Behind the Scenes * Spoonflower Designer Spotlight
Last month, in the midst of my Halloween-mania, I entered one of Spoonflower's weekly design challenges. The theme was Vintage Halloween, and well, how could I resist? When the results came in, I placed 4th out of several hundred entries. Being the Spoonflower newbie that I am, I was thrilled to make the top 10! We did our high-fives and moved on to show preparations and the endless Halloween art to-do list! Then, a few days later, I received an exciting invitation! Spoonflower's team had taken notice of my Spoonflower Shop and all of my Halloween patterns for fabric, gift wrap and wallpaper! They detected my passion for October 31, and found the timing just right for a Halloween Edition - Meet the Designer Spotlight! Of course we said yes, and with just the weekend to shoot photos for their Q & A Blog Post, JP and I got busy! You can enjoy the full feature on Spoonflower's October 9, 2017 Blog Post. I am honored for the feature and look forward to making many more designs for fabric and the like...
This post includes some photos and bloopers that we did not submit. But, they're fun, and we thought we'd share them here... Enjoy!!!
This is my "portrait"..... Spoonflower only used my face in their marketing. I thought I would share the whole scene - A busy table with many of my Halloween Spoonflower designs strewn about as well as our Halloween fire screen that we made years ago, all surround me in the image. It's symbolic of my head which is often immersed in Halloween art.
A peek at our living room table has my Halloween fabric swatches and illustrations scattered about. Composing an image and taking photos usually means moving furniture around and making a grand mess. There's no way around it in our tiny home!
Action shot - talking while shooting - I'm probably offering a snarky response to the camera man here... :)
And who's the man behind the camera? That would be JP! I had him sit for me so I could frame up the shot I wanted. Then, we adjusted the soft focus from there. Notice we swopped out the spiky air plant and pottery combo for one of my owl sculptures.
Let's face it. I don't sew ~ it's been years since I sat down at a sewing machine! But, I do love designing patterns for other people to craft with. Spoonflower asked me to photograph some of my projects using my fabric. Fortunately, I had ordered a fat quarter of my Jack Vine Sitter design, so I whipstitched a rather crude, doughnut scarf to wear. I asked JP to focus on the scarf and to keep my face blurry while I looked away. There were too many distractions, so it was hit or miss. Jack wanted to know why I was sitting on the floor, and of course, he got involved. This scene was more funny than serious and difficult to keep a straight face. :)
Spoonflower asked me to submit photos of things, animals or places that inspire me. Our black cat Jack is always an inspiration. We chose another more Halloween-centric photo of him that you can see on their Blog Post. But, this was the runner-up.
This photo shows a glimpse at one of my Printable Halloween Pennant Garlands. The same pattern work is featured on various designs in my Spoonflower Shop too.
This is my favorite silly pic from the day! Again, I asked JP to pretend to be me so that I could help to frame up the composition that I wanted... So, this is his version of me... LOL! Notice, he's drawing with his index finger.. I'm not that good yet :) You'll have to go to Spoonflower's Blog to see the actual photo that we shared...
I sat on one of our rock walls for this photo with a large Moonflower plant in the foreground... You'll see me sniffing one of the blooms in the Spoonflower Article. JP art-directed that pose... :)
Here's a close-up of a furled Moonflower bloom. I absolutely love these flowers. Look at the spiral-shaped curls on the tips! It opens to reveal a large white trumpet-shaped blossom with a soft purple cast. I find it gorgeous and very inspirational to this spiral-loving artist...
Our garden inspiration shoot occurred in the midst of a painted lady butterfly migration! With each step, a flurry of Halloween-hued wings would scatter and resettle on surrounding blooms. It was magic! Spoonflower included this photo in my Q & A, but this view offers a closer peek at the character of this intriguing insect.
This year, our garden is full of orange poppies and bees! They go hand in hand, and I captured this photo to express the mystery and whimsy of nature that offers more artistic inspiration for me.
Jack sniffs my giant spider from my Transpac Imports Halloween line. We moved it around a few times to include this fun character in some of the photos... Plus, spiders belong outside..
I'm not sure what's happening here. This was after the official shoot. I put on a sweater as the weather was quickly changing and cold drops of rain were beginning to fall. I watched Jack roam around the yard, munching on grass. JP obviously was still snapping a few candid photos...
Another spider relocation effort. We do this with real spiders too. We save them and take them outside whenever we can. Jack was mildly curious in this photo, but more interested in the sounds of shuffles and chirping from the trees.
Me again at a little backyard garden table, staring off into imaginary land like I often do... Giant spider in tow....This feature was so last minute, I didn't have time to iron my clothes. Bad weather was rolling in, and we just had to wing it... I rarely iron anyway.... :D
We hope you enjoyed a peek at the Behind the Scenes... Now, hop on over to Spoonflower's Blog to read the official Meet the Artist ~ Halloween Edition and to enjoy my Q & A! Thanks for stopping in to take a peek. Let me know what you think of our new Blog format in the comments section below.
By the way, here are all of my Halloween Spoonflower fabric designs, grouped together! I am looking forward to adding more to the mix! Your suggestions are welcome too...
Happy Haunting,
~ Johanna, JP & Jack