About

PLAYING WITH PATTERN was born as a challenge to myself (Kath), to get my ideas and designs out of my sketchbook and 'out there'. I love all things print, a passion that grew whilst studying for my degree at Bath Academy of Art, and this continues to fuel me. I'm lucky enough to spend some of my working week in a busy print studio, supporting super talented and inspirational textile design students on their journey too, which I love!

I think it's fair to say I'm a little obsessed with plants and find constant inspiration in the abstract, organic shapes and patterns found in nature. Working mainly in digital illustration and repeat patterns, I love playing with scale and flat colours to create minimal, and simplistic surface designs. I am naturally drawn to bold, printed textiles as I love to see how the motifs react and abstract with the movement of a fluid fabric.

My hope is to produce fun, versatile and lasting designs, using luxurious, yet long lasting fabrics that customers select to compliment their stylish capsule wardrobe. A considered purchase, and a thoughtful investment, safe in the knowledge that it has been lovingly designed and crafted.

ABOUT MY PROCESS

All my designs start their lives as pencil sketches from plants and flowers around my home and garden, or from snaps I take when out and about. I work through quite a lengthy process to get them to their final digital state; tracing my sketch with a fine liner into my layout pad, which then gets scanned onto my Mac where I manually trace, tidy and convert into vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator.

I tend to simplify the motifs as I go, playing with patterns, shapes and repeats. Colour always comes last, once I'm totally happy with all other elements; working in black and white stops me getting sidetracked!

I don't mass produce, printing to order or in small batches when needed; my scarves are digitally printed and finished under one roof. Limiting waste and minimising environmental impact. 

Follow my journey on Instagram https://instagram.com/playing_with_pattern

All designs and images belong to PLAYING WITH PATTERN/ Kath Bowyer - please do not use without permission.