DESIGNER PROFILE
Surface pattern designer Rae Ritchie has garnered a loyal following for her whimsical fabrics. A lover of flowers, ferns and star-filled skies, we spoke to her about her mission to capture the magical in the everyday
I think my artistic voice majorly stems from what I find interesting and, at the same time, comforting. My voice is always changing and evolving
Surface pattern designer Rae Ritchie has been transforming her vivid imagination into whimsical fabric designs for Dear Stella for the last few years. We caught up with the self-declared 'media junkie' to find out how she captures the magic in the everyday
Tell us about your creative journey. Being the daughter of a photographer/art teacher and a musician, I’ve experimented with many art forms from an early age. As a younger child, Mom always kept us busy with various projects, from clay jewellery and tie-dye to drawing and oil painting. As a young teenager I was obsessed with writing and performing songs, playing guitar, painting and sewing my own clothes.
At university I decided to study fashion design, then worked as an accessories designer for eight years. I made a lot of computer-generated art, however I missed the grounded feeling I got from creating handmade work. Quickly, I decided to leave my product design job for a more art-based venture, designing print and pattern for the textile and paper industries. A couple of years ago, I started adding more illustration work to my practice, and signed with my amazing illustration agent, Jennifer Nelson. Now, I create art everyday and it’s the most freeing period I’ve experienced in my professional life.
How has your artistic voice developed over time?
When I was a little kid, my dad would read a book to me every night before I went to bed. I think about that time a lot still, and remember the great stories and pictures that shaped who I am as an artist and a person. I love a lot of kids’ movies still – my all-time favourite is Henry Selick’s “Coraline”. It’s just really inspiring to me!
My obsession with the diversity of nature and the wonders of science are also a huge inspiration point for my work. There’s something very secretive about the nature of plants and animals that I just need to admire and capture. I think my artistic voice majorly stems from what I find interesting and, at the same time, comforting. My voice is always changing and evolving.
How did you go about becoming a designer for Dear Stella?
After I left my design job for freelance textile work, I knew I wanted to partner with a fabric company. I created a portfolio of four to five fabric collections, designed some cushions and quilts with them and sent the portfolio
over to the Dear Stella team. They reached out quickly, and expressed their interest. In a month or so, I had developed my first collection based on some existing work I had initially shown them, called “Cactus Bloom.” The stars really aligned with Dear Stella, and I love working with their amazingly kind and supportive design team. I am grateful everyday!
You studied fashion design at university – you must have a lot of sewing experience?
Yes! Growing up, I was inspired by my friend Kat to start making my own clothing. Back then, we didn’t have as many choices for clothing and it was sometimes hard to find the piece you wanted. So, my mom showed me how to do a straight stitch on her mother’s old Elna, and I was hooked! I made a lot of punkrock skirts, and experimented with screen-printing some of the items I made. I then decided to study fashion design at university, as well as attend a couture program in Paris. I sewed and sewed and sewed… My final semester, in preparation for my senior collection (a group of all white futuristic shift dresses) I probably got around four hours of sleep per night. Since then, sewing has been a bit of a sore subject! Although I do still have a machine that I use from time to time. However, I am very glad that I went to school for fashion, as it brought me to where I am today!
Describe your signature style.
I would say it’s vintage inspired with some American folk art influences. It’s feminine, but imperfect. In my mind, my inner space is a view looking out a starry window, and I like to go to that place when I create. Mainly, I describe my work as focused in flowers, ferns and star-filled skies, capturing the magic and wonder in the everyday.
In my mind, my inner space is a view looking out a starry window, and I like to go to that place when I create. I describe my work as capturing the magic in the everyday
What’s your process when it comes to designing a new collection of fabrics?
Many of my collections tell a story, and I think that’s what draws makers to them. I often start by looking back through my life, whether it’s somewhere I’ve travelled, an article I’ve read, a photograph I’ve seen, or a place I’ve made up, and I start from there. I collect photos of everything that inspires me, from an old seed package to a weird tattoo, and start making groups for a story.
Once I’ve collected enough photos and inspiration, I will draw a colour palette from them. Colour is incredibly important! It encapsulates the mood and feeling of the final collection. From there, I will send the mood board with colour to the Dear Stella team, along with a list of the prints I’d like to do (such as cats with flower crowns, or mermaids with tattoos). Once the team feels good about the direction, I’ll do pencil sketches of all the prints, and lay them out in rough repeats. Once these are approved, I go into final art and deliver the files in full colour. Sometimes I will paint everything in gouache, and sometimes I will do it digitally in Photoshop.
Since we’ve been working together now for three years, we have our process down pat!
Nature and animals pop up in a lot of your designs. What is it about nature that inspires you so much?
I love feeling really small in the universe, and I think my obsession with nature and its diversity is a reflection of that. It took millions of years for plant and animal life to evolve to what it looks like today and I find that exponentially fascinating. When you look at an orchid, you look at the many years it took to evolve, all the failed attempts made so this particular colour, species and type could flourish. Drawing inspiration from nature is an ever-giving well, because there always seems to be a
new plant to learn about, and new place to go.
Your late cat, Smeagol, has a small cameo in your Garden Sanctuary collection. Do you often hide personal, meaningful icons in your fabric designs?
I don’t usually add personal icons as literal as the Smeagol cameo, but I think when it makes sense, I’ll add it in if I think it will resonate with makers. In Smeagol’s case, I knew I wanted to have a pet wandering through the garden, and it made sense visually to have it be a black cat. He passed away shortly before I worked on that collection, so he was really top of my mind! I guess it’s hard to limit what I’d call a personal touch, because I feel like everything I make is tied to some personal experience or spark of interest to me on a deeper level.
Inspiration for your fabrics range from Marie Antoinette to carnivals, gardening to a ‘mystical childhood neighbour’… there really is no limit to what you’re inspired by! Do you ever run dry of inspiration?
That hasn’t really happened yet! I’m a real media junkie, so it seems like there’s always something new (or often old) to be inspired by. I think sometimes it isn’t that the inspiration’s run dry – it’s that you just need to organise it in your mind differently, or look at it through a new lens. If I’m feeling a little directionless, I’ll visit the Art Institute in Minneapolis, or the Russian Museum of Art, just a couple of blocks from my home. Minneapolis has many beautiful parks and gardens to draw inspiration from as well! I think a lot of it is just being a bit of a sponge, and picking up on inspiration when it passes by.
How does it feel when you see people sewing with your fabrics? This is one of my favourite parts of working in the fabric industry! I am amazed every time I see something that a maker has fabricated from my, or any, fabric. I always like seeing which prints they decide to pair together, couplings I had never thought of when making the pattern. That’s what’s so cool about making fabric. You make this thing, then someone else gives it another life in the final piece! It’s like I get to collaborate with all of the makers who use Rae Ritchie fabric.
Do you listen to music or podcasts, or watch TV while you work?
I live for podcasts, music and movies! My husband is a musician and music junkie, so we always have a record playing in our home.
I like a lot of comedy and infotainment podcasts, as well as macabre subjects. I love “Stuff you Should Know,” “Sawbones,” and “Lore.” I also love “The Judge John Hodgeman,” podcast, where he settles small arguments in Internet court. “Freakonomics” is really great for the analytical part of my brain! I’m a big YouTube watcher and subscribe to a lot of plant channels.
Sometimes when I’m colouring up prints and don’t need to heavily concentrate I'll watch movies. I love watching the original Disney “Alice and Wonderland” while working.
How would you spend your dream day off?
Early in the morning, I’d wake up and have a cup of black coffee in the back yard and hang out with my husband. We’d maybe talk about plans for the yard and do a little watering out there. I’d come in, water my indoor plants, then get ready for a bike ride down the Mississippi River Trail, heading south. On the way, I’d paint a flower that I’d never seen before. We’d travel north and stop in at the Bell Museum or Como Park Conservatory. We’d meet up with a few friends downtown and have dinner and a beer. We’d bike back in the moonlight then come home and watch “Coraline” with our cat. Simple, I know, but just how I’d like it!