Lulu at work/ her amazing Matouk line
One of the fabric lines I never tire of showing clients is Lulu DK. I just love the fresh, organic designs and crisp geometrics in simple, stunning colorways that appeal to the modern and traditional sensibilities of just about any design appetite. But what fascinates me most is her design process and artwork. All her fabrics begin as collages or paintings inspired by her travels, life experiences and surroundings. I myself majored in painting and collage in college and this awakens the artistic spirit in me and makes me want to get my hands dirty with paint, glue and the like. In fact, over the past year or so since the Globe Magazine featured me on the cover in front of one of my own paintings, I’ve had several people write me wanting to find out who the artist is so they could purchase one (aww shucks) I also have crazy lofty dreams of designing my own fabric patterns as well, so to begin my new goal is to get back into producing artwork. It’s a big goal since I can’t even find the time to order new contacts or hang a single piece of art on my wall in my new place, but I’m going to try. Painting makes me happy and calm- even though facing a blank canvas is one of the most intimidating things on this earth. Being introduced to Lulu’s blog by my girl Julie yesterday only helps my wish to get back to my artist roots become a reality by inspiring me even more and showing me how it can be incorporated into my design work!
The painting as mentioned, cleverly covered with text!
This is the collage Lulu did on vacation that inspired the fabulous Minerva fabric and wallpaper– isn’t it fascinating to see the translation from art to mass produced goods?
Lets look at it step by step though. There are new prints from her line on the horizon and here is one I love:
She begins with her original painting, shown here, which she sends off to the screen makers to translate into a CAD design.
Here is the CAD showing how the design will look printed with two variations of the same color, which I love. It has more life and depth that way in my humble opinion. The more colors, the more times the fabric has to run through the printing process though, so the more expensive it becomes.
The next step is picking her colorways- here are the color sample cuttings she is sent to pick from:
After she gets the screens of the fabric produced in all the colorways she chose, it goes into production! Like magic.
Here are some of her delightful collages:
I need to get me a copy of this STAT.
A few rooms using Lulu fabrics– just because.
