I found myself very content and bursting with new ideas whilst shuffling around the Sonia Delaunay exhibition at the Tate Modern a couple of weeks back. This came as a surprise as not so long ago I decided that fashion and textile exhibitions weren't for me. I love looking at sketchbooks, reading about concepts and nosing around a working studio but viewing clothes in glass boxes just doesn't get my creative juices flowing! 

This exhibition however, was and is fantastic, each room unfolds to display new processes and mediums, there seems to be no end to Delaunay's visionary style and diversity. The show gathers momentum and, unsurprisingly, the highlight for me was a room which was more directed at her interest in fashion design and garment construction.

Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979), was a key figure in the Parisian avant-garde.

Fashion drawings lined the walls, she drew boldly and with conviction, much like she made clothes and printed fabrics. The room featured large scale hand prints on upholstery weight fabric and delicate silk screen prints. Sketchbooks were laid open to show insightful illustrations and colour palettes, and a wide range of quirky items of clothing were dotted about. 

That day I re-learnt the importance of journalling and collaging your ideas as they come to you, so often they sit stagnating in the back of my brain never formally being given the chance to develop and flourish. It's a process that works for so many projects and good intentions (not just design.) Go buy yourself a nice notebook and get jotting!

Have a nice day...