprint #alternativeprocesses #altprocess #sunprint #prussianblue #photogram #worldcyanoday #cameralessphotography #worksonpaper #vintagelace #canson @cansonpaper #jacquardproducts

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Mashing up cyanotypes, reflection and geometric color blocks today, as one does. Typical Wednesday. 😀 I don't know where I'm going with this but experiments are always my favorite. I hope your week is going well, friends!⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #printdesign #textile #makeitindesign #printandpattern #showyourwork #miidlivehub #fabric #wallpaper #wallpaperdesign #floralpattern #geometricpattern #cyanotype #cyanotypeprocess #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #analogphotography #alternativeprocesses #altprocess #sunprint #worldcyanoday #cianotipo #cyanotypie

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This beautiful, precious object has been keeping me company at my desk for weeks now, and I'm really overdue to share it! Late this summer I signed up for a pincushion exchange organized by @uppercasemagazine as part of the Uppercase Circle, and I had the wonderful good fortune to be matched with Andrea Tsang Jackson of @3rdstoryworkshop. Her piecing technique, based on the faceting of gems, works so beautifully in this! As someone who loves both geometry and transparency, this is a pincushion after my whole heart. What a gift and a treasure. ⁠⠀
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Andrea has a new book, Gemology: Transforming Fabrics into Facets, that teaches all about her methods. If you love quilting and creative sewing or know someone who does, definitely check it out--it's such an original and beautiful technique.⁠⠀
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Thank you again to Andrea for this wonderful pincushion, and to Janine at @uppercasemagazine for doing so much to build community and connect creators with each other! ⁠⠀
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#uppercasemagazine #uppercasecircle #pincushion #patchwork #sewingnotions #quilted #ombre #patchworklabgemology⁠

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Playing around with mashups of geometric color and woodgrain. I would love to say I'm a super methodical person, that everything I do is planned, but in truth this is way I like best to work: toss things together and see how I feel about what results. I see mountains in this, and something of what I love in the way Carson Ellis illustrates flowers, and so--even though it's murky in a few places and needs refinement I'm giving it all my love. Happy Friday, friends! (And if you're like me and your child inexplicably has the day off from school, hang in there are do some fun errands or something. We're taking a craft supply donation to @thewasteshed and hopefully will come home with less than we drop off.)⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #patternillustration #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #patternobserver #printandpattern #designprocess #showyourwork #handdrawnmotifs #colorpalette #miidlivehub #fabric #wallpaper #wallcoverings #wallpaperdesign #geometricpattern #tilepattern #stripes #maximalism #woodgrain

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Trying some new ways to piece things together geometrically. This pattern is made from photos of a beautiful wood-slab table in the Japanese tea house at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I've been wanting to incorporate wood grain into my patterns, so I was delighted to find this lovely material. It makes a pretty amazing wallpaper, no? ⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #patternillustration #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #patternobserver #printandpattern #showyourwork #miidlivehub #fabric #wallpaper #wallcoverings #wallpaperdesign #geometricpattern #tilepattern #maximalist #maximalism #botanicalpattern #woodgrain #chicagobotanicgarden

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It's the 6th day of the Chicago teachers' strike, our house is in a state of chaos and I haven't done a speck of work since Monday, outside of the most basic tasks--order supplies, attempt to tidy desk, open Photoshop, get called away from desk, notice Photoshop open three hours later and close it. Somewhere in the misty past my to-do list is still hanging around, wondering where I went. As an offering--and I reminder to myself that as recently as 7 days ago I was making new work!--here's a recent cyanotype. I tend to default to making things tiny, so to counter that I'm trying larger paper sizes; this one is 12 x 16" on cold press watercolor paper. ⠀
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Crossing my fingers the teachers will prevail and the strike will end soon! ⠀
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#cyanotype #cyanotypeprocess #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #analogphotography #blueprint #handmadeprint #alternativeprocesses #altprocess #sunprint #prussianblue #photogram #worldcyanoday #cameralessphotography #worksonpaper #cyanotypeonfabric #cianotipo #cyanotypie #surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #printdesign #makeitindesign #patternobserver #printandpattern #miidlivehub

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Yesterday was World Cyanotype Day, and also Saturday and "do things with your family" day so here's my observance, one day late. Cyanotype of late summer weeds and netted lace, taken on Arches hot press paper. ⁠⠀
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#cyanotype #cyanotypeprocess #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #analogphotography #blueprint #handmadeprint #alternativeprocesses #altprocess #sunprint #prussianblue #photogram #worldcyanoday #cameralessphotography #worksonpaper #vintagelace #archesart @arches.art #floralart #botanicalart

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Watercolor pattern for the MIID Summer School trend brief "Sea Life." I had so much fun making this one! Of course I also wanted to layer it, mirror it, go crazy with it. Maybe I'll just do that for myself. (Winter style statement: crazyscarf!)⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #patternillustration #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #patternobserver #printandpattern #miidlivehub #fabric #wallpaper #wallpaperdesign #maximalist #maximalism #watercolorpainting #watercolorpattern⁠⠀
#summerschool2019 @MakeitinDesign #porterandbrawn #sealife #mockup

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It must be fall, because I'm full of ideas. Cyanotypes, photographic patterns, abstract watercolors. A new printer that's the twin of my old one but for some reason I'm looking at it differently, wondering what else it can do that I haven't tried yet. I'm gearing up for something! Fabric swatches are on their way from the printers and soon there will be--a lot more thinking, haha. ⁠⠀
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Pattern inspired by Charleston, the country home of Vanessa Bell, painter and sister to Virginia Woolf. I have a Bloomsbury-themed collection perennially in my mental attic, but maybe this winter will be the season that brings it out.⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #printandpattern #showyourwork #colorpalette #fabric #wallpaper #wallpaperdesign #floralpattern #geometricpattern #tilepattern #watercolor #watercolorpainting

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At a used book store yesterday I found a copy of the book Horst: Patterns From Nature, which documents the patterns the photographer created from his images of leaves, fronds, flowers and landscapes. It was good timing because I've been revisiting and rethinking my own small practice of making patterns from photos and nature--work I doubt sometimes, as too unconventional, too unlike my other work, or just too "much." (The offhand comment of someone random in a Facebook group: "No one buys kaleidoscopic patterns." Why do we give these remarks space in our heads? But there they stick, like little grains of sand in the gears.) Just as I've been loving learning cyanotype this summer, I love what they become when I turn them into something else, so: Repeat pattern, cyanotype of ranunculus petals. Could be a great wallpaper, though if I were Mary Katrantzou it would be a dress.⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #miidlivehub #wallpaper #wallcoverings #wallpaperdesign #geometricpattern #tilepattern #maximalist #maximalism #cyanotype #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #alternativeprocesses #prussianblue #worldcyanoday #cianotipo #cyanotypie

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Cloudy day, turning some cyanotypes into patterns. This diamond wallpaper began as an exposure test with a piece of knitted lace--swipe to see its scrappy origin. (I love mocking up wallpaper, but what I really want is this pattern in velvet on a sofa, or maybe in linen on some chairs. There are truly not enough sofas in the world for all the things I want to put on them!)
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #miidlivehub #wallpaper #wallcoverings #wallpaperdesign #geometricpattern #tilepattern #maximalist #maximalism #cyanotype #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #alternativeprocesses #prussianblue #worldcyanoday #cianotipo #cyanotypie

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When in doubt, experiment. Watercolor stripes x kaleidoscopic quilt template, just playing with colors for now. (This may be the kind of wallpaper that drives someone crazy in a Charlotte Perkins Gilman story, but then again we all know it was the gaslighting husband really, right?) ⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #patternillustration #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #printandpattern #designprocess #miidlivehub #fabric #wallpaper #wallpaperdesign #geometricpattern #tilepattern #maximalism

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Making art today and remembering my mother, who died unexpectedly last Tuesday and has left an empty place in our hearts. There’s so much to do when someone dies, and I’ve spent the last week doing it. But today there was sun, and wild garlic in the garden and ranunculus petals falling from the flowers our dear friends sent us. My mother was not online, but she saw my recent work and encouraged it—she was an artist herself, a weaver, but her circumstances never allowed her the space to do it fully. I feel like she’s with me now, reminding me not to sleep on what I love, not to keep it inside for a future, more convenient day. Cyanotypes in her honor, memento mori. 💙

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I put this in Stories yesterday, but it came out so pretty I wanted to share it here. This is my test cyanotype, a slightly defective early piece that I've been using to try out different methods of adjusting/coloring/drawing on the prints. It looks so much cooler in this image than in real life! Maybe this image is the real artwork and the cyanotype is just the subject? That question might be a bit much for a Monday. 🙃 #cyanotype #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #analogphotography #blueprint⁠⠀
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#cyanotypeprocess #handmadeprint #alternativeprocesses #altprocess #prussianblue #photogram #worldcyanoday #cameralessphotography #worksonpaper #cyanotypeonfabric #cianotipo #cyanotypie⁠ #surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #surfacepatterndesigner #printdesign #makeitindesign #miidlivehub #floralart #floralphotography

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Long, long ago, when I was making my first tentative steps in pattern design, I made these watercolor marks, struggled with them and filed them away. Today I pulled them back out and made a pattern for the MIID Summer School intermediate brief, "Paintbrush." I have a lot of motifs still to play with, so this may not be what I submit, but I'm happy to have made it. It would make a sweet baby quilt at a generous scale, wouldn't it? #summerschool2019 @MakeitinDesign #porterandbrawn #paintbrush⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #patternillustration #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #patternobserver #printandpattern #showyourwork #miidlivehub #fabric #wallpaper ⁠⠀
#geometricpattern #abstractpattern #watercolorpainting #designforkids

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Working on something different today--the Sea Life trend brief for @MakeitinDesign Summer School. #workinprogress #porterandbrawn #sealife #summerschool2019 ⁠⠀
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#surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #textiledesign #fabricdesign #surfacepatterndesigner #patternartist #patternillustration #printdesign #textile #textilepattern #makeitindesign #patternobserver #printandpattern #showyourwork #miidlivehub #watercolorpattern #watercolorpainting

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After 8 weeks of summer camp that ended at 1pm, for one week starting today my son is going to a camp that ends at 3. What will I do with this unprecedented additional 2 hours? IT IS A MYSTERY! Meanwhile, here's a cyanotype print from one of @kateblairstone's beautiful lace scraps--a tattered piece of netting that somehow looks floaty even on paper, like a mermaid's dress gently unraveling in the surf. ⁠⠀
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Hope your Monday isn't too Monday, friends!⁠⠀
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#cyanotype #cyanotypeprocess #cyanotypeprint #altprocessphotography #analogphotography #blueprint #handmadeprint #alternativeprocesses #altprocess #sunprint #prussianblue #photogram #worldcyanoday #cameralessphotography #worksonpaper #cyanotipo #cyanotypie #vintagelace #surfacepattern #surfacepatterndesign #patterndesign #surfacepatterndesigner #printdesign #makeitindesign #patternobserver #miidlivehub #archeshotpress #archesart @arches.art