Artist Showcase-18.... Silvia Raga

Hello dear friends,

          Today I would like to introduce a wonderful paper-cut artist--- Silvia Raga.

 Silvia was an illustrator of textbooks and fictionbooks for children for over 10 years. She is now working as an illustrator, graphic designer, crafter, papercut artist. She is a self-taught photographer too! She is based in Italy. In her very own words,'' I love nature, crafting, fun, friendship and, of course, paper...''

A peak into her life and work, and some secret tips about her fabulous paper-cut techniques too...
Enjoy !

How would you describe yourself ?
This question always makes me a smile ... I like not to take myself too seriously!
I am optimistic, positive ... I like to dream, but I can also be concrete. I'm curious, and I love to learn and learn new things.

 What do you like to do when you are not doing any new project ? 
When not working I like to browse and read books, cooking, make sweets with my kids or spending time with them outdoors, take care of my plants, walking with my husband .
I like traveling and getting lost in the streets of a city.

Describe your style ? 
My style .. is a bit difficult to define, because I like many things, often conflicting with each other ...! Then I would call an eclectic style! I have a very infantile side, is the most colorful and tender, which translates with simple and synthetic shapes. I have a very feminine and hyper decorative side... I'm always searching for my style, to try to blend in an image all of these aspects of my personality.

 What's your favorite color ?
I love the colors and I like different colors ... Maybe alternate depending on my mood or the change of seasons! So now I like the combination of white-grey-pink-orange ... But I also love aqua, emerald green next to the lime green! And as if the color would send me an emotion, so I choose my colors also based on the feeling that I want to try looking at a picture!

 When did you get the idea that 'paper cutting' was the thing you love ?
The paper I've always liked ... I love all that is paper: magazines, books, stationery, greeting cards, wrapping paper ... When I was a child I loved to cut, paste and draw. I have cultivated this passion in school and then in the work by children illustrator, but mainly done digitally.
So, after so many years I felt a strong need to re-use the hands, to make a drawing that I could touched with the fingers ... Through the internet I have met many artists who use paper as a medium, and I quickly realized that for me that was the way to go! I was very fascinated by paper cutting, by its elegance, and I thought: "I want to make these wonders!"
And so I started!

 Anything you want to share to your readers about setting up his/her own business ?
Work on their own has many positive aspects, including flexibility, and the ability to carry out  new projects ... However, it is also important to set rules! For example, to better organize the time, devote a part in the promotion of what you do, set goals to be achieved, however, always be critical of their own work without mortification.
Be patient and above all, be yourself!

Who is your dream client ?  
I do not have a name of a specific client with whom I want to work ... But my dream would be to illustrate a book with paper cutting!

Tell us a bit about your biggest challenge in your career, and the way you handled it ?
The biggest challenge of my career was to leave for a year my profession illustrator of children to start from scratch with something new and never before experienced. Some days my thought was: "Why did I do, will do some good all this?" And I felt a little crazy for leaving my secure job for something so uncertain. I worked a lot and I still needed to reach my goals, but in the meantime now I know what makes me happy!

 Your greatest inspiration is ?
My greatest inspiration is nature, always! Pattern of leaves, berries, organic shapes, flowers! Aww, the flowers, I love them so much!

 How would you describe your work place  ..?
My workspace is a small room with a large table and a wall full of books! I like the order, but when I work I find myself inundated with cardboards and sheets of various kinds ... To which are added the designs of my children!
It 's a space full of objects, memories, is a place for me essential.

Where can people contact you ? 
Here there are
 my blog

my shop

my twitter

my facebook page

my instagram

and my flickr

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Thanks Silvia for sharing such delicate paper-cut artworks!!!

See you all next week! Enjoy your weekend...

Christmas,once again !!!

Hello,

          What comes in your mind when you hear the word CHRISTMAS ???

Snowflakes... Ginger bread cookies... SANTA... Red-nose Reindeer... Sledge... Stockings full of yummy goodies... CHRISTMAS TREE, with a bright shiny STAR... Lights... Candles... Cakes... SNOW... Gifts... !!!

Anything left in this list...??? Yes Christmas Carols and you, yes, YOU... enjoying each and every moment of it ...isn't it ?

Next week will be some doodling and Christmassy patterns !!!

Stay tuned...

Coasters !!!

Hello,


               New coasters in my   Bespo .... store !!!

In my last blog post I posted my new cushions on Bespo... Hope you like these home products !

Have a fantastic weekend !

Cushion Bazaar !!!

Hello Friday,

           Yesterday I updated my BESPO store with some new products... Polka dots, in bright and beautiful backgrounds.

You can purchase these cushions from  BESPO

You can visit the store for more products like placemat and coasters too !

Enjoy...

Blooming !

Hello,

           My new artwork --- 'Tree of Love'. You can get it from Modern Mural ...

Any other Christmas wishes... hmm..???

See you all !

Artist showcase-17 ... Julia Grifol Designs

Hello dear friends,

          My new artist/designer is Julia Grifol, from Valencia, Spain... She works as a freelance designer and sell patterns to companies in the home and fashion industries.
In her own words,''... I’ve developed children’s fashion collections, textile prints, and graphic projects in the Fashion and Stationery fields, specifically for the children’s market for both Spanish and international brands...'' !!!

Please read more about her in this lovely interview :


 How would you describe yourself ?
Well as a woman, I think I am active, very emotional, affectionate, sociable, expressive, nothing to do with a quiet and introverted one. The topic of a Spanish woman, or Mediterranean woman as a passionate one, it suits me! I am a woman with strong character too, I think.


What do you like to do when you are not designing ?
oh, in my free time I like watching fashion magazines, goggling looking for trends,  so in some way this is related to work too. I love to be with my family, and my twins who are 12 now. I love watching independent films also and going for walks on the beach in winter and in summer, as we have a nice weather here! Anyway, designing and promoting my work is stealing all my free time nowadays, as it is an addiction for me!

 Describe your style?
My style is a little naïve, childish, detailed, and highlighted by the use of cheerful and bright colors. I love outline my icons in black or using coloured strokes. All my patterns are vectors.

What's your favorite color?
 In my designs I love using magenta , and I love black on fashion. I wore lot of black clothes when I was younger and now I am feeling like wearing more coloured ones!


Tell us about your first collection and your first show? After finishing my fashion design studies, my project of designing a fun children fashion collection was selected and I received a grant for the Impiva, a Supportive design organization which promoted Spanish young designers. So, this collection was shown in my own stand at the FIMi, international children fashion fair in summer 1990. It was a great time sharing experiences with other selected designers, and to show my designs as clothes.



 When did you get the idea that 'designing' was the thing you love? 
Since I was a girl at school I felt the necessity of drawing every day. My teachers gave me lots of reprimands as my text books were plenty of fashion sketches. My best marks were always at drawing! I usually played to believe I was a fashion designer who works in New York. I had a strong vocation!

Anything you want to share to your readers about setting up his/her own business?
 It is very important to study hard, to have artistic and computer skills but for being a freelance designer is also very important to work your mind, your thoughts.  Feeling confident and proud of your work will make you know to sell it best and not to lose opportunities.  Thanks to God, I am much confident now than 15 years ago, as I had lots of doubts! Designing can be very stressful when you work for customers or brands as they think you can design everything. It is very important to be a determined person, and I am trying to be like that now!

Who is your dream client? 
I designed school rucks collections for years, and I love children product. I would love to license my patterns for a nice and quality fashion children company now. I hope this dreams comes true soon.

 Tell us a bit about your biggest challenge in your career, and the way you handled it?
 I think my best challenge has been to work as a freelance for about 25 years, designing for several brands adapting to the style required, not having worked in anything else. I only worked for nearly two years as an inside designer for a brand designing patterns for belts and suspenders.


 Your greatest inspiration is .... ?
It comes from everywhere, art, nature, travels, fashion, Spanish light, and way of life (we love going out ) inspires me a lot. I can´t stand cold and rainy days, they don´t inspires me at all!

 How would you describe your work place..? 
It is a small room with Ikea office furniture, and it is a mess. But I feel very comfortable and happy in my own space, having a big table for hand painting and a desk for my computer on the other side! It is great I can see trees and a shiny and blue sky from my big studio window.


 Where can people contact you? 

I am an active Facebook user,   https://www.facebook.com/JuliaGrifolDesigns?ref=hl   and I am a blogger also!! You can see my works here too :  http://www.juliagrifoldesigns.com

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Thank Julia... Love your bright and beautiful  patterns so much...

I love butterflies !

Hello,


          Do you love butterflies...? Yes, I love them too !!!

My 'butterflies' on the coffee mugs--- from Society 6 !

Enjoy !

coffee mugs !

 Hello,

 Since Society 6 has introduced new mugs, I've started loving my coffee more than ever !!!


Enjoy your coffee with these bright coffee mugs ........ Yippeeeeeeeee...

See you all very soon !

Floral wall art print !

Hello,


           Floral wall art print in Modern Mural ...

Please visit Modern Mural for more of my canvas art !


See you !

Artist showcase- 16.... Puja Bhargava Kamath

 " Lai: the beloved one (Sanskrit)
Lai: a lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance...''
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Hello dear friends,

                       Introducing a fabulous accessory designer in my blog, for the first time--- Puja Bhargava Kamath, a graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Delhi and a gemologist. She has won many design awards including those from DeBeers, World Gold Council & Perles de Tahiti.

Lai, through its jewellery creations in silver, attempts to bring into contemporary wear the beautiful arts, motifs, themes from different cultures the world over- from times when these cultures had their own unique and beautiful identities. Needless to say, India remains our favourite source of inspiration! Themes such as the paisley motif, mehndi designs, ancient Greek jewellery, details from old palaces, havelis etc. - researched, pared down and stylized into jewellery designs to suit modern tastes and sensibilities.

In her own words,''We like to think of our designs as having a strong personality, an Indian soul and a global spirit. Lai is contemporary, classic, chic, unique ...with a touch of fun !''

A love talk with her...........
Enjoy !

How would you describe yourself ?
Fun, free spirited, travel obsessed and a sucker for trivia and knowledge!

How do you like to spend your free time ?
I love to travel (a lot !), to read, to cook and have a keen interest in textiles, architecture, mid-century modern designs and all things vintage and pretty....so if I'm not doing first 3 then I'm definitely surfing the net or visiting exhibitions for any of these!

 Describe your work and the thought process behind your creations ?
I look for stories that inspire me and usually find inspiration in the more visual themes (such a vintage coins, calligraphy, mehndi patterns, haveli details etc.) rather than abstract ones. Once I decide on a theme to work on, I do a lot of research and from that material find the bits that I want to work with/incorporate/interpret in our jewelry collection.
All the pieces are essentially hand-crafted using the traditional jewellery making techniques [like rava (granulation), jali (fret work), meenakari (enameling) etc.]- ensuring the continuity of the old skills.
My main medium is silver but I love incorporating other elements in our designs too like vintage coin, glass, wood etc.

What's your favorite color ?
All....though I never wear green for some reason!

Tell us something about your first project.
My first project was many years back and I remember combining uncut semi-precious stones with dull gold for a Jeweller client of mine.
After many years of providing design services to a number of leading national & international jewellery houses and working with craft clusters across India, I decided to venture into producing my own designs. Lai, as a brand for my work in silver, though, was launched in 2011....I guess you can call that my favourite project so far!

When did you get the idea that ' jewelry designing' was the thing you love ?
To be honest, I don't think of myself as a "jewellery designer". When I studied at Nift, New Delhi (I graduated in Accessory Designing) we worked with a lot of materials, techniques and moved from designing leather bags to watches to jewelry to shoes. I loved the fact that as a designer I could work with a number of materials, across a number of products and use any technique I choose to. Over the past years (before Lai) I worked across a number of sectors and had a great time....I worked exhaustively in the craft sector for 4-5 years and still sometimes yearn for those days! With Lai, I guess you can say, I have thrown down my anchor.....though its really not in me to make a 5 year/ 10 year business plan!

 Anything you want to share to your readers about setting up his/her own business ?
Love what you do and what you make....its the only way you will find the passion, convection & guts that you will so need in your journey as an entrepreneur! Oh, yes... and be prepared to work really hard!

Who is your dream client ?
None really! In fact a varied clientele means that I'm are able to cut across different tastes, age groups and personality types with my jewelry and there really can't be anything more satisfying than that!

Tell us a bit about your biggest challenge in your career, and the way you handled it ?
I think my move to the US a few months back....I'm currently in India trying to streamline my work process so that we can smoothly bridge the continental and time gap, and carry on work as efficiently as before. Its proving to be a bit harder than what I anticipated!

Your greatest inspiration is ?
Life itself, my loved ones and travel!

How would you describe your work place  ..? 
Currently in a big mess...divided, as life is, between India and the US !

Where can people contact you ?
Lai designs can be bought on-line from our Facebook page.....we help you make your selection on-line and courier the jewellery at your door step.

We also supply some of our silver jewelry to Fabindia and do collections in fashion jewelry for a few clients like Juvalia and You.

Our Facebook page is:  www.facebook.com/laionline
My mail id:  puja.bhargava@gmail.com

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Thank you Puja for these beautiful jewellery ... Now my readers know where to shop for their accessories for their New Year Eve's party !!!


Have a lovely weekend !