The post New Year period is always a time of reflection and changes and this year has been no different, although now we’re in March and I have no idea where the time has gone. Since Bella, my apprentice, started last August things have been very different in the studio, it’s been great having another pair of hands, although it has meant a change to the way we work and a lot of training on my part and learning on Bella’s. Other than the training, my two main projects have been working on both a new colour palette and new designs.
I started work on a new palette last summer before Bella started, we then hit fair season head on so I put the project on hold for a while but picked it up again in the New Year. I usually work on two different colour palettes a year, one for Spring/Summer and another for Autumn/Winter. I’ve decided to alter that process slightly and work on a palette we can use all year round. It’s hard not to be swayed by the change in seasons but I really wanted to find a set of colours that would work for me year round and decide on a cohesive palette that I could add to gradually to build up our signature collection. I’ve chosen a palette of 24 of my favourite colours, some have popped up in collections before and just had to come back as they are so lovely!
I started with some inspiration from some of my favourite images that I’ve collected over the years and no surprise really, I started find very similar colours in the images – which is probably what attracted me to them in the first place. That process led me to lots and lots of colour chips and sorting of colours before I finally came to the following combination.
One great bit of practice for Bella has been colour mixing and she’s really taken to it. I think mixing inks and pigments is a bit of an art in itself as not everyone can look at a colour and know whether it needs more of one shade than another. I’ve passed on as much of my own knowledge as I can but Bella definitely has a talent for seeing the colour accurately which is fabulous.
I then had a set of business cards printed up in some of the colours to showcase the new palette, these use the new logo I swapped to last Summer. I know it’s only a small introduction to the new palette but it’s been a lovely way of seeing which colours have been popular when people pick up the cards as everyone as chosen their favourite shade.
Next I’ll share images of the first strike offs we’ve done in the new shades.
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