The Pattern Portraits

 Finding Inspiration for the patterns in my work is my favorite part of my process, and one of the reasons that this series has taken off to become such a large portion of my body of work. Different patterns suggest different time periods and cultures. In one painting  I looked at old 70s wallpaper for inspiration. In a few others I took inspiration from the Art Nouveau movement. In yet another, I mixed African patterns with florals. The more successful patterns are used multiple times, but I try to mix in new variations of pattern to each piece in order to reflect the personality of each painted character. These paintings were the jumping off point for my doll making journey. I loved these characters so much I needed to find a way to make them more real.