Margo sits down with pattern designer, block-print artist, and the owner of BEENANZA, Bethany Andrews-Nichols. After graduating with her BFA in 2006, Bethany worked several graphic design jobs rounding out her corporate career as the Associate Creative Director for an in-house agency that supported several breweries in the U.S. In 2017, she took a trip to Jaipur, India to learn about the ancient art of block-printing. She was immediately HOOKED & that is where the BEENANZA story begins.
Margo and Bethany discuss:
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Listening to intuition and knowing when it’s time to step away from projects/jobs/etc
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How Bethany got into block printing
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Why should should actually mean no (i.e. I ‘should’ do x, y, z)
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Rediscovering oneself through creative practices
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Putting yourself and your art or interests out there
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Not being precious with your work
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The importance of community
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And so much more!
She often block-prints her highly graphic repeats to embrace the uniqueness inherent in the process. Whether the design stays a graphic repeat or becomes a block-printed mural, a hand-printed pattern on leather, fabric or paper, or a washi-tape repeat in her sketchbook, she believes the addition of pattern anywhere & everywhere helps add an element of humanity.
Connect with Bethany:
