Shirley Copperwhite is the Irish designer behind folk-art collections Birds of Paradise and Spring Birds. This month, she shares her musings on travels in Madeira, her Victorian inspiration and the joy of freeing her mind to do “cartwheels on the page”.

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

Shirley Copperwhite – Hello to all you lovely readers from Dublin, Ireland. I’m Shirley Copperwhite and I design patterns for fabrics and lots more besides. Drawing and designing are my passion and I can’t imagine ever doing anything else! When I’m not in my studio I like to comb the beach for “unusual finds” or walk in the Dublin Hills which really are forty shades of green. Inspiration is everywhere!

I’m delighted to be featured on Camelot’s blog for the week. Thank you Camelot!

CF – What’s something you’re excited to tackle right now?

SC – I’m working on a new range of art prints & greeting cards right now, and also some new artwork for my upcoming range of homewares. New cushion designs on printed velvet are arriving right in time for Christmas along with some more printed handbags and silk scarves. I love applying my patterns to products and seeing them come alive. To see someone wearing a scarf or bag or fabric that I designed is beyond exciting for me! It’s hard to put it into words really.

CF – What’s the moment in your design career that was the scariest? The most rewarding?

SC – I worked in Graphic Design for a long time and for several companies, but it was very long hours and deadline driven with very short design times. I became disillusioned and unhappy with the whole industry and made the scary decision to leave. I had just bought my first house also. My heart was heavy every day trudging to work, doing work that was not me! Leaving and making the brave decision to work for myself was scary, risky and some might say stupid at the time but it was the best thing I ever did.

I reap the rewards every day. I only answer to myself and I’m free to follow my own creative vision now. Yipee! I have never been happier. This quote sums it up very well.

CF– How does your location inform the designs you create?

SC – I live in a beautiful part of South County Dublin. It’ s on the sea where we have two large marinas.  Two imposing Victorian lighthouses stand guard at the entrance to the harbour. Dunlaoghaire town was built in the reign of Queen Victoria during the English occupation of Ireland and is rich in period detail.

This year I had a joint exhibition with my sister and artist Diana Copperwhite. It was based on the town which informed all the works that we made for the exhibition. The architecture and the Victorian ironwork are plentiful as are the beautiful Victorian tiles that can be found all over the town.

When I think of it…my environment probably informs my work in ways that I might not even be aware of. Lots of things are subconscious!

CF – What inspired you to design your first collections for Camelot – Birds of Paradise and Spring Birds?

SC – Every year for the last 15 years I have travelled to the colourful island of Madeira. I first went there on holiday and fell in love with the place. It’s a paradise island of tropical flowers and plants. There is an abundance of birds also, which have inspired my first two collections for Camelot Fabrics. Birds of Paradise is actually the name of a very popular flower on the island. It looks like a bird. So I decided to name my first collection after this. A cable car trip to the village of Monte high up in the hills will inspire any artist or designer. You might need a head for heights though! My Spring Birds collection was inspired by all the birds which populate my garden along with the pretty wild flowers and seed heads. My garden is filled with inspiration!

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

SC – I love the drawing & doodling process, where my brain has a chance to run wild and do cartwheels onto the page via my pen! It’s not only very satisfying but also therapeutic. I work best when there’s something else less interesting I have to do, like my accounts! I love to fill notebooks with my pen and ink drawings as I use them to remind me of something I had thought of previously.

Very often I will plunder my sketch books for a new pattern or design and develop it on from there. My work is always hand drawn first and then developed digitally. I love using traditional and digital techniques together. I also love leafing through my Pantone colour swatch books, It reminds me of how I felt when I would get a present of a large pack of markers when I was a child. Happy simpler times!

CF – What is your creative workspace / studio like?

SC – My studio is a little creative oasis at the back of my house. It is behind a hidden panelled door just so at the end of the day I can close that door and it marks a line between home and work life. Otherwise my family would never see me! I have two children now which changes things a little.

I love to shut the door and this is then my world, my music, my workspace, my work. It’s filled with stacks of velvet cushions, boxes of silk scarves, and handbags as I have an online shop. I have a small packing area here too along with space to design.

It’s my creative place, filled with all the things I love! The coffee is good too.

See more of Shirley’s work around the web:

Collections – camelotfabrics.com/designers/shirley-copperwhite.html
Website – shirleycopperwhitedesigns.com

Instagram – @shirleycopperwhitedesigns
Facebook – @shirleycopperwhite