Beth: Surface Pattern Designer

9 Mar

1.- Please, Introduce yourself

My name is Beth and I go under the brand name of Beth Armstrong Design. I live in Taranaki now but am originally from Shetland, the most northerly isles in Scotland.

My upbringing on remote Scottish islands has deeply influenced my appreciation for the natural world. My father worked in Conservation so I was very fortunate to live in some beautiful nature reserves during my childhood and learnt a great deal from my father about the fragility of nature.

This deep appreciation and wonder of the natural world led to a diploma in Art & Creativity in 2017 and further studies in botanical illustration and surface pattern design. I am particularly drawn to botanical painting and love to try and capture the fragile nature of our flora in my artwork. With a love for design, I am also interested in seeing how my paintings can translate into textiles and wallpaper and love to see how these can transform our interior world.

2.- What does a typical working day for you look like?

Well, no day is the same and with two teenagers in the house, it can often get quite hectic but I do try to stick to a routine as much as possible! As my kids are still at school, I try to focus my energy on creating artwork between the hours of 9 and 3 as that is the quietest time of day and I am less likely to get interrupted! I like to try and work to a plan for each school semester so I will often be focussing on a new collection of designs or reaching out to local companies to work on collaborations. However I usually start my day with a walk with our dog, Elvis, an eight year old cavoodle. We live near the beach here in New Plymouth so we often go for a good walk once my kids have gone to school. I find the exercise and fresh air in the morning stimulating and makes a nice transition between the hectic rush for school and the quiet focus required for painting. I often listen to one of my favourite podcasts and when I return to the house, I always make a coffee, put on some quiet music and settle down to paint. Getting into a flow state is extremely important and it can sometimes take a while to settle so I often need to switch off my computer or notifications and shut my door so I can't hear my husband on his Zoom calls! Then I can often spend several hours on painting without looking up!

3.- What inspires you?

As I said above, I am particularly inspired by nature but also by fashion and interior design. I love to visit museums and art galleries and browse old botanical illustration books. I also love to explore and if I get the chance I love to get away for a weekend and visit our cities in New Zealand and wander the back streets, finding independent bookstores, vintage bric-a-brac shops and interesting boutique shops.

4.- What would your dream project/client be?

I would really love to use my artwork for the greater good, to help raise more public awareness of the fragility of our planet so working with companies who have strong values around sustainability and the environment is extremely important to me but would also love to work with more social enterprises whose goal is improving social objectives and serving the common good. As my eldest daughter has disabilities and will struggle to find employment, I would love to work with social enterprises who encourage meaningful and accessible employment for intellectually-disabled adults.

5.- What's something you wish you'd known at the beginning of your creative career?

That there is never the perfect time to start something new, if you feel inspired to create, just start where you are and the next step will reveal itself. And, that it will get harder before it gets easier and to work through the challenges with grit and determination, the hard work will pay off if you trust the process and keep your eye on the end goal.

6.- What do you do when you are not busy creating?

I am usually very busy being a taxi driver to my two teenage daughters! My eldest daughter was born with a rare chromosome disorder and needs a great deal of help so between my husband and I we juggle taking the girls to their favourite activities such as Special Olympics Basketball, Ballet or Gymnastics. My youngest loves horses and we have just recently leased a pony so we are often up at the stables helping to muck out or watch her ride. But if I do get away and have time to myself, I love to catch up with close friends for coffee in my favourite cafe in New Plymouth - Bleached - it's such a funky cafe and has the coolest clothes!

7.- Do you have any technique for overcoming creative blocks?

I often find that if I'm having a creative block it's because I have lost sight of the end goal so getting back to my original ideas for starting on a new project in the first place can be really helpful. However, getting outside and going for a walk or catching up with a friend can really help to reset my frame of mind.

8.- What are you working on right now?

I am currently focussing on creating a collection of floral watercolours which I would love to show in a local gallery. I had some framed artwork ready to show at the Taranaki Arts Awards last year but due to the pandemic, it was cancelled. I am also working on a collaboration but can't say more than that just now as it's not yet public knowledge but watch this space!

9.- What advice would you give to someone that's just starting the same career as you?

I think it really helps to have a plan, if you can map out a year of what you would like to achieve, then when the going gets tough you can refer to your plan and see how far you've come and where you're heading. That really helped me to stay focussed and was hugely reassuring when I could look back at what I had already achieved.

10.- Name 2 podcasts, magazines, websites or artists that you're into at the moment.

Oh that's so hard, I love so many! I am currently listening to the WindowSill Chats podcast with Margo Tantau and I love her conversations with creatives, she always has interesting guests and it feels like you're on her windowsill with her! Creative Peptalk is another of my favourite podcasts, very different to Windowsill Chats but I first discovered Andy J Pizza when I was starting out on my journey four years ago, and he was also just starting out on his podcast, something about his honesty really appeals to me and he is sooo funny and I always feel very 'pepped up' after listening to one of his episodes!