I grew up in Arizona, surrounded by the beauty of the Sonoran Desert. The collection I intend to create was inspired by my time spent wandering the desert trails on beautiful summer mornings.

I began my brainstorming by using Google to look at beautiful photos that captured the colors I can picture in my mind when I remember those walks. I then pulled those colors and created my palette. Sketching came next and there are slips of paper all over the house with plants and animals drawn all over them.

When it came to finalizing those sketches, I discovered that step in the process is my least favorite. I cut myself some slack and allowed my not so complete sketches to be enough. I'll edit and clean them up in Illustrator (my favorite part).

Desert Sunrise - image 1 - student project Desert Sunrise - image 2 - student project Desert Sunrise - image 3 - student project Here is my geometric pattern of agave plants. Boy! did I have trouble with this one! The agaves are just enough out of round to make it difficult to space them accurately enough to build a repeat. It took me several hours of trial and error before I got it. This is the first colorway and I'm not quite sure I like it. I'll be playing with it more as I build the collection.

Desert Sunrise - image 4 - student project

Here is my diagonal pattern of desert cacti and quail tracks in morning light. I really enjoyed making it!

Desert Sunrise - image 5 - student project

Desert cacti and quail tracks at midnight

Desert Sunrise - image 6 - student project

Desert cacti and quail tracks in the dark of the moon. Desert Sunrise - image 7 - student project

Woo hoo! I finally found the time to finish this pattern. This is my layered pattern assignment. The inspiration for this pattern was a prickly pear "fence" we had at our home in Tucson. All we did was plant cactus pads in a line up the side of our property and in a few years you have a living fence!

Desert Sunrise - image 8 - student project

Here then is my final design for this project. It is inspired by the Ocotillos that grown around Tucson. The canes make for a nice lined design. The accents are flying cicadas looking for spots to land to begin their hot afternoon song.

And with the addition of this final design, I've completed my project for this class. Although I like each of my designs, I cannot say that I like them as a collection. Going forward, I will do more planning for the collection as a whole.

This has been a wonderful class. Thank you Bonnie Christine!

Barbara Broussard

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