My story begins with a childhood saturated with creativity thanks to my family, especially my Nana M. Growing up, I spent a lot of time after school helping her with crafts and decorating. She was very hands on and especially loved to sew. We spent lots of time at “las tiendas de tellas”- fabric stores. I could (and probably did) get lost in the 100’s of reams of fabric and material. Being surrounded by bold color and patterns only emphasized my love for art. Nothing but fun for me at the time.
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Early on, I knew I wanted to go an art school. I picked the closest one to my hometown of Calipatria and spent the next 4 years at Platt College, San Diego. I was eager to get my footing as a trained professional somewhere in the industry, I didn’t really care for having a “traditional” college experience.
Looking back at the time moving out solo, to a new-ish city may have been too much to take on all together. I really struggled the first couple of years with a whole lotta self doubt and anxiety. I was worried that I wasn’t ready to do it on my own. I didn’t have enough life experience. I took a lot of breaks and floated between San Diego and Calipatria until I found my groove.
Over time I stuck it out and made some key friends, including my later husband, Arturo! I was also fortunate to have a great circle of instructors who left big impressions on me. Like Marketa Hancova, first art teacher later turned dean of Platt College.
Her passion for Art history made learning fun. Her lectures were always led with joy, fresh insight and enthusiasm. She shared with us her bright Czech culture, love for music and expertise in ancient writings. Always cheering on, rooting for her students. I still keep in touch with her and check in on her blog from time to time. It’s a great read!
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While attending school I also worked part-time as designer at HouseofMagnets.com in San Diego. There our team created custom calendars and magnets for local realtors. This was my first introduction to a printing press, and working with tight deadlines. I learned how to “learn”, and got me feet wet working in my very first art department. All fundamentals I took with me onto my next opportunity at Wallternatives.com.
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There I worked as full time a graphic designer. I helped design the Wallternatives brand as well as products. A line of removable wall stickers and wallpapers. My love of patterns and color reached a new level working along-side Melanie Royals, founder of Royal Design Studio and Wallternatives. Not only did she help develop my artistic confidence + but allowed me to grow my technical skills. She lead a design team of six ladies including myself. We worked together to brand, design, market, and deploy the Wallternatives.com company site within about one year.
Day to day, I was immersed in the world of art licensing, diy-blogs, and product design. I worked hand in hand with experienced commercial artists, helping translate their work into wallpaper and other products.
I’ve always loved adding patterns into my graphic design work. That’s when it dawned on me that you could make a living in creating the actual patterns themselves! I was instantly hooked onto the idea needed to learn more!
One of those artists whose work kept connecting with me was Bonnie Christine. Her designs were feminine, eye-catching and always beautifully colored. There was something approachable about her art. It always told a story and it perfectly embodied her personality which I thought was special.
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It was during this time Bonnie had released an online video course teaching digital illustration. She taught in a very relatable way which kept me engaged and inspired. The accessibility of it was perfect for my schedule. I could learn at my own pace which was especially important because surprise! I was pregnant! I was excited and eager for this new chapter for my life to start. I was newly engaged and a momma to be! But I didn’t want to lose sight of what I was learning and lose momentum.
Through out my pregnancy I finished the course. I had assembled a “baby” themed clip-art and set of about 6 patterns.
In the course Bonnie encourages her students to use Etsy as a platform for selling art digitally. I opened my Etsy shop and started there. Within a couple of months I added about 10 more pattern sets. Momentum grew slowly. Initially the take away for me was not monetary, It was the ability to get my art out into the world with total creative freedom, instantly.
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Over the next couple of years I’ve focused on raising my girl, traveling and spending time with family. Taking it slow, navigating between motherhood and creativity. Along the way I created and produced more patterns than I ever have, about 200+. I worked at night while my now *toddler* slept and during weekends with the help of my wonderful husband and in-laws. Many thanks to them!
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2017 held the most creative project of my life, my wedding! I can’t wait to share with all wedding related projects soon on the blog. 🙂
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I’ve put together a digital collection of my most favorite patterns and you can view it here. For now I’m focused on enjoying momma-hood and living a more simple way of life. I enjoy spending as much time off-screen as possible, living in San Diego makes that pretty accessible and fun. I’m a big music + podcast fan. I love to bake sweet treats.
I’m enjoying the day to day and working on growing my creativity and curiosity any chance I get.
I hope you follow along my journey and enjoy this read.
Thanks for stopping by.
Please don’t hesitate to connect with me about design, licensing or just to say hi!
