About me

Santiago – Chile

Hi! I'm Mónica

I’m a surface pattern designer and illustrator from Chile — self-taught, a little obsessive about detail, and permanently juggling more ideas than hours in the day. I speak English and Portuguese; I spent four and a half years growing up in Rio de Janeiro, and the color, the tropical exuberance, and the rich craft traditions of Brazil have never really left my work.

My creative journey didn’t start where I expected. I always dreamed of studying Fine Arts, but life had other plans: I married Pablo at a young age, we had twin boys (our first!), and before I could go back to finish my design degree at Universidad Católica, I was already expecting our third child — then a fourth, then a fifth.

Oil on canvas · 2003–2018

2012 at oil paint classes

Two decades of raising kids later, I finally circled back to my passion.

In 2003 I rediscovered oil painting and spent fifteen years channeling every creative urge onto canvas.

2020 – Watercolor beginner

Then in 2018, I got my first iPad — and it was love at first sight. Procreate opened a whole new world, and by 2020 I was creating my first surface patterns. I love working both digitally and traditionally.

I tend to gravitate toward flowers, birds, and anything with a vintage or Morris-inspired feel, but I’m equally drawn to geometric work, children’s designs, and quiet, subtle blenders that complement a space rather than compete with it.

Spoonflower challenges have pushed me into styles I never would’ve explored on my own, and I’ve grown to love how much a good blender can make a collection sing.

Fair warning: I have ADHD (the inattentive kind), so I get bored fast, I chase shiny ideas, and I’ve left a few projects half-finished in my wake. But when something truly clicks — like patterns, or building websites, or creating Photoshop smart objects mockups at 1AM — I go all in.