I’m the creative “directresse” behind my beloved Pesky Cat Studio. I never meant to be anything else but a musician. At least that was my path and therefore my education was in music. I played classical piano and saxophone from early childhood and for a long time the path ahead felt straightforward — keep practicing, keep performing. I even got a scholarship to study Jazz Performance at Webster University in St. Louis, MO. It was truly life-changing for me.

Later on though, I realised I didn’t really want any of the music life after all, so I needed to find a new direction. I fell off the creative horse completely and fell into working for large corporations, planning forecasts and demand. Even though I met some amazing people along the way, I have to admit - I was NEVER SO BORED in my life. It was numbing. I decided something had to change or I will be stuck there forever. I tried Make-Up Artistry (and was pretty good at it). I was almost desperately searching for that creative outlet that will also bring me and my family a good life.

I began drawing again, just like in high school: portraits, still life, and studies of nature. Eventually I discovered tattooing, which was exhilarating for a while. I just started apprenticing in a tattoo studio in the Netherlands, when Covid arrived and closed the doors on my plans once more. I never got back to it.

Shortly after, I got pregnant with our second son. I remembered thinking: what if I could turn all the illustrations I did when I was tattooing, all the roses and flashes, into a fabric I could use for kids’ clothing? I was playing with Illustrator and Photoshop to see how I can make it work digitally. At that point I was INVESTED. I remember coming across Spoonflower around that time too and even submitting my design for a challenge/art call (that design DID NOT seamlessly repeat AT ALL, by the way ;-). So I was digging some more, teaching myself how to create seamless patterns. I absolutely caught a surface pattern design and illustration bug!

In late 2023 I won a wallpaper design competition for Ayara Home, and after that, as people like to say, the rest is history.

Me and my family live on the outskirts of Rotterdam in Netherlands. It has been a rocky road, adjusting to a new country and new people, but we are making it day by day. There has been times where I almost threw in a towel and called it quits, but here I am, still, trying to make this world a prettier and less beige place through my patterns.

Join me on this ride!

xx

Eve