My patterns often start by hand, sometimes in pieces, sometimes as fully formed drawings. Sometimes they grow into something bigger, but often they become cards or gifts. These are beta patterns, perhaps - tests, sketches, the like.

From my first polaroid to my first digital camera, and now my iPhone, the immediacy of the image is the most important thing. I am attracted to patterns within the frame or the pattern of images within one experience, like a walk or drive. The images then suggest other connections. I build sequences and patterns with the patterns, or to make bigger patterns, or I just collect like images. These prod me, jump start my mind, spark ideas - grist for the mill.

See my tumblr for more: http://jspenceholman.tumblr.com/

My thesis project for my MFA in graphic design at MICA. An outgrowth of the project which has yet to leave the concept stage, is to develop pattern portraits-illustrate subjects with pattern, make a personalized ornament to be used in private or public (or both).

My original statement:

Just as memories ornament our day-to-day actions, patterns can transform the regular into the beautiful. My memories aren’t necessarily beautiful in their original telling, but as patterns they have a chance to aesthetically redeem themselves. Made into sheets or wallpaper or the like, they transcend their personal banality and become attractive and useful. And, as a background to daily living, these memories merge into those of others, changing both mind and space.

Over the last ten years or so, as a result of friends, relatives, and myself and my wife having kids, I have been building mobiles. It is a different challenge, that of the kinetic, 3d pattern. I have to consider the child, looking up, as well as the adult, looking across and sometimes down. My first few relied on recognizable patterns: the alphabet and the rainbow/color wheel. This gave an immediate structure which held while moving.

My most recent is less specific, relying on color and grid underneath, and allows motion to do what it will. It is hung in sections which can move independently. The blocks are primary colors underneath and secondary on the sides, allowing for harmony from any angle. The pattern changes depending on light, air, and view, with the pattern's foundation as the springboard.

Graphic design and pattern are a natural fit - both need an underlying structure and both rely on detailed organization in order to get their message across. I have moved from more expected patterns of repeated objects and grids to less regular concepts, such as bring the pattern boldly to the fore, using the pattern as a code of sorts, or creating irregular un-patterns.