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Design: Butterfly Collector

 

This design is a combination of 2 of my designs that were originally created for different markets. I drew the butterflies and flowers by hand in a Japanese-influenced classic style. This design was originally intended to be a fashion print design for textiles. I separately drew the paisley shapes in the background and this was originally intended to be a wallpaper design, which I entered for a design competition. The competition was organized by the Ideal Home Exhibition and was judged by Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen. My design was not chosen as a finalist so I was free to re-use the design as the background in this butterfly design.

I combined the two designs (the butterfly layer and the paisley layer) so that they appear to fade in and out to create a layered feeling in the final piece.

 

The name of the design refers to the title of the song "The Butterfly Collector" released by new wave/mod band The Jam in 1993.

Paul Weller took the song title from John Fowles' 1963 book "The Collector". Weller's lyrics refer to a London punk called Soo Catwoman. John Fowles wrote a stage version of the novel, which was performed in the late 1960s in London starring Marianne Faithfull as the lead character Miranda. A film of the book and play was released in 1965, filmed in England and starring Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar.

 

A framed print of my design was included in the Beecroft Art Gallery's "56th Essex Open Exhibition" 2015. 130 designs were selected from over 500 submissions across the whole of Essex. My design was included in the Print category. The exhibition was from July to October 2015 in Southend, Essex, UK.

 

In November 2015 I printed my first set of 18" butterfly prints using my new bigger acetate image. Very kindly Sue Little at South Essex College prepared my silkscreen for me. Beatriz Gonzalez was invaluable in making sure every single one of the 18 prints was 100% perfect. The linen is very expensive so it was important to have an expert on hand to make sure everything went smoothly. Beatriz also mixes my colors as I am slightly color-blind. I definitely think my customers will appreciate a larger cushion. It makes the cushion more of a design statement in someone's home, rather than a small item of home furnishing.

Several customers have ordered the red, orange, yellow color-combination cushions. I am now printing these digitally. I ordered a very large colour palette from my printers, Spoonflower.com. The palette is printed on heavy cotton twill, which is the same fabric I order for my printed cushion fabric. As you can see in the picture below, it is quite hard to match the colours exactly but with a large palette, I have a much better chance.

Very pleased to receive an order from a new customer in September 2016 for 4 olive-colored butterfly cushions. This is my first sale to Northern Ireland.

On 29th July 2018 a new customer, called irene, from Canberra Australia wrote this excellent review: "Just letting you know I really love the paisley butterfly blue cushion. Thank you." She ordered her cushion cover in July from the Paisley Power Shop at Etsy.com

On 14th December 2019 Patrick launched the Butterfly Collector pouch bags. The orange and yellow fabric is printed by Spoonflower. The bags were specially made for the Paisley Power Pre-Christmas sale at the Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, UK. They are a limited edition.

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