barcelona - a city of pattern inspiration.
City mini breaks are our favourite way to travel. My husband and I used to aim to do two a year before the pandemic, one in the Spring and one in the Autumn. One city that we fell in love with instantly was Barcelona due to it’s perfect mix of beach, city and culture.
As a History of Art and Architecture graduate I couldn’t wait to explore the city and was particularly fascinated by the architecture of Gaudi. Gaudi’s Park Güell has been one of the main inspirations for my new Barcelona surface pattern collection - from the jagged irregular shapes of the mosaic tiles to the beautiful bright colours that perfectly pop against the clear blue skies of the Spanish city on a sunny day. I have even drawn inspiration from the famous mosaic lizard that sits prominently on the main staircase at the entrance to the park.
The colours and patterns of the tiles inspired me to experiment with handpainted elements alongside geometric shapes to try and capture the intricate and jumbled beauty of mosaic - a stunning art form that makes Park Güell truely unforgettable. I could honestly spend hours looking at tile after tile and seeing how their mix of different colours and shapes create something new and completely unexpected. Now that I think about it, it is the same thing I love about creating pattern collections - each pattern a design in itself but bring them all together and you can create a whole new piece of artwork in the way that they compliment and contrast eachother as a collection.
For this surface pattern collection I have designed two separate colour palettes, one to capture the bright colourful and fun vibe of the city by day, and one to capture the beautiful calm atmosphere at night - something we admired during our evening strolls around the city (with an ice cream or two).
Another highlight of our trip was a bicycle tour of the city which took us from cobbled streets, to busy avenues, and finally to the long stretch of golden beach adorned with palm trees. I have such fond memories of cycling along in the sunshine surrounded by the beautiful city of Barcelona. That feeling of escape and freedom that you only get when you travel and explore somewhere new.
You can find my complete Barcelona pattern collection here. This collection is currently available for licensing.
