I'm an artist, surface pattern + fabric designer, author, mama, and online teacher in Portland, OR. I believe in the power of art-making as a tool for radical self-care. I help people feel a little bit brighter and a little bit less alone through the art and products I make, the words I write, and the classes I teach. Come join 18k+ people in my colorful, uplifting world!
You're invited to The Pattern + Process Variety Show! 🎪🎨✨
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Hi Reader, Last week I told you about a super special collaboration I've been working on with my friend Sarah Watts, and today I'm excited to share that registration is OPEN for The Variety Show: Surface Pattern Design Edition! The Variety Show is a weeklong workshop – coming up March 31st–April 4th – all about surface pattern design. Sarah and I are hosting it together, and we’ll be joined by a couple of very amazing special guests — artists Jen Hewett and Peggy Dean. Yes! And, we’ll have some surprise bonus appearances who’ll join us throughout the week as well (revealed soon!).
Sarah and I want to pull back the curtain on the surface design world. Not just a peek, but a backstage pass to see different artists, their approaches, and their career paths. It's important for artists to see variety. To see options. To understand that we can give ourselves permission to make it all up as we go along and forge our own unique path that doesn't look like anyone else's. That’s what’s happening in The Variety Show. You’ll get an inside look at several different programs and processes – including Photoshop, Illustrator, Procreate, and block printing. You’ll get to hear about how different artists use different programs and processes to achieve specific looks in their creative work, and how the programs sometimes weave together in fun, unique, and personal ways. There’s a secret about having a creative career that I don’t think is talked about enough, and it’s this: We’re all just figuring it out as we go. It’s weird and it’s winding and often non-linear, and there’s a lot of diving into the unknown involved. There’s no magic ticket to creative success. There’s no blueprint or fill-in-the-blank set of templates or trend report you can follow or course you can take that will lead you to mega success. There's not one way to get there. There's an endless variety of ways. I’ve spent a lot of time over the years talking to working artists, and the general consensus for how to create your own success is this: Spend lots of time making lots of art. Make lots of mistakes. Figure out what works for you, and lean into that. Let it unfold in its own weird way. Work hard. Be persistent, consistent, and patient. Practice. Don’t stop. That may sound hard or depressing, but it’s actually the best news ever. There’s no road map, which means you can literally do it however you want. There’s no right way or wrong way – there’s only YOUR way. And when you give yourself permission to do things your way, it’s not going to look like anyone else’s, and you’ll be on your way to creating your own version of creative success, too. This is where The Variety Show comes in. We’re kicking things off Monday night, March 31st, with a live “speakeasy”, where we’ll be sharing unfiltered, authentic truths and stories from our creative journeys as artists and pattern designers. Seeing different artistic paths, real-time workflows, and having honest discussions can help you figure out what the right steps and choices and classes are for you – without pressure and without FOMO. That’s what you’ll find in The Variety Show. You’ll leave feeling excited, inspired, and empowered. You're invited. It’s gonna be awesome! You’ll have a front-row seat to different approaches to surface pattern design and lots of amazing conversation around it all. We want you to be able to explore all your options so you can make informed + empowered decisions about how you want your surface pattern design learning to unfold. We’ll help you demystify the surface pattern design process, and The Variety Show will help you find clarity and confidence to carve your own creative pattern design path. Come join us! ​
​ ​Pattern Camp is coming soon, too! This is my intensive live course where you'll learn how to use Adobe Illustrator for patterns and art. You can learn all about the course right here. The upcoming course is Saturday-Sunday April 13–14th. Registration opens Thursday, April 3rd. This course is a perfect way to follow-up The Variety Show, if you end up deciding you want to dive deep into learning how to use this amazing + robust program (it's my personal fave). More about Pattern Camp in the coming weeks. :) ​ Big love and lots of goodness to you today, my friend! Until next time... LET'S BE FRIENDS ON IG!
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​Jessica Swift.
I'm an artist, surface pattern + fabric designer, author, mama, and online teacher in Portland, OR. I believe in the power of art-making as a tool for radical self-care. I help people feel a little bit brighter and a little bit less alone through the art and products I make, the words I write, and the classes I teach. Come join 18k+ people in my colorful, uplifting world!
Hi Reader, It's Spring Break for my kids this week, and we're staying put in Portland this year since we're going on a big adventure to England this summer (my little family of three's first international trip!). which means I'm doing the ultimate juggling act right now, trying to work with 2 kids here 24/7 and also make time for fun stuff so they're not just sitting around in front of screens. Basically I'm bouncing between things like zoom meetings to going to the pool to hosting live...
I turned the drawing I shared in my email last week into a repeating pattern! Hey Reader, Happy Tuesday! Today I've got pattern design on the brain, and it's always a good day when I get to focus on patterns because making them is pretty much my favorite creative thing ever. :) I'm working on designing a new fabric collection right now, which has been super fun but I've also felt a bit rusty. I don't like feeling rusty, but I know by now after being a working artist for so many years that the...
Hi Reader, When I was in college, I remember learning that to be a successful artist in the world, you have to find your niche and your signature style, and then make work like that forever, never straying very far from your chosen medium or recognizable look. (Maybe that's not what they were actually teaching us, but that's apparently what I absorbed and what I remember!) I remember thinking then that it would be so BORING to just make the same kind of thing over and over for years on end,...