Kirsty Baynham
www.etsy.com/shop/prismofstarlings
53 // Kirsty Baynham is a designer from the West Coast of Scotland. She studied Illustration at the Edinburgh College of Art. Kirsty’s work is largely pattern-based, with an emphasis on the process of intricate patternmaking – both mathematical and design elements. Her designs are inspired by tessellations and symmetry, overlapping shapes observed in the natural world, and local wildlife. Photography is important to Kirsty’s research process. She enjoys documenting interesting patterns and visually striking ‘coincidences’ found in nature, and her imagery often encompasses geometric elements influenced by tribal textiles, mixing Aztec and Navajo styles with floral damasks. In the future Kirsty would like to work more with typography and explore other areas of design, including products and installations. She is also planning to explore new printmaking techniques and develop her illustration work across those different formats.
Design Heroes: M. C. Escher, John Furnival, Charles Wilkin
Black Tears
Kirsty’s illustrations primarily depict animal figures, which incorporate small, fantasy worlds within their framework. These hidden personalities symbolize ‘the character dualities which many living creatures possess’.
Dust & Silk
Kirsty’s images are first sketched using drawing inks and calligraphy pens, and then finished digitally. Here she uses triangles contrasted with paisley, leaves and feather-like scrolls.
We Cradle Hedgehogs
A patterned hedgehog, composed of intricate linear shapes, floral and leaf motifs, and a shell of geometric spikes.
Allegory
In this striking design, Kirsty uses detailed tribal-inspired geometric motifs within her illustration of a wolf, and frames the design with a diamond-patterned background.