Pattern | Janet Towbin

Patterns From an iPhone App

04/05/2014 | Comments: 2 | Posted by: JT | In: Art, Pattern, Photography

I have been having a lot of fun using an iPhone app called Mirrorgram. It makes snazzy mirrored patterns and mandalas from any photograph. What used to take me hours to create in Photoshop, I am now able to create with just a snap and a few swipes on my iPhone 5. Amazing!

Once I start playing around with the app, I find it hard to stop. It is as mesmerizing as a kaleidoscope–except you get to keep all the wonderful patterns you create. It makes the most quotidian objects you photograph really special. Below you will see mirrored images of a plastic grass drying rack, a striped jersey jacket and a ring on my finger.

Grass Drying Pad Mandala by Janet Towbin Plastic Grass Pad Mandala, 2014, Digital image taken with iPhone 5

Grass Drying Pad Mandala Dark by Janet Towbin Plastic Grass Pad Mirrored, 2014, Digital image taken with iPhone 5

Stripe Mandala 1 by Janet Towbin Striped Mandala 1, 2014, Digital image taken with iPhone 5

Stripe Mandala 2 by Janet Towbin Striped Mandala 2, 2014, Digital image taken with iPhone 5

Striped Mirror Image by Janet Towbin Striped Mirrored Pattern, 2014, Digital image taken with iPhone 5

Ring Bling Mandala by Janet Towbin Ring Bling Mandala, 2014, Digital image taken with iPhone 5

Ring Bling Pattern by Janet Towbin Ring Bling Mirrored Pattern, 2014, Digital image taken with iPhone 5

All images above were taken with my iPhone 5 and manipulated in the app called Mirrorgram.

Risk-Free Digital Collage

03/02/2014 | Comments: 3 | Posted by: JT | In: Art, How To's, Pattern, Photography

I’ve been intrigued by the prospect of making collages digitally and then manipulating them ad infinitum into mandalas and kaleidoscopic patterns. I am not sure where this creative exercise will take me, but I think there is a lot of potential in the images.

Like traditional collage, the first stage in creating a digital collage is deciding on the various sorts of materials to use. (So many choices, so little time!) I have mostly been using newspapers in my collage work and for this one, I have cut out a pattern in one sheet and layered it atop another. The layered papers were then photographed and uploaded to my computer. The first image you see below is the starting point in my process. I call that one the collage motif.

The next stage involved manipulating the collage motif in Photoshop. There is no glue, no wrinkling, no curling and no mess to contend with–which makes this a very satisfying way to create a collage.

I layered, mirrored and rotated the single motif into a mandala-type of image. It is a completely engrossing process to play around with simply because there are an infinite number of images one can create. The final image you see here was the last one I created (and one of my favorites) out of a total of 5 or 6 mandalas.

Looking for more traditional collages? You can see some of the ones I have actually glued in the Transfigured Times series.

I suppose the only downside to this technique is that there is nothing to frame or hold unless the images are printed. Which might just be the next step for me to consider.

risk-free 700 Risk-Free motif; 2014; Digital collage.

risk-free mandala diff 700 Risk-Free Mandala; 2014; Digital collage.

Vintage Gift Wrap

15/01/2014 | Comments: 2 | Posted by: JT | In: Inspiration, Pattern

I save a lot of odd things because they inspire me and like most artists, I am loathe to throw anything away. While going through some old files today, I came across a bunch of vintage gift wrap papers. I’ve been holding on to them for years. Some were bought new, years and years ago, while some from the 50’s (you can probably tell which they are) were found at a thrift shop. I wanted to share them because they are interesting; the designs and color palettes might just inspire you to create something wonderful.

Vintage Gift Wrap mosaic by Janet Towbin

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