work hard, play hard...

Pulled out the paint brush last week and worked through a "creative block"..

It truly is the best way for me to brain storm.

I was anxiously waiting for Friday...TEDxDanubia. An all day event-20 presenters talking about their passions. Lots of breaks and networking opportunities, good food and a few surprises. If you every have an opportunity to attend a TED event, I highly recommend it. It gets you thinking outside the box.

Monday I was invited by a friend to a magnificent Heimann wine dinner at Abszint. The wine, the food and the company was a recipe for a perfect and tasty evening!

On Tuesday I ran some errands and decided to take a break, sit in the sun and enjoy a cappuccino with a friend. (and a delicious sour cherry retes!) Just for the record-I did head home and worked til midnight:)

Work and play, that is what I have been up to. I still cannot talk about the work part...top secret stuff! All I can say is it has been keeping me busy. In addition, I have been slammed with consulting work for a major retailer and it has been fun! The prints have been challenging...lots of layers and painterly techniques. I find it a refreshing break from my usual work and very inspiring at the same time.

So, what have you been up to? I know you are out there....I see you visit the blog and then sneak away....go ahead leave a comment:)

Silk Painting Lessons

I know I have said this before....it has been crazy over here. But it really has. I have all intentions of posting to the blog more frequently but the reality is that I just haven't had the time and I am at a spot with a few projects that I cannot share details until they launch...which is very soon. With all the work, I have been a bot stressed...until this past Sunday when three great kids arrived to paint, laugh and learn...

My awesome yoga instructor (Andrea) asked me a while ago if I could talk to her daughter and some friends about what I do for a living. We decided it would be fun to do a project with them. On Sunday, Zora, Hanna and Gege arrived for a silk painting lesson and casual chat about what I do for a living. I had so much fun. I think they could have stayed all afternoon painting larger images. Zora is convinced I should offer a "workshop" in the summer where they come back and we all sit outside in the garden and paint. This is not a bad idea...maybe a bigger painting?We will see.

Here are photos of the talented young artist hard at work.

We set up two "stations" to work at. Station 1: The practice area.

Below is Hanna practicing and Gege observing.

Zora, testing out the colors.

Station 2: Everyone hard at work on their final pieces. Gege is practicing the painting process.

artists hard at work

my great yoga instructor and dear friend Andrea and her daughter Zora

the artists and their masterpieces

from left to right: Gege (age 14), Zora (age 10) and Hanna (age 12)

Zora's art work was based on the 4 seasons.

Hanna's artwork is Hungarian folk inspired

Gege's inspired by geometrics and fleur d'lei elements

A big thank you to Zora, Hanna and Gege for coming over and sharing your talents with me!

Bonjour! in stores now!

Exciting news!

Bonjour! is in stores now! It is my third collection and I am very excited about this one. I worked very hard on making sure you could mix and match most fabrics from one color story to another. The colors are much brighter than I planned, but I like them!

You can find the full collection and all color stories at Hawthorne Threads!

If you are a store selling my collection, let me know and I will pass the info to my followers.

Bonjour! Cloudy Days color story

Bonjour! Autumn Leaf color story

Bonjour! Purple Haze color story

You can also learn more about where the fabrics are sold by visiting Anthology Fabrics.

If you have made anything with these fabrics, send me the details. I would love to post photos!

Press: True Up

Take a look over at True Up! I am in the "New Release Tuesday" post! Bonjour! will be out very soon!

Thanks True Up for the post!

looking up

Saturday I joined a group of people on an architectural tour of Budapest. It was 3 hours of walking around town looking up and noticing some beautiful architectural details. It was an amazing day with the sun shining bright and the buildings being lit up like on a stage. The one thing that I learned (that I should have maybe known) is that many buildings in Budapest have Zsolnay Pyrogranite Porcelain on the facades. In the last 1800's Zsolnay developed this material that has withstood ages of weather and war. I had no idea the amount of Zsolnay used on buildings in Budapest. As our guide Jeff pointed out, it is one of two things that Hungary has that no other European city can boast...the other being the thermal baths.

Enjoy the photos. And if your coming to Budapest and looking for a tour or you live in Budapest and want to learn more about our beautiful city, check out www.palstreettours.com.

The whole facade of this building is Zsolnay and it is amazing that it is still untouched from the past 100 years! Absolutely beautiful!

I love the folk details.

Below is what I imagine when I think of Zsolnay-the iridescent greenish ceramic.

One of my favorite coffee houses in Budapest-Art Nouveau cafe. While your sipping your cup-o-joe in the cafe, you are surrounded by old furniture of the secessionist period. You are pretty much sitting in the museum.

Notice the sunflower balcony-all Zsolnay.

The side gate at the Gresham Palace aka Four Seasons. If you click on the website you will see a huge Chiholy glass piece in the lobby. A bit of pacific northwest in Budapest:)

The Treasury Building

She looks like she could walk off the building.

One of the most beautiful and saddest buildings in Budapest. The inside is fit for small shops and cafe's. Unfortunately the busy street it sits on deters most people from appreciating it.

The men hanging out the window...more Zsolnay. Interesting to think that if these were made of plaster or concrete their heads would probably have fallen off by now.

I have been walking by the shop for years and I have always appreciated their crazy window displays-not to mention the inside is absolutely stunning! I had no idea that the facade was designed over 100 years ago for this very flower shop. Impressive-a successful flower business for over 100 years!

I always thought this was a boring building until the details were pointed out to me on Saturday.

The Great Synagogue. The second largest synagogue in the world (the first being in NYC). A beautiful building inside and out. I have taken photos before but this time I was appreciating the small details.

An old insurance building with an amazing rooftop. I love the beehives. I didn't notice the bee's on the corners until I was looking at my photos. I wonder what the significance is?

A touch of folk.

Random buildings I was photographing as we strolled around downtown.

Thanks Jeff for a great tour!