Today the spotlight is on Textile Design Lab member Rocío Fatás, who designs under the name The Soul of Birds. Rocío is a prolific designer and it is always a joy to see her colorful collections shared on our forum in the Lab. Today we are pleased to share snippets from several of Rocío’s latest and greatest patterns as well as where she finds inspiration, exciting projects she has in store for the future, and more. Enjoy!
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What is your career background and what drew you to textile design?
I was born and raised in La Rioja, a famous wine region of Spain, where I also currently live after having spent almost 18 years away in different national cities and in some other countries afterwards. I graduated in Fine Arts in Valencia, at the Universidad Politécnica, and I completed my Master’s in Interactive Digital Media at Trinity College Dublin. Since I was a child, I have had a fascination for beautiful clothes and prints. I used to enjoy changing costumes and showing up in my mother’s young years’ attire when I was maybe 4 up until I was 10. One of the family friends, who I used to spend quite a lot of time with, had worked in High Couture in Paris and was very fond of all sorts of fabrics, which she collected to create incredibly amazing pieces of patchwork. After a good few years working in digital arenas, I felt that it was time to reconnect with my Art, so I started trying a number of different activities, until I came across textile design, and I felt like a fish in the water.
What courses have you taken in the Textile Design Lab? What is your favorite aspect of the Lab?
I have taken numerous courses, such as The Sellable Sketch, The Ultimate Guide to Repeats, and Pattern Planning and Goal Setting. These three concretely have proven immensely useful to help me set up the foundation of my practice, which is now a regular activity where I invest a large amount of time. It is thanks to these courses that I have direction when I create, as well as technical insight. My favourite aspects of the Lab are possibly the Monthly Challenges, which help immensely to expand my creative range while tuning in with trends, and the forum and critiques, where I get invaluable feedback from other members and of course the Lab’s team, always so grounded and full of expertise.
What projects are you currently working on?
At present I am working on my first set of collections for the Quilting Industry. My goal is to have about 200 prints ready by the end of April, which I have been carefully crafting over the past few months. Some of these patterns are so beautiful though (in my opinion, that is ;-)), that I would love to see them printed and on the wall of a museum or an Art Gallery. For the last quarter of the year, I’m hoping to have launched my first product which I still don’t know what it will be, but I will certainly follow ethical fashion guidelines.
Where do you find inspiration when creating a pattern?
I like to believe that Nature is my main source of inspiration. There is always a hint of Nature in all I create, whether it is a theme, a shape, or a palette. I often take my colours from pictures of birds. But other important sources are textile design books, especially from different eras and cultures, and also, some form of insight; there are times when I just close my eyes and see what is going to be born next. Materials themselves are a good inspiration too, since the unique qualities they possess often guide my creative process.
What do you do if you’re stuck in a design rut or feeling uninspired?
I go for a walk in the park just outside my house, which is really big and goes along a big river too; I meditate, I do some Qi Gong or some Yoga; I take a sneak peek to Pinterest, some of my Art Books or the Lab.
What do you hope to achieve as a textile designer? What are your goals for your career/business?
In the long term, I would love to work with some great fashion designer/s to co-create some pieces of meaningful fashion. In the short run, well, get my patterns to inspire people in their home environments, with quilts, bedding sets, and other home decor items. I would also love to work with furniture, I believe upholstery can be a great match for my work, if the pieces are a bit daring and quirky that is! In the mid run, I want to have my own product brand in the market, but I’m still not 100% sure what my products will be, and I’m hoping I will get to discover my perfect match as I go along!
All of the patterns featured in this post are available for license. Get in touch with Rocío at rociofatas.org/soul-of-birds or on Facebook. Have a great weekend!
Ready to transform your talent into a thriving career in textile design? Join us in the Textile Design Lab today! Membership is just $49/month and comes with a variety of e-courses, a private forum, weekly live artwork critiques, guest expert tutorials, fun design challenges and lots more exciting and helpful content to get your textile design career off the ground. Visit textiledesignlab.com to learn more!
