Emma Frances Designs: The beautiful work of Lily Reilly of Petal to Petal!

It has been a while since my last post and I have been meaning to post loads of interesting things on the run up to Christmas but December is a bit mad in my part time job so I've not had much time to myself! Looking forward to the 23rd when I'll be 'Driving home for Christmas'!

I have the pleasure of featuring the exquisite work of Lily Reilly of Petal to Petal. She has such an intricate style that is gorgeous to look at up close and from afar. At first you don't realise the amount of detail she puts into her work but when you actually take her drawings in they are truly beautiful works of art.

A little about Lily and how she became interested in surface pattern design:

As far back as I can remember, I have always been drawn to detail and when I was 11 years old a family friend introduced me to the work of Charles Renne Mackintosh. His work has had a huge influence on me and from there I found out about other artists such as William Morris. I loved the whole ethos of the Arts and Crafts Movement. A quote by William Morris really stuck with me- "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. " It just made so much sense to me. And isn't that the aim of a Surface Pattern Designer- to make the world a more beautiful place.

What about your creative journey, your style and what inspires you?

I studied Design Communication and then trained as an Art and Design teacher, both at Crawford College of Art and Design in my hometown, the beautiful Cork City in Ireland. Soon after I started studying, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and began exhibiting and selling my artwork. This year I moved to Berlin with my boyfriend and started studying Rachael Taylor's course 'The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design'. The subject matter of the patterns I design is primarily quite feminine- I love to work with florals, hearts and other positive imagery that I hope will make the world a prettier place.

My style is quite intricate and I use a lacing pattern that I have coined 'flowerbomb' in a lot of my work. I particularly love working in monochrome and just concentrating on the shapes and detail of a pattern.

I am inspired by so many different things- the stunning classic designs that the greats have left behind, work by talented designer friends and established designers today, the seasons and patterns in nature, trend boards and blogs. Living in this city, you can't really go anywhere without getting inspired. I work from home so it's good to get out of the apartment (especially if my kitten Poppy is in a hyper mood!). The area that I live in is jam packed with lots of beautiful little shops and cafes and I like nothing more than to disappear to a cafe and sit drawing for hours, accompanied by some creamy Cappuccinos!

What about the future?

I have so many hopes and dreams for the future. I hope that I can keep making work that brings happiness to people, and that I can make a career out of this. I am currently working on building up a strong signature collection and hope to find agent representation to develop the licensing side of my business. I am also open to commissions and love collaborating with other creatives.

Who knows if being named after a flower has something to do with my love of florals!