#the pattern pathos

[nordenburo]

T H E   P A T T E R N   P A T H O S  - C A S S I E   B Y R N E S - If you’re anything like me and have a soft spot for bold and colorful hand drawn prints, then you gonna LOVE today’s episode of The Pattern Pathos! This post is devoted to talented and sweet lady Cassie Byrnes, an Australian surface designer whose runaway success has catapulted her into the closed circle of the Pattern Superstars... - Chloe

Well, I bet you probably heard about this young Melbourne based surface designer who has recently emerged as a rising figure of the fashion world. Freshly graduated from Melbourne’s RMIT (only a year ago), Cassie Byrnes already counts an impressive array of projects under her belt, including collaborations with famous local brands, and is just about to launch her own line of patterned products, ranging from garments to homewares and screen printed artworks. I seriously fell in love with her colorful and spontaneous work where brush strokes reveal a fresh and extraordinary vivid world. Inspired by her childhood in North Queensland spent outside exploring the local landscapes, Cassie’s work is strongly influenced by nature and bright color palettes. She likes to describe her work process as “spontaneously organized”, following a very intuitive progression and organic development of ideas, constantly influenced by new discoveries and happy accidents.

“When faced with a design brief, I don’t look for the new; I look back, and guide myself with the inspiration that I’m constantly collecting through everyday life. A very visual person, I will snap until my camera roll is overloaded with images of lines, patterns, colour, composition formed by the environment of my boring everyday life. It could be the smallest detail in one of these images that can influence the direction of an entire project.”

Combining  an old and new school approach to pattern design, Cassie always starts by focusing on the production of original artworks by hand and finally complete the design process with the digital processing. This final phase is truly important and must not betray the “arty” component of the drawing (ink marks etc.) to keep this very tactile feel brought by the hand generated aesthetic.

Cassie is also committed into conscious design and claims an ethical stance about the fashion industry (which makes me love her even more!)

“I’m passionate about keeping local business thriving through buying locally made whenever possible. Outside of the local industry, I believe that companies should work to become transparent and be responsible for human rights specifically when it comes to fair labor conditions. I hope to inspire and educate others about ethically made products and supporting my local industry well into the future.”

++ cassiebyrnes.com

photo credits: Cassie Byrnes and Eve Wilson for The Design Files.

[nordenburo]

T H E   P A T T E R N   P A T H O S  - E D I T H   R E W A - Here’s to a new episode of the pattern pathos series my lovelies! Today’s portrait is devoted to Edith Rewa, a Sydney based illustrator and textile designer whose passion for Australian native flora gave birth to a very unique and fascinating visual universe. Meet Edith. - Chloé

Growing up surrounded by bushland in rural Victoria, Edith developed a singular fascination for the natural world since her early youth. She spent a whole lot of time exploring her parent’s garden, collecting and drawing specimens. This early interest for botany constitutes the essence of her work. Edith’s stunning floral patterns are like a collection of naturalist’s etchings, incredibly realistic and detailed. Her approach flirts with science, as she likes to study each and every plants she’s drawing, getting to know their names and place of birth. Working surrounded by an impressive (and ever growing) series of drawings of various species, she even went to call her workspace the “Bush Museum”. Her meticulous hand drawings are delicate and soft, almost from another time. One of her latest project, Fossick, reflects her strong and uncommon visual identity. “I wanted to create a series of wearable Wunderkammers (cabinet of curiosities”) that document my own botanical explorations in and around Sydney, a wingding of new place and findings” she explains in an interview for The Design Files. This beautiful series of head scarves, described as “head museums”, just made my jaw drop.

++ edithrewa.com

Photo credits: Rachel Kara for The Design Files / Edith’s website

[nordenburo]

T H E   P A T T E R N   P A T H O S  - R E B E C C A   A T W O O D - As the talented Rebecca Atwood is launching her new stunning collection of homegoods called Howland, I thought it was more than time to introduce the Brooklyn based designer and welcome her into the circle of the Pattern Pathos stars. - Chloe

Rebecca is certainly one of my favorite and most inspirational figure in the world of pattern design and objects making. Beginning her career at Anthropologie, the designer quickly made her name through the creation of home products collections and consulting on trends and design for clients all over the United States and United Kingdom. Her unique and recognizable style are imbued by her creative process and her love for traditional techniques and hand painting. Rebecca finds her inspiration into her everyday life in Brooklyn as well as her family heirloom, collecting textures found in nature, vintage patterns discovered at the flea market, inspired color combinations from travels or compositions from her numerous sketchbooks. These first stages of making, often lost in today's commercial products, are an integral part of the designer's process who spend a lot of time experimenting on collages, paintings, drawings and natural color testings. Her last series of products is a clever combination of naturally dyed shibori linens, subtle metallics, hand-painted marks and an array of rich neutrals layer together. The result is a luxurious but relaxed collection of items blend with a warm autumnal atmosphere...

"The new fall collection begins on a crisp autumn morning. It’s a morning where milk turns a warm cup of coffee into that perfect latte color. It’s a morning where light dances across the bedroom walls, creating ever changing patterns. As morning gives way to afternoon, smoky grey shadows cast long grids along the sidewalk, and weathered steel reflects the soft luster of the late-morning sun. A day in the studio is spent creating potato prints, marbling paper and working through ideas in a sketchbook. By the end of the day, the light has shifted, casting everything in deep blue-green hues."

+ rebeccaatwood.com

[nordenburo]

T H E   P A T T E R N   P A T H O S  -  A M E L I E   M A N C I N I - Amelie Mancini is a french artist and designer based in Brooklyn, NY. Starting off as a painter, she quickly faced the difficulty of making a living through fine arts and decided to opened her practice to other mediums such as woodworking and linocuts. After a first attempt to create a limited serie of printed baseball cards, she finally got to design her own line of block printed fabrics and wood items, and started a brand new business that grew rapidly succesfull. I like the handmade charm of her block prints, their irregularities and imperfections make every products unique and kind of "vibrant". - Chloe

See more of Amelie's block printed items here and visit her website here.