Designer Sara B. will take over our Instagram feed this weekend. This artist is known for her hand-painted floral patterns – perfect for the first weekend of spring!

Sara shared some of her creative insights with us: sources of inspiration, the joy of unpredictability, and the idea of “life in bloom”.

Read on for the full interview.

Camelot Fabrics: Please introduce yourself and tell us what you do!

Sara B: Thank you for having me! My name is Sara Berrenson and I am a surface and textile designer living in Santa Monica, California. All of my designs are hand painted in watercolor or gouache, and my favorite subjects to paint are flowers, plants, leaves…basically anything found in nature!

CF: What inspired you to design your first collection with Camelot – Indigo Rose?

SB: Indigo Rose is a mix of soft florals paired with geometrics inspired by indigo dyeing. A while back, I took a class where we learned traditional shibori dyeing techniques, which I then used to create some of the prints in the collection. The rest of the designs in the collection are painted in watercolor.

Browse the collection

CF: Can you tell us a bit about your creative process?  What do you most enjoy?

SB: My creative process is a bit all over the place! I am always on the lookout for inspiration wherever I am. I would say my inspiration comes mainly from color combinations, textures, and patterns found in nature. Many of the elements I use in my collections are referenced from some little vignette I photographed… sometimes it’s just a plant, sometimes it’s a bright wall juxtaposed with a plant… you never know what will speak to you! I’m very inspired by the color stories of particular places I’ve visited – deserts, beaches, mountains… all of these places have a color palette that evokes a distinct mood.

CF: What is your creative workspace / studio like?

SB: My studio is a bright and airy space with a lot of windows, which I love! Since I work out of my one bedroom house, I use half of the living room as a studio and the other half as a regular living room. My drawing table is where the project begins, where I start with sketching ideas and painting. From there, I scan the paintings into the computer and turn them into repeat patterns that can be used on fabric and other surfaces.

CF Hand-painting is a key part of your creative signature.  How does the painting process inform your work and inspire you?

SB: I paint mainly in watercolor, which can be a very unpredictable medium. But that is actually what I love about it. I love the blending and bleeding of colors and the happy accidents that result. It is fun to experiment with the paint and let it do it’s thing. I gravitate toward designs that are hand made and look unique and not computer generated. I feel that by painting my art, it gives it that hand made quality which I admire and it really feels one of a kind.

CF: Your brand is built around the idea of “Life in Bloom”. How do you see this playing out in your own life?

SB: I came up with the idea “Life in Bloom” because it resonated with me on multiple levels. I paint so many flowers in bright and uplifting colors, and the very nature of a flower is to bloom and thrive. It is my hope that my designs will give people this same feeling of being able to flourish in their lives, and surround themselves with things that make them happy.

Sara’s Mulberry Bloom collection arrives in stores next month.
Browse the collection

Sara’s newest collection, Monarch Grove, will be in stores in July.
Browse the collection

See more of Sara’s work around the web:

Website – saraberrenson.com

Instagram – saraberrenson

Twitter – @SaraBerrenson

Pinterest – Sara Berrenson