Bree Ellett

To give us a sense of you as a designer, what is your major and why?

Whilst I enjoy painting and drawing and printing, I also love working with form. Knit has an amazing versatility where you can work flat, but you can also develop textures and build structures. It is all about tactility. A fabric can have an entirely different handle and look if you just try a different yarn or work with a different tension or gauge.

 

“If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too" or so says Dr Seuss. How do you get started on a new project?

For me, starting a new project is all about research. Books, blogs, outings, it's all about gathering enough ideas to develop a theme. I am always on the lookout, always collecting, book-marking, photographing. I never leave the house without my camera, and you never know when that free postcard may spark an idea.

 

Bricolage is about using and utilising what you find to hand. What tools or techniques do you find you can’t help coming back to?

I find myself quite reliant on 2B pencils. I really can't go past them when it comes to sketching, annotating or drawing. A 2B has enough depth for a detailed illustration, but is also soft enough to draw lines to be erased later. It may not be an element you can often see in a final design, but it is an indispensable tool as my projects unfold.