about

I’m Vanessa Waller, a pattern designer and illustrator based in Berkshire in the UK. Mondaland is my creative world, so called because Monda was something of a nickname of mine when I was a little person. As well as being a designer, I’m also being a mummy.
My blog follows my creative journey. This is where you will see my own work, occasional snippets of my everyday life, as well as things that I love or that inspire and fuel me along my journey.

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved to draw, paint, and cut things up, and so it seemed almost inevitable that on leaving school I would choose a creative route at University. I gained a BA (Hons) in Design Crafts where I specialised in printed textiles and multimedia textiles. On leaving university I worked in several non-creative (paying the bills) roles whilst I looked for my dream job as a designer. I had my first freelance piece commissioned at this time in the form of a greetings card design. I continued to work in non creative roles for a number of years until a point came in 2010 where I felt I needed to have a good go at following my dream, so left my well paid job at a well respected company and took myself on a course where I learned how to design digitally. These were the skills I didn’t have but felt I needed to continue along my creative path and perhaps be able to make some money doing what I love too. I sold my work through a couple of online shops and worked on the occasional freelance job alongside this until 2 years later when I became a mummy for the first time.

I now work part time, with my little person alongside me to distract and inspire me along the way. I am open to commissions and freelance projects so please do get in touch (via the contact page) if you like what I do and would like to work with me.

You can also find my work published in Print and Pattern Kids (Bowie Style).