design project: Europe2You

I am so excited to be able to share with you one of the projects I have been working on. I have been working with Stacy Borocz from Europe2You on designing a collection of Suzani inspired plates. She will be launching these new designs next month at the The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market. I can not wait to hear the feedback from her clients!

The pizza plate on an antique trivet.

I have a true appreciation for what Stacy does. She works with potters on the countryside, using traditional methods and molds, tweaking the designs to be more modern for her contemporary customer. Her strong creative vision mixes old and new so well it is hard to tell one from the other.

The below photo is my plate design mixed with some of Stacy's antiques.
I think they look great together. What do you think?

The below plate is a sample the potter made.
He took my designs but only did the line work. I think it works.

Below are some other pieces that Stacy sells. The idea behind the "Suzani" plates is that they can be mixed and matched with her existing collection. Think of them as great accent pieces!
To see more of what Stacy offers and to see photos of the factory, visit her website at www.europe2you.com. You can also become a fan on Europe2You's facebook page. Click here to become a fan.

PS. Stacy is going to let me tag along on one of her next factory visits. I will be sure to take photos of the process and post them here!

new website is LIVE!

Finally, after 2 years of procrastinating, months of planning and weeks of tweaking, my new website is up!

A little background on the process...it is hosted in the USA, it was designed in Hungary and developed in Estonia! Rene (my amazingly patient web developer) and I never meet face to face to talk about the site. Everything was done via email and Skype. This is a true testament to the fact that you do not need to be located in the same town, state or even country to work on a project successfully.

Thank you Rene for all your help and patience!

Click here or on the image below to get to my new site!

Expat Careers in Budapest: Diane Kappa

Check out my interview with Expat Echo!

my summer studio

The weather has turned from rain and cold to sun and warmth. I am so grateful! Tuesday I could not bring myself to sit indoors in front of my computer....so, I moved it outdoors. In the morning it was coffee, laptop and emails and a blog and then the afternoon was paints, magazines and roses in bloom. Our flat is small but it is perfect! Who can pass up a private rose garden?

our garden and my summer studio in full bloom

being inspired by leaves and roses

looking up...hmmm could this be a print in the works?I took loads of photos of the roses but the reds always loose their definition.
If I turn the photo to black and white in Photoshop it looks pretty good. Does anyone have any photo advice on how to photograph reds?

colors & textures - rust & decay

Recently, I have become really drawn to artwork with texture. It started with fine art and collage. I have seen this trend becoming stronger and stronger-or maybe I am just hyper aware since I love it. I love the colors, the depth, the layering.

I do not know the artist to the painting below.

If you have info on who this is, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

Claire Basler. I love her work. If you haven't been to here website you must check it out!

I started using textures in my own digital artwork and I am craving to try an oil painting where I can experiment and let loose. I will keep you posted on this.

For me and my digital work, textures add depth and interest to what would have been pretty flat artwork. However, I am always struggling with creating the textures, making them look interesting and spontaneous.

Well, two weeks ago Steven and I spent a few days with friends in a small town in Hungary called Döbrönte. We took a walk around town (which was a pretty short walk since it is a really small town) and I found some great inspiration. Check out the images below.

Closeups of houses and buildings. I really like the colors.

The colors of rust and decay-who thought they could be so beautiful!
I love these old buildings-they are everywhere in Hungary.
I can totally visualize a wonderful garden and a cute little
table and chairs. The gate - I would not change a thing. The colors are fantastic!

Feels like something I would see in Mexico.

What kind of trends are you seeing in the art world that are over flowing into the design world? Any prediction? Do you have any artist you recommend I look into? I would love your opinion.

color boards and inspiration

Finally finished. 18 months of magazines, tearing out all the images and articles I like and then compiling them onto pages for my inspiration book. I return to this book when I am creatively stumped or am needing some color inspiration. I guess I am feeling a bit that way now and thought this would help.

Magazine tears waiting to be sorted. This stack is about 2cm high-lots of images.

Below are 3 of the 22 pages I put together.

What do you do when you are creatively stumped? Do you have a routine or something that helps motivate you? I would love to hear you thoughts. I am always looking for advice on how to get the creative juices flowing.

whoMi?

Sorry I haven't been around in over a week. I think I jinxed myself with the last post....it has been raining nonstop. Grrr....

On a brighter note...I thought I would let you see a little project that has been in the works. Madison Park Group (who owns Ipop-my magnets) now owns whoMi. WhoMi is a line of agendas, calenders and note pads. My friend Khristian Howell sent me these photos from the NY Stationery Show.

I had not seen the products yet but I knew they were in the works! How exciting is this! Thanks Khristian for being my eyes!