Meet Artist Shalini Ayre!
Welcome to this week's broadcast. I’m excited to share more student spotlight interviews with you. This week’s feature is about Shalini Ayre, an artist and surface designer living in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Shalini is a published author and creative entrepreneur, and she shares easy ways to find inspiration and make unique artwork that leaves you feeling fulfilled, and leaves your customers feeling proud to use your products.
The video of my interview with Shalini is over on my YouTube channel here. Please subscribe to my channel when you pop over there to watch it.
Here are three key takeaways from this interview:
#1 – Lean into what you like.
Shalini describes a pattern she made from a picture of purple alliums, and she says, “purple’s not my color, and I just turned it into blue, and quite a few people have liked that pattern.” Lean into what you like, for example your favorite color, to make something unique.
There are lots of elements around us that we can use in our designs, especially in nature. If you find yourself stuck, wondering how you can create something a bit different from what initially inspired you, try asking yourself: “which of my favorite things can I add to this?”
#2 – Learn what your customers like.
Knowing that her daughter “loves cats and she loves pink,” Shalini created a beautiful pattern that she put on a backpack and a water bottle for her daughter for back to school. Her daughter was thrilled and proudly wore it to school. This is a great example of how fulfilling it is to create patterns and products inspired by what you know customers will love.
It’s important to lean into what you like and pay attention to what your customers want. Your customer base will expand beyond family members. Find out what appeals to your target audience so that you can create products that speak to their needs.
#3 – Explore your style with stand-alone patterns.
Shalini says, “I’ve been doing a lot of one-offs because I’ve just been exploring my style, and I’ve found that doing these one-offs helps me kind of work out ‘where am I going?’. I’m going towards more bold, simplistic patterns, and I think that might be where I’m at, but it’s great because I can just play around.”
Creating stand-alone patterns is a great way to explore your personal style and stay in the discovery zone, especially when starting out as a Surface Designer. I love designing collections, but you always want to give yourself time to find your style first.
To learn more about my Pattern Design Academy® program, click here.
Pop over to my YouTube channel to watch Shalini Ayre’s interview. Click here and please subscribe while you’re over there.
Bye for now. I'll see you next week.
xo,
Anne
P.S. Dive even deeper into how to Craft a Career You Love in Surface Design by downloading my free ebook HERE.
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create®
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
