The multilayered tones and playful marks of this London-based illustrator make her work a natural fit for fabrics – it’s only a matter of time before her psychedelic prints get snapped up for the high street.
What first drew you to experimenting with textiles?
I have always been inspired by interesting homewares and fabric prints and love the designs of Marimekko and Josef Frank. My final project at university seemed an appropriate opportunity for me to get my teeth into a new concept I had always wanted to explore.
How easy has been it to adapt your work for this medium?
My work has always been very pattern-orientated, with bright overlapping shapes. This has made it quite easy to transfer my illustrations onto fabric and create repeat patterns.
Tell us about a favourite project.
When producing my first range of textiles and homeware pieces, I concentrated on developing my work and realised the range of surfaces my work suited. Getting away from my sketchbook and producing large-scale pieces on fabrics was one of the best things I could have done for my designs.
Where do you get inspiration for your patterns?
Largely it comes from natural plant forms. Sometimes I will stumble upon an interesting leaf or a plant with a unique shape and a pattern will begin from that. Last year, I did a lot of research at Kew gardens and took hundreds of photos of exotic species. This gave me some beautiful material to work from and fuelled my textiles project. Often my patterns emulate these plentiful gardens, with vines and flowers overlapping and intertwining, replicating a lush landscape.
What's your favourite medium to work in?
Mostly I use watercolours. I feel it gives my work a more expressive quality, which is heightened by strong, vivid colours. It also offers a perfect transparency when layering patterns, and creating different tones and shapes within the image.
What was the thinking behind your cookbook project?
I wanted to create a lively cookbook that was rich in colourful illustrations. I was inspired by some I had already seen, with playful handwritten type and accompanying imagery. The idea was to create imaginative and expressive illustrations that were more like montages or dispersed patterns. The plan is to keep developing it, and to experiment with more recipes and layouts. I would love to be commissioned for some real recipe illustrations in the future.
Any other dream clients?
I would love to sell my pieces in somewhere like Liberty, or collaborate with a furniture brand and see my fabrics on a big sofa. I have also been continuing my paintings of food; it would be great to see them in a cookbook alongside some professional recipes.
Describe your work in three words.
Vibrant floriated forms.
louisebyrnes.com
