1: Bonnie Christine, a leading surface pattern designer and teacher, broke character this week and did an episode on her podcast about how she cares for her curly hair. As you may have noticed, I also have curly hair, so it was fun to hear her talk about hers.
2. I have been reading through some of the old classics and right now I am in the midst of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, and it is one of the best books I’ve ever read. The plot complexity is stunning, and just when you think there couldn’t be any more twists, there come ten more, so it doesn’t get boring even though it is 1,462 pages long! I LOVE it. One of my favorite quotes from Monte Cristo:
3. It’s mini-course season! I recently took Sarah Watt’s 3×3 mini course, which was focused on Photoshop and surface design industry advice. I love her teaching style and found it very helpful. These types of mini-courses are usually lead-ups to larger, paid courses. A few paid courses open for enrollment right now are Bärbel Dressler’s Repertoire course, focused on becoming a pattern expert and studying historical pattern styles to use in your own work, and Sarah Watt’s Paint to Pattern course, about using Photoshop for surface pattern design. (I am not an affiliate; I just adore these teachers!)
A pattern I made after taking a pattern history mini course
4. I have been noticing that I work better when I’m listening to calm background music. My favorites are jazz and classical piano. Bonus: I play piano and listening to piano music inspires me to keep playing and learning new pieces.
5. All the doom-talk about art in the age of AI that is floating around can be overwhelming, but the arguments for why AI will never replace our art are very inspiring. I think Nick Cave says it the best.
6. Learning to hang on to the magical moments: Our county fair opened last night, during a rainstorm. The rain had subsided by the time we arrived, but the ground was still puddley and wet. As we were weaving our way through the crowd, I watched as three small children played in a puddle, plunking themselves down in the water and squealing with delight as the busy fairgowers swarmed around them.
Until next time, my friend. Remember to delight in the little things!
Noemi
P.S. It has been so gratifying and encouraging to hear all of your wonderful comments on social media in the past months. It really means a lot to have found a community of other creatives to be part of. Thank you so much for your support and for being part of my newsletter!
One Comment
Jennifer Murch
Remind me again what kind of product you use on your hair? I want to try it.