In the newest edition of our Meet the Designer series, today we introduce to you Patricia Donovan (Chickoteria), an artist who captures the vintage designs and color palettes from her home base of Nashville, Tennessee. Keep reading to see what inspires this Spoonflower designer!

Chickoteria Spoonflower designer Patricia Donovan

My day starts with …
Kissing the husband, arguing with the cat, brewing serious coffee, and then designing…
Spoonflower designer Patricia Donovan Chickoteria
Patricia’s studio
Chickoteria Spoonflower designer Patricia Donovan
Birds Nests White by Chickoteria
I fell in love with design when …
I watched my grandmother knit a pair of argyle socks. Two sticks and some sheep’s wool and you get a pair of socks! It was love at first sight.
Trees & Elf by Chickoteria created in Inkscape
Trees & Elf by Chickoteria created in Inkscape
What’s in your toolbox?
“Adobe Photoshop CC/Illustrator, Blender 3D and Inkscape. I love Inkscape. It’s a free  vector program and it takes time to learn, but it’s powerful. All my Christmas designs were done using Inkscape.  And I’ve finally gotten a Wacom “Pen and Touch Medium” tablet…love it!”
When I’m in my studio, I feel…
Content.
Who or what influences or inspires your work and why?
Maira Kalman…great color, drawing and humor
Charlie Harper…wonderful illustrations of animals and nature
Mark Herald…terrific sense of motion in his textile designs
Lucienne Day…she was one of the best textile designers from the mid 20th Century
The Whales Reunion
The Whales Reunion by Chickoteria
My favorite small business shops include…
Sandra Eterovic, Karena Colquhoun, Alabama Chanin, and Ana Ventura.
Chickoteria Spoonflower designer Patricia Donovan
Deco Mermaids (aqua) & Orange Toile by Chickoteria
If I could live in a painting, I would live in…
Florine Stettheimer, ‘Picnic at Bedford Hills.’ She was a terrific painter in the early 1900s in New York City. Very colorful and lively.
painting
My favorite Spoonflower fabric to work with is…
I like texture, so I really love the Linen Cotton Canvas Ultra. I just got some of the Sport Lycra and I think it’s pretty fabulous too.
Pink Toile by Chickoteria
Pink Toile by Chickoteria
I’d love to see one of my designs turned into a…
Actually, I loved to seeing my design ‘Chattanooga Toile’ used as upholstery in a cream colored Volkswagen.
The secret to a strong collection is…

to be yourself.

Spoonflower designer Chickoteria

 Patricia also wanted to share that she has a “Learn How to Sew” board on her Pinterest site, might be useful for designers trying to learn how to make clothes and products to sell. She also just discovered a really nice piece of software called Krita, it’s a free sketching and painting program. She shared, “I think if someone is just starting to design and is on a budget, it might be a great tool to try, it has some great features.” Thanks Patricia!