As I deepen and broaden my work with the geometry of 19th Century surface pattern design plans, I find that there are design opportunities which have not been explored by others. With my discoveries and innovations, I am constructing elegant patterns from generators based on square, parallelogram, rhombus, and rectangular shapes.
I challenge myself to see how far I can push the content of a generator and still have it behave in an orderly way when it tiles the plane as a p1 translation.
My process starts with hand-drawn images for generators. I scan them and manipulate them digitally using Photoshop CC 2014 to create final designs.
Artworks
Edgevale 2
50 x 40 cm
Digital print on archival Epson Velvet paper
2014
I look to Nature for inspiration. For this image, I collected ginko tree leaves in the fall and drew them after they dried. I used my freehand drawings to compose a digital design on a square lattice plan with a half slip (or, drop repeat) for a generator, G1. For the next step in the progression, I transformed the design elements within the generator to create a more complex generator, G2. I tiled the plane with a p1 translation of G2.
I am educated as a fine artist. By creating a background and an inset panel with different pattern scales, this image becomes pictorial with an implied narrative. I find this composition of multiple picture planes more visually interesting than a simple and repetitive surface pattern design.
Ellicott 1
50 x 40 cm
Digital print on archival Epson Velvet paper
2014
This image began when I collected leaves from Ellicott Street in my neighborhood. After they dried, I made freehand drawings of them, and used a square lattice plan with a half slip (or, drop repeat) to design the generator. I then scanned the drawing of the generator and used it in Photoshop CC 2014 to tile the plane with a p1 translation.
I am educated as a fine artist. By creating a background and an inset panel with different pattern scales, this image becomes pictorial with an implied narrative. I find this composition of multiple picture planes more visually interesting than a simple and repetitive surface pattern design.
Windom 2
50 x 40 cm
Digital print on archival Epson Velvet paper
2014
The idea to combine floating leaves from Nature with a geometric pattern structure came to me on a windy day while walking on Windom Street in my neighborhood. I gathered leaves, let them dry, and drew them. I used my freehand drawings to compose a design on a rectangular lattice plan with a half slip (or, drop repeat) for a generator, G1. I scanned the design. For the next step in the progression, I used Photoshop CC 2014 to transform the design elements within the generator to create a more complex generator, G2. I tiled the plane with a p1 translation of G2.
As a fine artist, I find this composition of multiple picture planes more visually interesting than a simple and repetitive surface pattern design.
