What do you do when you have a burning desire to draw and paint, but you also have the uncontrollable urge to make things? Well of course, you do both.

Kelly Massey of Pretty Penny Designs not only designs her own fabrics, she then turns the printed fabric into fabulous bags, scarves and other things that she has also designed herself, creating truly distinctive pieces.

 

 

I love these surface designs for their hand drawn aesthetic, simple shapes and clarity. She says she draws her inspiration from many sources, and loves the work of of Vera Neuman, Orla Kiely, Paul Klee and Maija Islola. But what particularly ends up in her work often comes from the direct observation of nature – flowers and insects appear frequently.

 

 

I asked Kelly about her creative childhood.

“I’ve always found great joy in making things.  My grandmother taught me to knit, crochet and sew when I was a kid.  I spent most of my time making paper dolls, sewing myself little toys and covertly writing on walls. As I got older, I found that I loved drawing and painting. One time, my mother brought me to see Georgia OKeefe’s exhibit at the National Gallery.  I was spellbound.  Her use of color and light has been a big influence on me ever since.

I grew up in Washington DC, and then attended art school in Atlanta where I sharpened my drawing and painting skills. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that what I really loved was making art for people, not walls.  I wanted the things that I made to be used, to be worn and to carry the groceries home. Becoming a surface designer was the logical culmination of all of the things that I loved, and now I get to paint, sew, sketch, design and dream to my heart’s content.”

 

 

And what has been the best thing about what she does?

“I’ve had to fight to find the confidence to put my art out into the world.  Learning to move forward, despite the little voices in my head has been quite a path for me. And so knowing that the things that I make are used by real people is the icing on the cake … when I think that more than one thousand of my pieces are floating about in the world I feel very very grateful.  It’s amazing to me that things that I’ve made with my own two hands exist on every continent and are enriching the lives of people that I’ve never met.”

 

 

 

You can watch a short video on Kelly as she works – it shows some of her design processes,  her workspace, and how a bag is born. Here – Kelly Massey talks about her work for Pretty Penny Designs

You can see some more of her fabric designs, as well as finished accessories at http://www.prettypennydesigns.com.

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I would like to thank Kelly for sharing her images and words here.