Just some pictures

For the love of botanical prints!

Florals make the most classic and most contemporary prints. Amazing versatility. Just one flower can be inetrpreated in so many different ways.

Roses are the best example for this and ofcourse lotus. Roses is also the subject for the next collection.

Prints again

Just totally love florals, textile designers have always used plants as inspiration for print designs. Romanie Jailtly a professor in NID, was the first person whose course actually convinced me that I am capable of developing prints from no where. We drew a plant and then eventually after 3 long weeks that sketch got converted in a print. For some reason the feel good that came with getting that print right could be matched with only a few other highs since then.

Not the four years of years of NID, but the first few months of working with Mrs Ritu Kumar made me realise that interesting prints can be created but placing them right is what makes a garment stand out. I remember taking a Jamini Roy painting and developing t-shirts, I still have one in wardrobe and it is a very priced piece in there.

Sometimes I feel that it is quite easy to create beautiful looking prints its reflects your state of mind. Sometimes when I am happy it is easiest to create prints and sometimes when there is a lot of thoughts running through the head what comes up with confusion on the screen.

Prints and Cushions

Continuing from the last blog, the one product which works completely as a canvas for a textile designer is a Cushion! A white walled room can suddenly become a traditional setting or become a hookah bar just by adding cushions which represent either of these concepts.

Want to change the way the living room is looking for a party one cant change the upholstery or the curtains everytime but through in some new cushions and the place is ready to rock! On a personal note when there is time I do that every week just cause the room begins to bore me.

Nice pretty florals in delicate colours for a classic decor works as well as white lilies. And the funky cushions like below and perfect for a cocktail party which is also somewhat traditional.

Then there are the funky didgital printed cushions from good earth! I will upload more picture what I have been doing with cushion design next time. Till then lok around and see how well are you using the cushions to do up your space!

More Prints

Yesterday's blog took me back to look through some of my old work. I had spent a lot of time just working on prints and exploring photoshop, just then I had also been intrduced to the idea of digital printing and it opened a new horizon completely. Digital printing has been a huge revolution in textile printing. Block has its own charm and I am completely sold on the idea, though I could never appreciate the beauty of a screen print, it always came across and completely flat, the technique somehow even manages to kill the texture of any fabric.

Two years back my print work was published in a book compiled by Martin Dawber of UK, in a book called New Fashion Prints. They had selected new designers from Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, India and New Zealand, whose works were published in the book.

Right now I am using this platform to show of the prints that appeared in the above mentioned book.

Adbhut

This was one of the first time that I realised that photoshop can do a lot more that cleaning images, I use 4 existing prints and some new pen options to create this what I took to be a mess initially though the publishers really liked it 2 years after it was created.

Akriti

We all remember finger printing when we were kids, and making this print was as much fun. Obviously no need to sign this one.

Jailasmer

Just echoing my love for the mughal era, the butas, the jalis and their tesselations, amazing!

Mogra

Well there cant be a print collection without florals, atleats not when I am developing them.

Prem

A friend of mine in NID, had itorduced me to the work of Aubrey Breadsley, I fell in love with it immediately and saved a lot of his work as wallpapers and in my images just for keeps.
On a completely different note, when you start a textile design studio the first few projects that come along only want you to make either stripes or checks, none of which are very interesting. While doing these projects it always helped having Aubrey Breadsley's work as the screesaver. The print below was just trying to refersh my mind by trying to combine these two obcessions together.    

                                  

Tara

A water colour painting, when it was created I did not know how can this e converted into a textile print and thus coing back to where we started, only last week managed to print it after 4 years thanks to the digital technology.

Yes sometimes just going through what you had achieved is enough to push you to try and achieve more. I hope that I can go through some of it again and by next time I will have new work to share.

Prints

After being away from real work through my pregnancy and then running after the little one for the last seven months, I tried doing various things, garments again, sarees and some small projects but something has not been clicking, even this blog for that matter, I started and then wrote some stuff everyday deleted it and then shut down the system for the last 2 weeks. What is it that I want to start over with? And now I remembered where did Studio Smriti start? It was not garments or sarees, it was simple prints and coordinating a lot of them on home furnishings. Yes but somehow I have not had the confidence to start again, so I started small, just some things for me and my family and yes I do feel more confident now, I feel like I can do more stuff.

These are some things I came up with, thought I would share.

The nice things about home furnishings is that its like an empty canvas. We can try prints, traditinal and mordern and textures. Also personally I am more experimental with my home furnishings than garments. Somehow a bed is more flexible to new ideas.

The above designs are easier to us will fit in any house, any surroundings. I also tried something more funky.

By the next time I should have the images and I will upload those for review.

Butas

Its been a while and honestly I have not concentrated enough to write in anything. I have been trying very hard to figure which part of textile design is what I love the most. The technique is definitely print what I enjoy the most.

Printing is like painting to me without having the actual skills. Though I am not a fan of the new forms like digital printing or even screen, its the versatality of hand block printing that I love the most. Ever since I can remember I have been totally fascinated with blocks especially of Mughal butas, and I have collected some which now I am working with to create new collection.

Even though its not the first collection with these butas, there is something about it which I find very exciting and lets hope that what comes out will be as exciting. One Indian designer I totally commend on his use of these beauties is Rohit Bal, he has used these butas time and again and each time makes them look even more beautiful.

My attampt so far has been humble and not as successful, thus not much of it has been converted into products yet, just a few trials and hope this season will get me exactly what I have been looking for.

Sharing some images of chanderi printed sarees.

Where to begin?!

I have been sitting in from the laptop for the last one hour now thinking of profound titles for the first blog and did not know where to start! My head kept wandering between those stupid messages that keep the mobile buzzing to what my five month old son must be doing in the next room. And then looking around me I began to wonder how much fabric I have around me not to mention on me.

Ok so I am a textile designer but I don'd know who invented textiles, lots of different people have contributed to making it what it is but who wove the first piece of cloth doesn't even come easy when you google it. We all know that people wore leaves, animal skin and fur, made yarn out of roots and needle from animal bones but where did the first cotton thread come from or the first yarn of silk!

There are so many forms of fabric now that we take for granted and thank god that someone started the concept it has been the jam and cheese for me for the last so many years!

Ok all confused but atleast I started and promise to make it more relevant the next time! In the meanwhile when I look for first textiles on google this is what i get.