No surprise, I love patterns; Patterns in art, patterns in buildings, patterns on fabric, patterns that move, patterns of words and letters -- just about any pattern at all. Most recently, it's those natural patterns that have caught my imagination.

I'm neck deep in designing fabric patterns for a new series of work based on my recent trips out to Big Bend and the Chihuahuan desert. In the Sensory Alphabet lingo, pattern equals rhythm, and i can practically hear the patterns I see and reimagine for my work. As rhythm, patterns are one of those design tools that "hold together" a composition. A pattern of shapes or colors or lines makes an image make sense, and helps us to connect it to other images and ideas outside of the picture frame.

Of course, doing this work has taken me on a host of other less car-dependent journeys than were the two recent 700 round trip treks to Big Bend National Park. I've researched and explored countless pattern sites, apps and resources on the web. And this newsletter gives me a chance to share some of them.

With Spoonflower, I can upload a simple image. This pomegranate design is a rough, really rough, seamless design (see below) that I cut from construction paper and photographed to use as a repeat. I uploaded it to Spoonflower, then made variations with its repeat tools and using PicMonkey. The possibilities are endless for just one simple design. If I want a related group of fabrics, all I need to do is tweak! Soonflower even gives me ways to change the colors of a design to make the same pattern in a different color way. You get the picture!