Spoonflower Spotlight: 8 Artists to Keep an Eye on This Month

Spoonflower Spotlight: 8 Artists to Keep an Eye on This Month

Spoonflower Spotlight: 8 Artists to Keep an Eye on This Month
Featured Designs

Behind every design on Spoonflower is an independent artist from around the world.

It’s no secret that Spoonflower is the world’s largest marketplace of indie pattern designs (over 1 million designs and growing!), but did you know that you can print any design on our 20+ fabrics, our 3 wallpaper offerings and on a growing collection of unique made-for-you home decor that you can’t find anywhere else. And, you can feel good knowing your purchase supports independent artists from around the world! Read below to get to know 8 Spoonflower designers in this month’s edition of our Artist Spotlight series.

Meet the Featured Artists

May Artist Spotlight: Meet Marti Betz of martibetzdesign | Spoonflower Blog



Marti Betz

Location: United States

Design Style: Rich color and lovely stylized motifs

IG Handle: @martibetz

How are you staying creative right now?
I have a long list of ideas I am excited about working on. Right now I am turning past design challenge pieces into full collections. This requires creating secondary designs that support and work within the colors established by the main piece in the collection. Also, I have redesigned my website in Squarespace®. There you can see many of the full pattern collections I have recently completed. I am creating lookbooks for each of these fully completed collections. I am inspired by rich color, nature, animals and florals, and have many images in my head ready to play with. The Spoonflower design challenges often inspire some of my best work.

We love the idea of turning previous design challenge entries into full collections, Marti!

List three fun facts about yourself:
I fill my creative self up by hiking new places in the world. I work almost entirely in Adobe Illustrator®, after first sketching on my iPad in Adobe Draw. And lastly, all my best ideas come in the shower or while swimming.

Shop Marti’s Spoonflower Shop

May Artist Spotlight: Meet Jo-Ann Soobramoney of harpley_design_studio | Spoonflower Blog



Jo-Ann Soobramoney

Location: South Africa

Design Style: Nature-inspired, botanical and painterly

IG Handle: @harpleydesignstudio

How are you staying creative right now?
I’ve been on lockdown for several weeks so I’m embracing having my kids painting in the studio with me. I’ve been browsing through books, virtual tours and nature for inspiration and ideas.

List three fun facts about yourself:
I studied commerce accounting for my profession, so I’ve tapped into both logical and creative parts of my brain. I’m a huge F.R.I.E.N.D.S fan and I think I’m a little bit of a Monica because I love planning and organizing. I’m of Indian descent but was born and raised in South Africa. I’ve been married for 10 years and we have 2 girls named Hailey and Harper.

Shop Jo-Ann’s Spoonflower Shop

May Artist Spotlight: Meet Jim Theodore of theodesign | Spoonflower Blog



Jim Theodore

Location: United States

Design Style: Mid-century modern


IG Handle: @jimtheodore

How are you staying creative right now?
My wife and I both work from home, so being forced to stay home right now is not a challenge. My wife is a pottery artist, and I have been busy creating new patterns and digital art prints. We have also tackled some home projects too. I’m getting ready to install a newly refinished mid century front door to our home. 

List three fun facts about yourself:
I love Chihuahuas (my wife and I have two). I love woodworking and refinishing mid-century modern auction finds, and I love collectible cars.

Shop Jim’s Spoonflower Shop

May Artist Spotlight: Meet Anna Sidorova of solnca_lych | Spoonflower Blog



Anna Sidorova

Location: Russia

Design Style: Limited color palettes, simplified forms and a little humor

IG Handle: @solncalych

How are you staying creative right now?
A clean and tidy workplace helps me to stay creative. I like it when everything on my desk has its own place and is ready for work. That is why when I have a new idea, I can’t begin to embody it without any preparations. Also, I think it’s important to change techniques and tools from time to time—for example, to change digital media to traditional, watercolor to color pencils, to learn new software and to experiment with new mediums. It helps to get out of a design rut and stay motivated, and at the same time expands the possibilities.

List three fun facts about yourself:
I am a sociologist by education; sociology interests me because it allows me to look at the familiar world from a different angle. I also love to bake and am a figure skating fan.

Shop Anna’s Spoonflower Shop

May Artist Spotlight: Meet Jen Florentine of jenflorentine | Spoonflower Blog



Jen Florentine

Location: United States

Design Style: Fun, bold and highly varied from florals to graphic geometrics and abstracts

IG Handle: @jenflorentineart

How are you staying creative right now?
It’s hard, sometimes. I have to force myself to be creative right now. I have noticed though that it’s allowing me to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. I’m getting more experimental in my patterns and paintings. It’s so important to have a hobby or something that you love to do, especially during times like these. I always feel better when I create!

List three fun facts about yourself:
I love decorating and designing our home. My husband and I have bought, sold and moved three times in the past seven years and each time we have had lots and lots of projects. I’m very lucky to have a handy husband who is always willing to start something new. 

I have an almost-three-year-old that is keeping me sane during all of this. He’s at a good age where he doesn’t understand what’s going on so it helps me stay in the moment. Lots of dance parties, art projects, dinosaurs and cars!

To wind down, I love to read. Last year I read over 50 books!

Shop Jen’s Spoonflower Shop

May Artist Spotlight: Meet Katya Kondrateva of kondratya | Spoonflower Blog



Katya Kondrateva

Location: Russia

Design Style: I love to draw cute, naive and funny illustrations

IG Handle: @kondratya

How are you staying creative right now?
I think the best way to stay creative is to decrease the amount of news you consume and keep calm. I’m trying to enjoy simple little things right now—cooking food, playing video games with my partner, listening to fun pop music. Also, I’m chatting with our small Spoonflower illustrators community here in Russia. We always support each other and this is very important in such a difficult time.

List three fun facts about yourself:
I was born near the Arctic Ocean, I like to sing stupid songs about everything happening at the moment, my grandma is doing patchwork and she sewed a lot of textile wares with my test swatches.

Shop Katya’s Spoonflower Shop

May Artist Spotlight: Meet Melissa Pedersen of new_branch_studio | Spoonflower Blog



Melissa Pedersen

Location: Canada

Design Style: Colourful, whimsical and full of detail

IG Handle: @newbranchstudio

How are you staying creative right now?
My three boys (ages 5, 7 and 8) are at home with me every day now. Each of them is super creative and we inspire each other! It’s been fun to come up with ideas that keep them busy and I’ve been discovering new ways of creating for myself. 

List three fun facts about yourself:
I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jewellery & Metals. Some of my jewellery has even inspired a few of my patterns.

It was only two years ago that I discovered my love for patterns. After stumbling across the Spoonflower website, I decided to design a set of throw pillows to match my mint green wingback chairs. Designing patterns was like love at first sight!

I plant a huge veggie garden every year; it’s practical and provides me with an endless supply of inspiration.

Shop Melissa’s Spoonflower Shop

May Artist Spotlight: Meet Susana Costa of bruxamagica | Spoonflower Blog



Susana Costa

Location: Portugal

Design Style: A bit quirky, a bit geometric, a bit cute and a bit retro.

IG Handle: @bruxa_magica

How are you staying creative right now?
Right now I am trying to stay positive as the world changes at a very fast-paced rhythm. We are at home right now as our country is in a state of emergency, and working takes another rhythm. I still get creatively inspired by my 6-year-old Oriana and by looking at nature and the ocean!

List three fun facts about yourself:
I have a degree in anthropology and typically while I design, I watch the news on every channel possible. (Though, right now I don’t do that because my daughter is at home!)

My nickname Bruxa Mágica comes from being a fan of astrology.

My daughter’s name is Oriana which is from the first book I read as a young kid, “The Fairy Oriana”.

Shop Susana’s Spoonflower Shop

Want to get to know more artists from the Spoonflower family? Browse the entire Meet the Artists series here. Or, if you’re looking for a fun family-friendly activity–download your digital copy of the Spoonflower Community Coloring Book which features 10 Spoonflower artists from across the globe!

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