SPRING SUMMER 2020: BEVERLY

SPRING SUMMER 2020: BEVERLY

Posted by Erin Flett on

 

My Nana Beverly inspired this latest Garden line. As you can see, she was not afraid of mixing bold patterns, or pops of color and living every day with a can-do attitude. My mom tells me I am a lot like her and that makes me incredibly proud. This series of patterns is about never giving up, nurturing and planting seeds in the garden and in life. I know a design comes from everything I have if I can’t imagine coming up with something better next season. When a group of drawings or patterns come from your favorite memories I find it hard to imagine drawing something new and fresh when honestly the last two years of my design work tell so much about my life and the people who have shaped it.

Beverly Scamman was a fighter, a healer and spoke her truth. She was firm, to the point but with love and honesty. I used to take pods and grasses and found organic pieces around my Nana’s home and glue them onto large rocks. It was the first memory I remember where I thought about composition and design but not consciously. I just loved finding things and putting things together. I paid attention to this, I could feel it was something that made sense to me and made me happy. But my favorite memory before my Nana past was the day she watched me do a cartwheel. I proudly did one for her after weeks of working on it. The whole world stopped when my Nana looked at me differently before she spoke. It made me stop and listen more intensely. She paused and looked into my eyes. Her disposition went from enjoyment to something I did not quite understand but I knew it was important. She said, “You know Erin, you can do whatever you put your heart into.” She said it differently like it was such a bigger, deeper message than just that moment. It felt so big and more important at that moment and made me pause. I didn’t realize that day that those words would truly help define me. Now I know what she meant. If I wanted something I was going to have to go get it. Fight for it but know it can happen if I just put the time in trying. That not "giving up" mantra has stuck with me deeply. The attitude of not feeling sorry for myself or making excuses. My Nana was never a complainer and even though her health was not good, and never had a lot of money, I never heard about it and I never once heard her make excuses. I was young but I could see the pain but never once heard about it. Not that I think that was honorable, NOT expressing one’s pain, it's not that, it was more like it didn't DEFINE her as a person. That to me was what made her brilliant and special. I miss her, but I know she is here and never left my side, and is still cheering me on. She is apart of me and apart of my every day and part of my passion for living boldly, living strong, unapologetically, passionately without excuses or giving up. Design and being an artist is about pulling from all these facets of yourself and telling a story without preaching to people. I hope people feel my work not just SEE IT. When I say my life is my design it never fails me. It is in these daily choices we decide how our past defines us. I love that I have a place where these memories live on. The joy and love I hope live beyond me, as they have lived inside me and through these patterns like my sweet precious Nana Beverly. 

The layers of all these elements were hand-painted in my backyard among my flowers and my own gardens. It is my happy place. I hope this line brings you joy, makes you pause, and reminds you to plant your own seeds. We all have a garden to grow. It is why we are here, and I love that. xo e

 

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