PLANTS THAT HELP TO RETAIN MEMORY GRACE VERES Spring 2017
My Grandmother with my late Grandfather at home in Palm Beach, Florida in the mid 1970s. A lover of color, my grandmother was an early fan of Lily Pulitzer and is wearing one of her skirts here.
ARTIST STATEMENT At the onset of this project I had been thinking about what drew me to textile design. I thought of my childhood, of visiting my grandmother and my aunt and their beautiful homes. I remembered all the errands I ran with my mother to wallpaper stores and fabric shopping. I’ve grown up watching these three women create beautiful spaces for their families to enjoy for generations. My life has been eternally impacted by these women, and one of them in particular who began this chain of influence first with her daughters-and than with me, her granddaughter. My grandmother is a classic woman. Always pristine, never trying to please others and yet outstanding in character and beauty. Attending college for painting and then choosing marriage with my grandfather over an illustration career in New York City, she always found a way to incorporate her skills into everyday life. My mother loves to tell the story of how my grandmother painted the bottom of their swimming pool with large flowers which, once the pool was once again full, seemed to sway in the water. The moment my mother left for college my grandmother converted her room into a weaving studio--and from my grandmother I have inherited boxes upon boxes of liberty fabric that were to be sewn into quilts. I have unknowingly followed in my grandmother’s footsteps, growing to love fabric, pattern, painting, and textiles. As I was reminiscing about her past, I also had to think about how she is currently. My grandmother is alive and relatively healthy, praise be, but everytime I am with her it feels like she has become less and less the woman she once was. Dementia and old age are taking her from me. Lately I have taken a small interest in herbal remedies and the power of plants to heal and restore. This project was born from a combination of these two thoughts-- a love for my grandmother and the interests she has passed on to me and the desire to prevent this sort of loss in the future. I hope you enjoy these designs as I surely enjoyed creating them. Best, Grace Veres
INSPIRATION
de Gournay De Gournay is a company that has produced hand painted wallpaper since the mid 1980s. The founder, Claud Cecil Gurney, created the company after being unable to find someone to restore his own antique wallpaper. Their designs are classic and seem timeless. Much of their designs are historic in nature, taking cues from historic textiles and wall coverings like chinoiserie. Their artisans create stunning work. This company has taken a dying tradition and brought it back into popular culture. Their painting style is beautiful and their patterns are lovely.
Eley Kishimoto
Eley Kishimoto designed a beautiful line of silk screened wallpaper. Their designs are bold and interesting to look at. They took a historic method of production and modernized it, just as they did with some of their designs-- taking classic themes into the 21st century. I was very inspired by this seeing as I love classic desigs and am constantly encouraged to be innovative.
SKETCHES
Initially I wanted my main design to resemble a chinoisoire style wall paper that appears almost like a scene. This eventually turned into clusters of plants, like little glimpes into a garden as I made groupings of my gouache sketches.
//PATTERN DEVELOPMENT
Traditional Remedies
STRIPE
LATTICE
MARSHMALLOW BORDER
BLOOMING WITH HEALTH
GARDEN SHADOWS
SAGE, ROSEMARY, NETTLE.
FENNEL
FLUORESCENT
REMEDIES
COOL REMEDIES
NEUTRAL
REMEDIES
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