Don’t worry, I’m still primarily all about the babies and little kids. I will always make onesies with cute animals, and t-shirts to hug your tots’ potbellies. However, those tiny creatures actually grow up and get opinions at some point. My own first baby is now thirteen years old. How is that even possible? I still feel like a kid (I still think like a kid). She seems a lot more mature than me on some days.
Looking through my screens the other day, she proclaimed that “None of these are for kids my age!”.
” Make something more mature, mum. Something, sophisticated!”
Umm, hello. A cat wearing sunglasses is the height of sophistication. You’re just not old enough to realize it yet.
I still took her advice. I’m mature that way, you know. Now that I have the extra space to experiment, I look forward to tackling new projects and experiments. This all just happens to be perfect timing.
My sketchbooks are full of geometric patterns. I’m obsessed with them. So I made a few screens with simple patterns that could be overlapped in a multitude of ways. Modular designs, if you will. I needed to finish off all my leftover screen emulsion before my summer travels, so the screens are all made, and waiting for me to use them in August.
Before I left for India, I tried one out on one of my daughter’s favorite shirts. It had a stain on it, and was marred forever in her eyes. The tumbling blocks pattern covered the stain perfectly, and my teenager approves (gasp!) of the print.
Riding high on my upcycling win, I have a million thoughts running through my mind. Should I start a clothing rescue service where people bring old/stained clothing to me to revive with a fresh print? Is this the way forward for me? I like the idea of providing a service that promotes less consumption. I want my company to be an ethical choice for people. Watch out for this Autumn/Winter when I start to crystallize my ideas.
Right now I’m in a pre-summer camp/traveling mindset. We all need a break after all. I hope you are having a great summer so far!
