Interferences

I was given a project to work on. Create a piece of art inspired by Bela Bartok. I had fun with this project and created something a bit different for me... click here to see what I came up with...or...

Stop by Eventuell on Sunday at 17:00 for a fun evening of live music, art and celebration! The exhibiton can be seen from October 4-11, 2009.
Interferences: An exhibition of textile designers inspired by the music of Béla Bartók and Lucano Berio
Opening reception: October 4 17:00
Musicians: Eszter Krulik and József Rácz ( violinists )

Designers:
Hedvig Harmati, Krisztina Jung, Diane Kappa, Kinga Kónya, Rita Halasi,
Réka Molnár, Gábor Munkácsi, Bernadett Páger, Emília Pájer,
Andrea Szarka, Szilvia Szigeti

This exhibit is different from the exhibition on October 17.

one million busy spiders

I came across this fascinating article today! Spiders making silk-one million spiders to be exact! The golden color is the natural color of the spider silk. Click here to read the full story on NPR. I highly recommend reading the full article.

It is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. (I will be in New York in January...you can bet that I will be heading over to the museum to check this out!)

Save the Date!

Eventuell Gallery
OCTOBER 17, 2009
Opening Reception 18:00

I am having my first exhibition here in Hungary! I have been working on a new series of wall hangings. If you have been reading past posts you will have seen the process and progress.

If you are in Hungary, please come by Eventuell gallery on October 17 at 18:00 for the reception.

silk artist: Andrea Szarka

Tuesday night I went to an exhibition of a friend of mine, Andrea Szarka. She is a very talented Hungarian artist who paints, prints and batiks silk. She studied in Indonesia where she further perfected her silk techniques. I wish I could explain her process...I am pretty sure it is a little different than mine. The exhibition was packed with people and her art was breathtaking! I am very inspired by her work.

One day I would love to sit down with Andrea and ask her about her art and inspiration.
Until then enjoy these photos from the exhibit!

Andrea and MeThis is my favorite piece!

something a little different

I was asked by Eventuell Gallery to submit an art piece inspired by Bela Bartok's music. They have asked 15 artists to submit work that fits the dimensions of 70cm x 70cm. The pieces will be hung together on October 4. There will be an opening with musicians playing Bartok. I think this is a very clever idea!

Did I mention you are invited to attend the event! As I get more details I will post them on the blog. All I know for now is it is October 4 at Eventuell Gallery.

I really enjoyed working on this piece. It was challenging and pushed me to try something different. I wanted a design that illustrated the fast & slow rhythms as well as the complexity and space of Bartok's music. What do you think?

need your help again.

A few posts ago I asked for your opinion on some notebook designs. This worked out better than I expected. I had more comments on facebook and this blog than I expected. The results led me to change a design and rethink some things. Now, I am back asking for your input again.

I have designed 8 cards. I want to sell packs of 8 (4 designs/2 of each design). I will sell these on Etsy as well as local craft shows in Budapest. So, below are photos of the designs. Comment and let me know your thoughts on the designs, the colors, any advice is appreciated. And remember, everyone has an opinion and everyone is a consumer.

A.

B.
C.D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I will be going to the print late next week. I look forward to reading your comments.

...now time to start on x-mas cards....

great times in belgium

I am back from a long weekend in Belgium. What a great time exploring an exciting country with close friends!

Enjoy the photos.

lets eat and have a beer!

black and white Brussels

I decided to play around with building color palettes from the photos below...what do you think?

Bruges and Brussels

Bruges

hello for brussles!

A quick hello to say we are having a great time and I can not wait to show you the photos I have taken! Today we are heading to some local craft fairs and markets and maybe a little beer tasting! I hope to get some yummy photos of food and local artist work. Check back in the next few days. For now here is a photo I took in Bruges. What a cute little town! I love it! It feels like Netherlands meets England!

Me and Steve

thank you!

Thank you for your help! This worked out better than I expected. Based on the results from this blog and my facebook page I will be dropping the geo design C & E and coming up with something different. C & E received the less votes. Ironically, they are the same design in different colors. So, I think this means it is the design that is weak not the colors.

I am heading back to the drawing board to design something new.

For those interested, A had the most votes followed by B, F and G. So stay tuned. Once I finish the card line I will be asking for your help again!

A B

F G

PS. I am getting ready to visit friends in Brussels! I am very excited! I will have WIFI so hope to post some photos from there.

need your help...

I have been stuck. Stuck in a creative whirlpool. Swirling and changing my mind over and over. Designing and redesigning. Thinking too much! ...over-designing. I miss the constructive criticism, the feedback and the brainstorming I once had when working with other creatives in a company.

I have been designing a line of cards and notebooks. I found a printer and am going to have 50-100 of each design printed. I think this is what has thrown me into this rut. I have to commit to a design...and I have to pay for that commitment....what if I choose the wrong design? The wrong color? If I choose the wrong design, I am stuck with 50 of something that I won't be able to sell.

So, I ask you, yes you. Please help me! Please comment on what notebook designs you think I should sell. Which ones should I print? Should I change the colors? I need some feedback. I don't care if you are a designer or not. Everyone is a consumer...would you buy any of these?

I can print 4-5 designs.

A.B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

I think I will sell individually and in sets of two (except for the bird design...still working on another design to go with this.)

Please comment and choose your 4-5 favorite designs and send me any comments you have on how I can improve the designs.

PS. You should not need a Google account to comment. Just choose anonymous.

The Croatian Museum of Naive Art

Ivan Rabuzin

One of my favorite museums is The Croatian Museum of Naive Art. It is a small (3 room) museum with fabulous art by self taught artists. The colors and techniques are so fabulous I always leave with an urge to paint! My favorite technique is when the artist paints oils onto glass. The glass is flipped so what you see is technically the back of the painting. I do not know what this technique is called and I do not know what other artists use this style of painting. If you have any other info please share!

Steven and I discovered this museum in 2003 during our honeymoon in Croatia. We both fell in love with the art so much that we went to a nearby gallery and purchased a print by one of the artists in the museum. It is a fantastic piece that is signed and stamped by the artist himself! It is by Ivan Generalić. When we moved we left all of art back in Ohio. I wish I had a photo of the print. It is absolutely beautiful!

Ivan Lackovic Croata
This is painting is similar to the print we bought.Mijo Kovacic
note the reflection-this is painted on glass

Dragan Gazi
painted on glass

Slavko Stolnik

painted on glass

Now onto the artist that took my breath away during this trip! Ivan Rabuzin! I bought a book where his art has been described as "to the curse of the prevailing chaos, alienation and disaster he opposes harmony, the bliss of peace, the state of grace and the sense of happiness." I completely agree! His pieces have inspired me so much. I love the simplicity of the subjects but the details within the painting. My friend commented that he must have gotten board painting all those little strokes. I completely disagree. I imaging it was a very meditative process. What do you think? If you click on the image it should enlarge so you can see the details.

Ivan Rabuzin

The friends we were traveling with were staying at the Sheraton in Zagreb. They told me we had to come by and take a look at what was behind the front desk....look at the size of this painting! Absolutely stunning!
After our visit to the museum, Steven and I were talking about art. He asked me if I thought it was difficult to find my style, my niche. I think so but I think most people would consider me an illustrator, not an artist in the traditional sense. I don't know if an artist can recognize their style? Any thoughts? Also, I think it benefited these artist not to have formal training....they had no box to create in. By being self taught-they were never told limitations of media or technique. Do you agree?