About Lotta
Lotta Jansdotter is a self taught artist, designer, author, maker and teacher. She is known for her organic and stylish take on modern living and for the organic motifs that characterize her designs. Lotta has been creating her iconic Scandinavian print patterns and motifs since 1996 when she introduced simple, timeless home goods and hand screened textiles. She is the author of twelve lifestyle, travel and sewing books, and has collaborated with many stores, furniture designers, museums and makers all around the world. Lotta lives and work in Montclair, NJ in the US and spends summers back home with family and friends on the Åland Islands, Finland, where she was born.
“My process starts with an impulse, an inspiration, a spark. Nature has long been my muse, it grounds me. It was my playground as a child and still brings me joy and calm every day. I’m a visual explorer and see and find patterns everywhere, in a field of flowers on Åland Islands, at a bakery in Barcelona, or while walking around Manhattan.”
—Lotta
Creating for me is a very tactile and calming process. It’s a journey I take with my patterns, sometimes with a clear destination and sometimes where the wind takes us. For over two decades my tools have barely changed: cutting papers, painting with India ink, drawing with my black marker pen, creating shapes and motifs by hand, gluing it together with rubber cement.
It’s a method that liberates me, not chained to a computer screen but adrift with my shapes, creating patterns and prints by hand.
I want and need to be close my process. I want to experiment, to explore, to discover. I want to create limited collections, special editions, one-off artwork. I will continue to forge intimate connections with other artisans and makers and by returning to small scale production, I can control the sustainability and ethics of production.
