pattern – tide & bloom

everything i got

I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog front, but it’s not for a lack of desire, interest, or content. I’ve been spending my free moments over the past few weeks being a maker – doing things instead of dreaming of doing them.

Earlier this year I applied to Indie Craft Experience’s Holiday Spectacular thinking that getting into this event would light a fire under my butt and.. boy, did it ever. Feeling under the gun, I’ve been making decisions and spending money on new products without second thought. I leapt.

I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I want this to be it. I want this to be the real actual start of me feeling like I’ve got a direction. It’s never felt so close to being real and I don’t want this to stop. As exhausted and scared as I am, I am happy that I’m willing myself into this. More to come soon.

print shop now open!

You can now shop my prints! Check out the “shop” tab above and start building your Christina Kwan collection. This is my very very first online shop and I’m so excited to have these prints going out for the holiday season.

If you have any questions about purchasing and/or shipping, feel free to email me at christina@tideandbloom.com … Can’t wait for you to have a piece of my heart in your home.

blooming

These past few months have really flown by, and though it may not look like it from the lack of blog posts, I’ve been quite the busy bee. The highlight of my fall season was finally getting my work printed and available for sale. The exhibition at Octane filled my heart and showed me that I could really do this if I just keep pushing, little by little. It’s still (always is) a work in progress. For the show I formed a collection of 15 floral prints which are all now viewable here.

Unfortunately, you can’t purchase them through the interwebz just yet, but it’s top priority for me moving into the holiday season! For now, there are two ways to get you some. The first is to email me at christina@tideandbloom.com (or talk to me in person if you know me IRL). The second, for all you local folk out there, is to purchase them at Crafted Westside. I still have all prints in stock, and a fair amount of the originals. I’m also happy to do any commissions if there are particular color schemes or flowers you’d like to see me do.

Though I don’t blog as frequently as I used to, I can promise you that all that time is going towards valuable projects and development. Next up is a collaboration for the holidays I’m extremely excited about… stay tuned for more progress posts. Oh, and follow along on instagram if you’d like to see more stuff from me on the regular!

stretching

I call this post stretching because this pattern was a little bit different than what I’m used to doing. I’m trying to stretch my painting muscles here and really figure out what it is feels most natural for my hands while still having great visual impact. Sometimes that means planning and sometimes it means diving right in.

The inspiration for these shapes was a combination of retro 70s textiles and Dutch illustration. Looking back on it, I could have thrown in a variety of colors to play up the floral-fruit motif, but I stuck with blue for harmony’s sake.

summer heat

As you can see, I’ve been playing around with a lot of plant motifs; trying to figure out what it takes to make a good pattern that could possibly translate to textiles. This is a little different than the way I’ve worked and drawn in the past, so I’m just trusting my intuition here. Hope you’re liking the progress… stay tuned for more!

spring mums

emily green designs

I’m totally feelin’ on these psychedelic designs by Melbourne based artist Emily Green. Watercolor patterns are all the rage these days, but hers seem especially fresh, straightforward with a lovely clarity of color and shape.

ashley barnes ceramics

One of the best things about being an artist is having other creative people in my life. We all forge our paths differently, but at our hearts we are the same; we have an irrepressible impulse to create beautiful objects and meaningful experiences. My hope is to eventually introduce you to every single one of my amazingly talented friends because their gifts deserve to be shared. They’ll be sprinkled throughout my Creative Masters and Makers series, which I fully intend to continue developing as soon as I get more time to interview!

Til then here’s a short introduction to my friend, Ashley Barnes. She’s beginning her journey into flourishing as a professional ceramist and her whimsical pieces are sure to put a smile on your face.

outfitting comfort

All I want to wear right now are sweaters and leggings. But it’s not really socially acceptable as a 7-days-a-week uniform so I used my brand-new Polyvore account to help me visualize sprucing up a seemingly simple sweater. This is my first virtual styling collection. Ever.

Boohoo dress / Forever 21 red long sleeve top / Wool waistcoat / Uniqlo jeans / Zara taupe shoes / Cell phone cross body / Metal jewelry / Rip Curl hat

What do you think? How would you outfit this sweater?

pinspired: patterns

In case you couldn’t tell already, I love patterns. I love looking at patterns, figuring out patterns, creating patterns. I only wish I had more reasons/time/media to make patterns for! Here are some of my favorites from my pattern Pinterest board.

floral

geometric

abstract

fruit

To see more of my beloved Pinterest addictions, be sure to follow me!