Textile Print Design by Stephie Ann, Brighton
The Story Behind My Textile Designs
Textile design is where creativity, storytelling, and craftsmanship meet. I create digital prints inspired by poetry, nature, and abstract influences like colour, pattern, and texture. Each design starts with a mix of watercolour paintings, photography, and graphics, carefully layered and refined before being digitally printed onto luxurious fabrics. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how I bring my designs to life into fashion, accessories and gifts.
Hammer Through Daisies – The Dylan Thomas Collection
Inspired by Dylan Thomas’ poem And Death Shall Have No Dominion, this collection explores love overcoming adversity. I began by picking flowers, submerging them in water, and freezing them overnight. The next morning, I sketched and photographed the flowers, capturing ice crystals and trapped petals. Then, with a hammer, I shattered the frozen flowers, attempting to destroy them—but even in their broken state, they remained beautiful, just like the love Thomas describes in his poetry.
That Tender Light – Inspired by Lord Byron
Inspired by Lord Byron’s She Walks in Beauty, this collection plays with contrasts—light and dark, purity and mystery. To recreate this, I filled a glass bowl with water, suspended white flowers inside, and dripped black ink through them. As the ink swirled around the petals, I captured the movement through photography and paintings.
The Great Outdoors – Inspired by Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë’s poem Pleasure paints glorious images of nature. I wanted to capture this feeling using landscape photography from two breathtaking locations—the Lake District and the Dolomites.
The Luna print features a hot air balloon rising over the Lakes, with flowers in the foreground. The Colfosco design showcases a dramatic mountain peak surrounded by soft floral details, with a hidden ski chalet nestled within. Each piece blends my photography and oil paintings, combined in Photoshop to create depth and texture.
Beyond Poetry: Exploring Pattern, Colour & Texture
Not all my prints are inspired by poetry—some come from a love of colour, pattern, and texture.
Pressed Flower Hot Water Bottle – I carefully pressed flowers, photographed them, and arranged them into intricate compositions. I then blended the flowers with watercolour paintings to create this delicate design.
Pink Marble Tote Bag – Swirls of colour and fluid patterns inspire this design, which is printed onto fabric and used as the lining of a reversible tote bag.Oil Paint Silk Scarf – I paint streaks of vibrant colour, capturing the shine and depth of the paint through photography. The result is a bold, textured print, perfect for a statement silk scarf.
