I was going to visit my sister. This was perhaps 10 years ago, when she was living in London. I was excited to see her, and excited to be on a plane, going somewhere. Since I have family in England, I had been to London before, but it had been more than ten years since the last time. As I landed I started seeing everything in a different way. The airport with the landing strips, so grey and boring appeared to me like some sort of pattern. The yellow and white stripes bending, the rows of glass windows, the rectangles of concrete, the metal boxes with blue and white lights. Like pictures from a glossy design magazine, trying to enhance the grey glory of industrial grounds and creating fashion. I pictured dresses made out of these patterns – airport fashion. Had I been a clothes designer, something cool might have emerged from that. But I’m not. I can’t sow a straight line even with the best ever intentions.
I had my eyes opened for another way of looking at things though. And an awakened interest for patterns. I don't often see beautiful or interesting patterns in the city or everyday things so much, but I like the thought that if we look close enough at things, there will be a beautiful pattern at the structur level. Two obvious examples are to look in a microscope at snowflakes or at the structure of water affected by sound: the most enchanting shapes emerge. For quite a while I have wanted to incorporate patterns and shapes into my art, but haven't quite figured out how. When I started drawing, I added shapes made of small dots. Like shadows or clouds. And then I experimented with larger and smaller dots.
So many dots. So many dots that at one point they drove me crazy!
And that crazy had me challenge the all black and white strike I'd been on for long and enter the world of colour!
So many dots. So many dots that at one point they drove me crazy!
And that crazy had me challenge the all black and white strike I'd been on for long and enter the world of colour!
And I love it! I wont abandon the black and white illustrations. I love their straight forward ways. And I love making them. But I will never again think colour is "not my thing", because it totally also is!