Australian Botanicals
It was a real pleasure - but a long process - putting this collection together. At the time I didn't have the intention of it becoming a pattern collection - it was purely a creative activity which ran for nearly two years. If you have followed me on my Instagram feed (@neekienoo) you would have watched these patterns roll out. Here I am sharing some background art work. This isn't everything, I have so many. It's just a selection.
We had just spent a year living in New Zealand and had returned to Australia, so I was in the habit of opening my eyes and discovering new things. I started to really notice new plants and flowers while walking around my local area and realised just how amazing and unique they really were. So, week after week through the seasons, I would pick a new plant that was flowering and simply draw, draw, draw and then put together a pattern. It was a very therapeutic process, and at the end of it all I had nine new patterns of local flowering native Australian plants.
How the time flies when you are doing something you love with no real plan but simply following your instinct day by day. It's for this reason that I'm really fond of this collection - it taught me to follow my heart and do what makes me happy. If you turn up every day, even if it's just for 15 minutes, the momentum of habit will guide you along and before you know it you will have accomplished something pretty meaningful and special.
It was after this collection that I started to focus and get to work on finishing Paprly. Building the website (I have no prior web design skills so this was intense!), sourcing printers, getting samples and formatting the artwork. Again, day after day, bit by bit, many small steps at a time. Don't get me wrong, it didn't always flow. I had plenty of set-backs and highly frustrating moments. I actually had Paprly up and ready to go when living in NZ, and then we decided to move back to Australia. Moving with young family twice in two years was enough to put it on the back burner until we were settled again. Timing is EVERYTHING!!!!!
I have learnt so much through this collection, but first and foremost I have learnt a lot about myself. I hope you have enjoyed looking at a few process snaps and listening to the story behind the patterns :)
