Downtown Memphis Artwork

I'm so excited to share these photos with you today!  Working with the Downtown Memphis Commission, I've installed 10 pieces of art in windows of the vacant building at Union and Main.  The brilliant minds at the DMC had the idea to feature local artists' works in the empty buildings along Main Street.  I love this idea SO much, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it!

I chose some of my favorite patterns and designs for this project.  That design on the right below is from my Grand Hotel fabric collection.

They've been in less than a week, and there has already been a wonderful response!  I've called this the "Union and Main" art collection, and I've made all of these images available for purchase here.  You can buy fine art prints and stretched canvases.  Contact me if you have any questions!

A HUGE thank you to Leslie Gower and the Downtown Memphis Commission for allowing me to be a part of this awesome project!

Bliss!

Here are some new products I added to my Society 6 shop last week.  This is called "Bliss":

As with all of my Society 6 products, you can also purchase laptop skins, iphone cases and notecards.

This design is a compilation of patterns I designed for a scrapbook kit for C.R.Gibson back in 2010.

It is always fun to play around with patterns and tailor them for different products!

I hope your week is off to a wonderful start!

Beautiful Spring!

It sure is gorgeous around here these days!  I absolutely love this time of year.  I've been spending a lot of time on the front porch, sketchpad and pens in hand. 

Here are some photos of the Dogwood tree in our front yard:

I hope you are having a wonderful Spring! 

Grand Hotel-- Azure Colorway

Today I'm happy to share with you more of my newest fabric collection, Grand Hotel!  These photos are of the Azure colorway.  All of my fabrics are manufactured and distributed by Free Spirit Fabric.  This collection will be hitting stores in May!

I'm crazy about this colorway-- I hope you like it, too! 

Grand Hotel-- Sunset Colorway

Sample yardage of Grand Hotel, my newest fabric collection, arrived yesterday.  It is always so exciting to see the fabrics in their final form!  These images are of the Sunset Colorway:

The sun ducked behind the clouds before I could take pictures of the Azure colorway.  I'll save that for the next post.  You can view the entire collection on the Free Spirit Fabric website.  You can also see it here.  This collection starts shipping in May!

I hope you like it as much as I do!

"Spot Luck"

Urban Outfitters has kindly picked up another of my Society 6 prints!  This has been one of my favorites for a while, so I'm happy they selected it.  It is available here in the UO Print Shop!

Laptop skins and iphone cases also available!

I've been playing around with my art quite a bit lately.  I always want to maintain a consistent style with my work, but I also want to surprise you (and myself) every now and then!  The only way this can happen is if I allow myself plenty of time to experiment and try new things.  Sometimes I will make work where I have a clear and distinct vision, and I execute it precisely.  This work would probably be a good example of that.  I did play around a little with the texture of the dots, but the end result was very close to what I imagined when I started working on it.

On the complete other end of the design process, I had NO idea of how this work below would turn out when I started.

I think you'd be quite surprised to see this in its early stages.  I transformed the work and pushed the idea until it reached a place where I felt like I had come up with a truly original work of art.  I couldn't be happier with the results!  Here are the accessory products:

I created this print using the same combination of techniques:

While I must work with purpose in creating art for my licensing clients, I have to take time to do work like this.  While this particular design may not translate directly to fabric or other products, I learned a lot while working on this.  I discovered new ways to create work, and new techniques to infuse into future work.  Plus, loosening up and playing around is fun!

I wish for you a fun, creative and inspired week!

"Connect More" in the Urban Outfitters Print Shop

I'm excited to let you know I have a new print in the Urban Outfitters Print Shop!  This is from my collection of prints available at Society 6, and it is called "Connect More".

And, as with all of the work I post at Society 6, iphone cases and laptop skins are available!

HUGE thanks to Society 6 and Urban Outfitters for making this possible!   And thanks to you guys for stopping by and spending a little time with me today!

"Quiltsurround" by Greely Myatt

There are tons of things to see and do if you find yourself here in Memphis, but this public art exhibit is an absolute must-see!  Created by Sculptor and University of Memphis professor Greely Myatt, these "quilts" are installed at the southwest corner of City Hall in downtown Memphis.

To create the installation, Greely used about 700 street signs that the city was about to recycle.  Breathtakingly cool-- don't you agree?

I love everything about these quilts!  You can read more about this amazing project here.

All photos copyright Joel T. Rose, 2011.

UPDATE:  Since I posted this, I came across this great interview with Greely at Live From Memphis.  He discusses the work and shows some of his process!

Grand Hotel-- Coming Soon!

I'm happy to see my newest fabric collection, Grand Hotel, popping up in the "Coming Soon" sections of some of my favorite fabric shops!  The collection ships in May and is available for wholesale pre-orders now.  Contact Free Spirit Fabric (1.800.907.3305) for more information.

Grand Hotel comes in two colorways:

With each collection I create, I strived to bring you something new and refreshing while maintaining the graphic, highly detailed style you've come to expect from me.  These fabrics introduce some new colors (including the Pantone color of the year--Tangerine Tango!) to my palette.  And this collection also includes my first border print!

Here is a slideshow of all the designs.  If you are reading this in a reader (or if for some reason you can't get the slideshow to work for you), you can view the collection in its entirety here.

I'm really excited about Grand Hotel!  Sample yardage should be arriving soon, so I will share pictures of the actual fabrics as soon as they arrive.  The colors are a little brighter and more intense on the fabrics.  I can't wait for you to see them!  And as always, I can't wait to see what you do with them!

Delta Exhibition 2012

This past November one of my paintings was chosen to be a part of the 2012 Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock.  This is the painting, titled Rosetta, and created in 2011. 

I shipped the painting out in December.

And was thrilled to see it hanging in the exhibition this past Thursday!

It was really cool seeing my work in the show.  It was fun seeing people's reactions.  I mean, I tried not to watch them in an obvious way.  But no one knew who I was so it felt ok.  I didn't eavesdrop or anything!  I just watched.  And one of the cool things was that people seemed intrigued by the texture.  I saw a couple of people looking at it closely from the side, trying to get a better view.  I even watched a woman (not the one pictured below) stare it from several different angles, then give in to the impulse to touch it.  Then the person she was with touched it.  While I know that's a no-no when viewing art, I kind of liked that they did it.  I liked that they were that curious.

The opening was packed, and we had a great time.  After being gone for a week to Alt Summit, it was nice to take a road trip with Joel and spend some time together.

The show runs through March 28th, so if you find yourself near Little Rock, you should check it out.  There is lots of really wonderful work in the show!

Alt Summit 2012

I'm back from Alt Summit, and I'm filled with ideas and inspiration!  I learned so much-- about blogging, about business, about myself.  It was truly wonderful, and I can't wait to go back next year!  I took some great notes, but instead of sharing those here, I thought I'd see if I can't put some of what I learned into action to make this a better blog.  If you are looking for class notes, there are some great recaps out there and they are popping up all over!

Some highlights from the conference, along with some random thoughts and observations about the experience-- in absolutely no particular order:

• Ben Silbermann, founder of Pinterest, gave one of the most inspirational talks I've ever heard.  He is so sweet, so charming, so humble and so smart! I cried at the end of his talk, then teared up again when I met him at one of the parties later that night.  If my eyes look a little glassy in the photo below, it is not because of that wine I am holding. :)

• Sometimes a not-so-fancy hotel is perfect!  The rooms at the gorgeous Grand America Hotel had sold out by the time I got my ticket to Alt, so I stayed a few blocks away at the Sheraton.  I have to say, while it is nice to splurge on occasion and stay in a super-nice hotel, I also like the laid-back-ness of a conference hotel like the Sheraton.  This isn't to say it isn't nice--it is!  I had a two-story room, large as can be (550 sf) and quiet to boot.  I was also continually supplied with FREE (yes, completely unheard of these days) bottled water in the room, and was able to order a delicious "Mountain Breakfast" from room service for only $8.00.  I highly recommend this hotel on your next visit to SLC!
• Dressing up is FUN!  My husband and I spend most of our nights at home.  We go out occassionally, but after years of going out just about every night when I was younger, I prefer to spend most nights in.  At Alt, I went out three nights in a row!  What a party girl I was!  And I had a blast every night.  I also dressed up during the days.  I spend a lot of time in "housefits", so I enjoyed having a place to wear my cute clothes.
• Cheesecake is delicious.
• Strawberry shortcake is, too.
• I learned a lot by attending the classes, but I enjoyed and learned more from some panel discussions than I did from others.  Some of them absolutely blew me away; others not so much.  For me, content is key.  I would rather leave feeling completely overwhelmed with my head spinning from too much information than leave feeling like I didn't learn enough.  Which brings me to--Q and A.
• Most panels like to leave time for a question and answer session at the end of their presentation.  This is a great idea, but too often fails in execution.  One problem is that I can rarely hear what question is being asked.  The person answering should always remember to repeat the question for the group so that we will know what was asked.  (This is not relevant when there is someone walking around with a mic as there was in the keynote addresses, only in the panel sessions).  Another problem is that people asking the questions often ask very personal questions, specifically related to themselves and their situation and having no relevance to the rest of the class.  I'd like for audience members to give thought to whether this is a question they should take up the rest of the audience's time with.  Can others benefit from this information?  If not, maybe save your question for another time.
• Squarespace is about to get even better!!  Hard to believe, right?  I love Squarespace and love their current product so the idea of changes kind of concerned me.  Nothing to stress about-- this is going to be amazing!!  Version 6 is in Beta right now, and by attending the portfolio class on Saturday, I was given a coveted invite.  The class was taught by Susan and William Brinson.  They are a gorgeous, inspiring, crazily-talented couple.  Their class was one of the best I attended!  Also, Ryan from Squarespace was there to answer our questions and guide us around the new version.  He was such a nice guy and a great representative for Squarespace!
• I love Kathleen of Jeremy and Kathleen!  She led a great round-table discussion called "Your Blog as a Marketing Tool", and it was a fabulous class.  Definitely a highlight for me.  I really enjoyed the round-table setting.  I just wish the table had been a bit larger to accomodate everyone.  Either that, or it would have been nice to offer these classes a few times so that each class happened more than once.  There were so many of these round-tables that I wanted to attend.  It was tough to choose.  One thing that was great and different about the class was that it was led by one person, and she had a very well-thought-out lesson plan.  Sometimes one person's clear vision is easier to grasp than four peoples' (as in the panel presentations) combined vision.

• I WON A KitchenAid MIXER AT THE WilsonArt MINI-PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!  YAY!!
• Meeting inspiring creative men and women is something I need more of in my life!  There is nothing better than connecting in person, face-to-face. 
• These tiny pineapple cakes at the WilsonArt party were delicious:

• Amy Butler and Laurie Smithwick are two of the kindest, most generous women I have ever met. I met many lovely, talented, and creative women, all of whom inspired me with their smiles, their laughter, their stories.  I have a huge stack of business cards and I could name-drop all day, but I don't want to make you too jealous.  (I've probably already made you hungry--no need to make you green with envy, too.)  I hope to grow these relationships, keep in touch and possibly work with many of the people I met.  Think of all the people I will know next year when I go back!
• Minted rocks! I went to a meetup on Wednesday and it was awesome!  Now, more than ever, I hope to develop a strong working relationship with this company.  Mariam Naficy and Natasha Lawler are two of the coolest people on the planet.  Also in attendance were Eric Comstock and Ashley Porter, both of whom have products for sale at Minted, and both of whom were delightful.  Eric, one half of the Cosmo Cricket team, is also Lizzy House's cousin!  Mariam and Natasha shared some of the exciting things they have in store, and Minted is only going to get better and better!  There are a couple of things I'm really looking forward to, so expect to see me entering more challenges in the future!  Oh, and wait until you see the art prints-- so beautifully printed and on seriously gorgeous paper!

I have quite a few more thoughts on the events, but this is a good start, right?  A huge thank you to everyone that I met at Alt, and to everyone who created and worked on the event!  What an amazing week I had!  I'm all smiles right now!  Let's all keep in touch!

Untitled: The First-Ever Minted Art Print Challenge

I recently participated in a really fun challenge over on Minted.  Are you familiar with Minted and their design challenges?  Here is a description from their website:

We uncover design genius through ongoing competitions. At Minted, all that matters is good design. Designers submit, and the Minted community votes and tells us what to sell.

This is my first challenge to enter, and I'm really excited to be participating!  Voting is now live, so I'm hoping you'll pop on over there and vote for some of my designs!  There are some amazing prizes this time around, including a trip to San Francisco for the launch of the Minted Art Collection!  The best part, though, is that the winning designs will all be sold on Minted!  I know, pretty cool, right?  I would love to see these prints made available for purchase-- they are planning to offer prints as large as 48" x 70".  So obviously I would love your votes!!  Here is my designer page featuring all of my entries:  Jenean Morrison

These first two are called "Collide" and "Wiggle", respectively, and they are meant to work as a set.  (Click on the images to be taken to the voting page.)

These next prints are "Good Folks" and "Kindly Folks".  I was going for that good old folksy feeling!

And more!  Yes, I really enjoyed this challenge-- can you tell?  Here is a fun set of three:

A few more.  Scribble Blossom:

Reflections Reversed:

City of Patterns:

And one more set: 

Bouquet of Sunshine:

Rays of Sunshine:

I'm not sure when voting ends, but probably pretty soon.  So, you know, if you feel like sharing some love, I would really appreciate it!  Plus, there is an abundance of amazing design to check out while you are on the site!  Thanks, you guys!

Happy 2012!

Boy, I feel really great about this year!  How about you?

I had a super-busy holiday season.  Not only did I spend some nice time with family and friends, I also worked my little heart out creating these:

And these:

You are looking at over 500 fat quarter sets (each set containing 2 fat quarters) put together from four of my fabric collections.  I shipped these to Utah last week where they are being assembled as part of the Alt Summit gift bags!!  And the best part is, not only are these fabrics traveling to the summit, I'm going also!

What a great way to start off the new year, don't you think?  I'm looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends.  I'm looking forward to learning, growing and getting inspired.  Oh, and I can't wait to wear some of my fun winter clothes! 

Putting these together was a lot of hard work.  It was also incredibly enjoyable and rewarding.  It was a nice thing to do during the time of year when I usually do a lot of reflecting.  Looking at all of these made me feel great about the journey I've taken in my art career.  Seeing all of the different fabrics, all the different colors and designs--well, it was just nice.  And it made me feel really proud!  I'm so happy to have the opportunity to share this work with a new audience!

By the way, are you guys using Instagram?  I am, and I am loving it!  Here are a few shots I posted while I was making these.  If you are on Instagram, follow me and I'll follow you back.  @jeneanmorrison

If you follow me, you will not only see the things I'm working on and the places I'm going, you'll also be seeing quite a bit of this sweet guy:

I try to limit the photos I post of him, but he is always striking such cute poses!  It is hard to resist sharing these.

I'll be Instagramming (and tweeting, of course) while on my trip to Alt.  Oh, and something else really cool is happening--there is a Minted meetup in Salt Lake City on the Wednesday before Alt Summit.  I can't wait!  More about Minted in my next post!

If you are going to either event--the Minted meetup or Alt Summit-- let me know!  I hope to meet as many of you as possible!  Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful new year!

L'Avventura

Here is a painting I've been working on for the past couple of weeks.  I finished it up a couple of days ago.  What do you think?

I always wonder if people who are familiar with my fabric designs would recognize my paintings as being created by me.  There is definitely the same level of detail in the paintings as in the designs.  Yet often in the paintings I relax and let go a little more, at least in the early stages.  Once I get to the end, where I am adding the detail of the dots, I am as focused and precise as I can be.

I'm have a few more paintings in the works right now.  For some reason, I always return from Quilt Market with a strong desire to paint.  Maybe my creative brain just needs a change of pace, a step back from fabric and fabric design.  It is nice to step away from one way of creating and move to another, if even for a little while.  I have so many creative interests.  I can't wait to share more of what I've been working on with you!

"Wild World" Fabric Flower Art

I've been playing around with options for the fabric flower artwork I wrote about in this tutorial.  I've made a few fun changes, one of the most exciting being that this time around I used my new Big Shot die-cutting machine from Sizzix!  Wow!  What a time-saver.  AND, look at these adorable flowers:

In the original tutorial, I used my Power Pop fabrics and a plain white canvas.  The result was an explosion of bright, happy color.  This time I decided to go a little softer, using a linen-covered canvas and fabrics from my Wild World collection for Free Spirit.  I love this softer, more scattered version.

And I absolutely LOVED using the Big Shot!  It was so simple and easy to use.  And it was nice being able to cut out so many flowers so quickly.  You'll also notice that I did some layering this time around--the precision of the die-cutting made this work out beautifully.  Full disclosure:  as I mentioned in the previous post, Sizzix and Westminster fibers have partnered to bring these machines to the quilting community.  This machine was kindly sent to me by the nice folks at Sizzix.  Now that I've had the chance to play with one, if Sizzix hadn't sent me one I would probably be ordering one right now!  I cannot wait to try more projects using this machine!

I really love the added texture of this linen canvas.  And it makes for a nice layout to go from the larger flowers at the bottom to fewer, smaller ones up top.  The possiblities are truly endless!  I'm thinking about trying this with some of my Silent Cinema scraps next.

If you don't have a die-cutting machine, don't fret.  This is a great tool, but keep in mind that I cut all of these flowers with scissors and the artwork turned out just great! 

I sure hope you all had wonderful, relaxing weekends.  I feel well-rested, and I'm happy to be back in the groove and working away!  I hope your week is off to a great start, too!