Spring Art and the Joy of Growing Ideas

One of the best things about spring is how reliably it sparks a creative reset. The first few months of the year can feel like a whirlwind of planning and routine, but as the days grow warmer and the sky turns that unmistakable spring blue, something shifts. Creativity follows.

After months indoors, I start noticing my garden again. It’s usually the first sign that it’s time for a trip to the garden store, and the beginning of a new set of ideas.

Where Ideas Start (But Don't Announce Themselves)

Studio Breezes

It wasn't one perfect flower, but more of the way colors kept bumping into each other. 

Just like the flowers (and tomatoes) in my garden, ideas don't arrive fully formed. They grow.

I never pre-plan my flower garden. I decide when I get there, walking around and noticing what draws me in. Inspiration, for me, lives in observation. I've learned not to force it.

I tend to plant the same way I design a new pattern collection, starting with a color palette. Which colors keep catching my eye? Which combinations feel unexpected, but right? From there, everything else begins to take shape. My hanging baskets and pots become little groupings of color built around those first instincts. 

These moments, the ones you almost overlook, are often where the best color stories begin.

Inspiration doesn’t always arrive fully formed—it grows.

Color Palette Inspiration from Everyday Life

The Color Wheel

Some of my favorite color combinations don't come from a sketchbook or a screen; they show up in everyday places.

Of course, flowers are an easy starting point this time of year. There are rows of blooms, each brighter than the next, practically arranging themselves into palettes. It's color at its most joyful.

But lately, I've been noticing the same kind of unexpected color stories somewhere else, too, tucked between stacks of produce at the grocery store:

A bundle of radishes—bright pink against leafy green, with a hint of soft cream at the root.

Deep purple broccoli beside vibrant green leaves.

Tomatoes in every shade from coral to red, piled together like they were meant to be studied.

A "found palette" is not curated, and that is exactly what makes it so wonderful. These are color discoveries that catch you off guard, and that is where color magic happens.

The best color palettes aren’t always designed. Sometimes they’re discovered.

A few palettes that stuck with me

From Inspiration to Pattern Design

Paper Play

Over the years, I've learned to keep my camera close when I'm out and about. Inspiration doesn't always arrive on cue, and when it does, I like to be ready to capture small moments I can bring back to the studio later.

My latest pattern didn't start as a single idea. It grew out of a collection of little ones. I begin by turning those moments into sketches, the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper, letting things take shape naturally. From there, I refine them digitally, slowly building the design and bringing it to life with color.

Creativity often starts with something small enough to overlook.

My latest collection, Petal Pop, came together in exactly this way. It was inspired by a real-life palette I found while planting my own potted flowers, those pinks, oranges, and purples that kept catching my eye.

Somehow, those same colors made their way from my garden into my work. They became the foundation for my Petal Pop collection, a series of greeting cards and gift wrap designed to carry that same feeling of color and play into everyday moments.

The Joy Connection

This idea of "growing inspiration" is something I've been playing with lately. I share my summer garden color palette (and a tiny creative prompt) in this month's Joy Drop —you can explore it here.