I've designed a pattern of coral and seaweed for Spoonflower's fabric competition. The brief asked for designs reminiscent of those found in a botanical sketchbook.
I based my watercolour drawings on seaweeds I'd seen at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, and references from various old illustrated botany books, like this one.
Here are a few of the original sketches, including some that didn't make it into the final design. I added pencil calligraphy to the sketches, in a variety of styles, and developed a repeat pattern in soft shades of red.
The design has now made it to the semi-final round, hurrah! This round is open to public vote, and voting is open until the 2nd of September, so please vote for it here.
I'd love to see this made into a fabric, and to develop it further into a collection you can actually buy.
seaweed
aquarium + museum
At the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco I admired the gorgeous anemones and seaweed in the aquarium.
There were fish, seahorses, sea slugs and coral, and all sorts of weird squiggly things.
The shiny gold sparkles of the piranha were mesmerising.
There were also fascinating historical displays on the upper floors. I just can't resist the labels and cataloguing of these types of collections.
I loved all the hand-writing and little boxes...