From Photography to Surface Design: How Nature Inspires My Creative Process

For most of my life, I rarely went anywhere without a camera.

Whether I was traveling across the country, exploring a state park, visiting a botanical garden, or simply taking a walk close to home, my camera was always nearby. Over the years, that habit resulted in a collection of more than 50,000 photographs.

Many of those images are duplicates. Some are slightly different angles of the same flower. Others capture the same landscape under different lighting conditions. Some are close-up studies of texture, while others step back to reveal the broader scene.

Every so often, I set aside time to organize and clean up my photo library. What always surprises me is how often a photograph stops me in my tracks. A single image can instantly bring back memories of where I was, who I was with, what season of life I was experiencing, and even how the air smelled that day.

What may appear to be a duplicate photograph often tells a completely different story.

One image might capture the soft glow of early morning light. Another might reveal details in the bark of a tree that I missed at first glance. A third might focus on a single wildflower while the others highlight the entire meadow. Each photograph preserves a unique moment and a unique perspective.

Years later, when I discovered the world of surface pattern design, I realized that many of the things I loved most about photography translated naturally into design.

Photography taught me to notice details. Details that become patterns. Details that inspire color. More importantly, it taught me to pay attention to texture, color, contrast, shape, and composition. It encouraged me to slow down and observe the natural world more carefully. Those same skills now influence every collection I create.

Most of my designs begin with something I have photographed. Sometimes it's the delicate structure of a leaf. Other times it's the texture of weathered tree bark, the shape of wildflowers growing along a trail, or the colors found in a mountain landscape.

The goal isn't always to recreate the photograph exactly. In fact, I rarely recreate the photos.

Instead, I use those images as inspiration. A photograph may inspire a repeating pattern, a decorative motif, or a design intended for home décor products such as throw pillows, tea towels, fabric, wallpaper, and other items that bring a touch of nature indoors.

What I love most about both photography and surface design is that they encourage us to look more closely at the world around us.

The details that many people walk past every day—the veins in a leaf, the texture of bark, the movement of grasses in the wind, the colors hidden within a wildflower—often become the starting point for a new creative idea.

In many ways, my photography collection has become more than a library of memories. It has become an ongoing source of inspiration that continues to shape my work as a designer.

Every photograph tells a story.

Sometimes that story remains a photograph.

And sometimes it becomes a pattern that finds its way into a home.