Cityscape
07.09.2016 § Leave a comment
I have always admired the serenity and pureness of nature. As soon as my husband and I were finished with our schooling, we immediately moved to the quiet, spacious suburbia; never understanding ones desire to move to the big city. Many years and experiences later, my perception of city life began to shift and eventually (to my surprise) began to influence my work as a designer.
On one particular sales trip to Manhattan, I walked…a lot. While traveling amongst the noisy hustle and bustle of traffic, I stumbled upon a little wild flower rooted next to a wrought iron gate. The graceful flower was rising from a crack in the concrete, pushing its way toward the clear blue sky. The juxtaposition of the cement, the wrought iron and the plant created a texture that brought a smile to my face for the rest of the day. The peaceful experience made the echoes from city streets dissipate; leaving only the beautiful composition in my memory. From that day forward, I gained a different perspective of the urban environment and the magnificence held within it.
Then I began to travel. I was able to travel longer and more freely after my obligations of parenthood and elderly care were fulfilled. I discovered the joy of experiencing different cities, architecture, bridges, public transportation, vegetation, people, as well as cultures from around the world. I took photos, doodled, sketched, took notes, and made plans to enjoy outings with friends from different cities. I now fully understand the attraction society has to live within a metropolis.
Drawing inspiration from the energy and graphics of the urban landscape, the 18 new patterns in the fall 2016 Cityscape collection depict my experiences from the eccentric life of the big city.
Metropolis 4569 – Cityscape 4564 – Boulevard 4568
Boomtown 4564 – Metropolis 4569
Junction 6531 – Lexingtion 4221 – Lumen 1305 – Essanay 8220 – Selfridge 8940
Bodhi Blossom
22.10.2014 § Leave a comment
It is said these are blossoms from the Bodhi tree. I have never seen them in person, but I think they are beautiful.
The Bodhi Tree […] was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) located in Bodh Gaya, India, under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher later known as Gautama Buddha, is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi. [It is after the enlightenment of Guatama Siddartha that the tree is called the Bodhi tree.] In religious iconography, the Bodhi tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed. Bodhi trees are planted in close proximity to every Buddhist monastery in India. « Read the rest of this entry »
Anomite
02.10.2014 § Leave a comment
I was searching for a color name and ran into the word “anomite,” got intrigued and looked into it further. I started amassing photos of these amazing fossils and also discovered an amazing museum, the Museum of the Earth. Although it’s out of the way, I will definitely try to visit the museum the next time I find myself in the area. If I had known about it when my children were young, I would have gone during our trip to Niagara Falls. What a great children’s camp opportunity! « Read the rest of this entry »
Kingfisher
06.05.2014 § 3 Comments
My Chinese name includes a word that means the color of jade. The same word also means the color of the kingfisher, so I have always been curious about the color of the kingfisher’s feathers. I have seen them on ponds in action, where they suddenly touch down on the water and fly directly upwards with fish in her beaks. It usually happens in a split second, so I hardly ever get a good, close look at the color of their feathers.
In the old days in China, the feathers of the kingfisher were used as inlays for women’s hair accessories. For those intricate hairpins with dangling beads that were pinned onto highly raised, decorative buns, the main component was often kingfisher feathers inlaid among gem stones and precious metals. It makes the birds romantic and mysterious to me. « Read the rest of this entry »
Garden of Fallen Camellia, Blooming Jade
21.03.2014 § 2 Comments
My sister-in-law has a ranch house in Sunnyvale, California, that’s a five minute drive from the Apple computer headquarters. I have gone to her house during Christmas for over 15 years. Recently our stays have gotten shorter, so we get together, eat, chat and leave. And since it’s been cold outside I have not bothered to walk the small backyard for years.
This year, the days were warm and we had time to stroll in the garden. It is an insignificant backyard, but my eyes were fresh and I looked at everything curiously and saw beauty in everything. « Read the rest of this entry »
Discovery Collection Inspiration
30.01.2014 § Leave a comment
I keep a loose diary on where I go and what I see, but the things that impress me the most usually become burned in my mind. Those are the ones that spark design ideas and eventually become patterns for Brentano products. « Read the rest of this entry »
The Magic of Color
04.09.2013 § Leave a comment
Last weekend I burned my peanut soup so badly that I had to open all the doors and windows in the house to exhaust the toxic air. With everything open, a big, long, black bug flew into the kitchen during dinner. It bumped its body against all the windows surrounding us in the dining area. I could not tell what kind of bug it was; the closest I can describe is a huge winged ant. It was too slender to be a cicada or a beetle yet too long and large for a wasp or a firefly. I had a sense of creepiness while I watched the bug with its two long tails dangling, furiously flying over the dining area. We finally opened a screen-less window to allow its escape—or our escape I should say. « Read the rest of this entry »
Woven-Words 