What started as a fun way for local artist Shandra Smith to handle her chronic pain, is taking a big leap into the fashion world.

For the first time, her colourful, bold patterns will be shown at a fashion show in Paris, called Premiere Vision, Sept. 19 to 21.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 pretty excited about it,害羞草研究所� said the West Kelowna resident.

As part of a fashion collective, her designs will be sold at a show booth. Her dream, she said, will be to walk into a store one day and see her patterns as part of an article of clothing.

Smith started with surface designs, like with cell phone cases and wall art in Hotel Zed, before moving into fashion with .

害羞草研究所淭o me, (Paris) is the big leagues,害羞草研究所� said Smith. 害羞草研究所淚t feels good because you work hard as an artist and a designer害羞草研究所� so getting the pay-back in the end is what you want. It feels like things are coming together.害羞草研究所�

Smith is also stepping into the book world with her patterns.

Her first stencil books, called Scratch & Create, features 32 of her patterns underneath a scratchable surface. The books will be available through Amazon, Chapters and Mosaic Books Sept. 26.

Smith will be doing a meet-and-greet at Mosaic Books, Sept. 30 from 1 to 3 p.m.

A stay-at-home mom, she dabbled with design in high school and worked at the Kelowna Art Gallery when she was pregnant. But as an artist, she is self-taught.

At the gallery, she saw that art was accessible to everyone, and doesn害羞草研究所檛 require a degree.

害羞草研究所淚 basically have this notion of fooling around,害羞草研究所� she said, which allowed her bright, vibrant designs to flourish when she started creating them around 10 years ago.

But it害羞草研究所檚 not easy as she has to deal with health issues. Diagnosed with fibromyalgia, she said it has inspired her striking colours and unique patterns.

害羞草研究所淪ometimes I害羞草研究所檓 physically in a lot of pain and I can only work for 30, 40 minutes because my arms and shoulders are hurting, but this colour comes out of me and you forget about the pain for a while,害羞草研究所� she said.

However, there害羞草研究所檚 a silver lining.

害羞草研究所淚f I didn害羞草研究所檛 have this pain, I would害羞草研究所檝e gone out to a regular job,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淚t sometimes makes you quite down害羞草研究所� I find that colour kind of lifts me up.害羞草研究所�

She loves magenta, coming back to the colour in her work. Her process usually starts with playing with coloured paper from a dollar store, and inks.

After taking a photo of the pattern she created by hand, she mixes the design through Photoshop.

She uses YouTube to teach herself through trial and error.

Smith finds support from her daughter Zarya, 12, son Waylon, nine and husband Fergus Smith.

You can find her artwork on Hotel Zed害羞草研究所檚 walls, on bottles at Therapy Vineyards, on her website and through Instagram .