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Sometimes you come across an artist's work that just makes you shout out loud! This is how I felt when I saw Swedish artist Agda Osterberg's amazing weaving. Behold her skillfull craft in incredible shapes and colors. I often paint florals and rounded shapes; this group of work has inspired me to stretch myself and try some more geometric designs.
Too bad I don't have the budget for that $66,000.00 runner on the right!
Vote for my design on minted.™ see more from Katja Ollendorff vote for me!Check out my competition in Christmas photo cards and Save the Date cards at Minted. |
I've entered another contest through Minted.com—this time it's a collaboration with PBKids and PBTeen. My artwork is inspired by a trip to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens. Hope you like it! If you do, you can vote on February 19th. Click on the button to the right and rate my design a "5" to ensure a high vote tally for me. Thanks for supporting!
I often visit libraries and used bookstores in search of new inspiration. I found a few great books recently and wanted to share how I get inspired by imagery and designs, and then capture various motifs to make my own. I found this book on Erté by Charles Spencer at the Russian Hill Bookstore and found that it contained a huge amount of inspiration.
While flipping through it, I sat with my sketchbook and noted little details that spoke to me and my aesthetic. Once I have a selection of motifs I like to take a page from my sketchbook like the one here, into Photoshop and start playing with various items to see what I can come up with. I sometimes use individual motifs or combine a few—the possibilities are endless.
Can you tell which ones I used to make the patterns below? With color and scale changes, rotating, reflecting and putting my own spin on things, the designs now feel like mine but I know Erté was my inspiration and that's I nice thought. Because I did these designs in the same hand and used a complimentary color palette, they also feel like they could work as part of a collection.
I hope you have fun finding your own inspiration and putting it to work.
© 2016 Katja Ollendorff
© 2016 Katja Ollendorff
© 2016 Katja Ollendorff
© 2016 Katja Ollendorff
The death of David Bowie is still with me a week later. His passing has probably affected me more than any other celebrity in recent years because of his influence on me in my life. I grew up with his music through all the various stages of my youth—from my pre-teen years onward.
My older brothers introduced me to him in the early 80s by giving me a copied cassette tape of Scary Monsters with a handwritten DAVID BOWIE scrawled across it. As a twelve year old his music scared me a little. It was moving and different, and I was pressed to listen to it and almost had to learn to love it. And I did.
His influence in music, fashion and his courage to be different, permeated the universe. The day he died, I imagined his music being played all around the world and rising up in to the air. I think we are drawn to talented people especially when they are as courageous and forward-thinking with their creativity as he was.
These vases designed by Keisuke Fujiwara are so airy and beautiful. When a petal drops, the movement will set the vase swaying ever so slightly. You can read more about the design, material and how they are made on designboom.com here.
I stumbled upon this Instagram feed and was immediately taken with the incredible patterns that Alea Toussaint makes out of a variety of objects. Whether it be flowers or peppercorns, pens or sequins—she makes one stop to take a closer look. Just beautiful!
She is a graphic designer and pattern artist based in Minneapolis. If you would like to see more of her work, visit her website here www.aleatoussaint.com
And you can buy prints of her work on Society 6 here.
All images are used with permission of the artist ©2015 Alea Toussaint
I had an amazing time this past weekend at the 2015 West Coast Craft Fair at Fort Mason. There were so many great vendors my eyes were just popping out of my head! I could have really done some damage but I was good, and restrained myself from breaking my bank.
Here are just a few of the 250+ artists, designers and craftspeople who exhibited. There were so many wonderful things but these stalls particularly caught my eye. I met a lot of really nice people and was very inspired by these talented artists. If you missed it this time around, I highly recommend staying on the lookout for the next show. It was by far the most enjoyable one I've been to at the Pavillion.
p.s. please excuse the not great quality iPhone shots - I forgot my camera at home! Also, when you click the images below you will be taken to the sites. Just click the back button to return to the blog.
Have you ever heard of Leon Bakst? No? Well perhaps you have heard of the Ballets Russes, a dance company that was concieved by Sergei Diaghilev, that performed throughout Europe and North and South America between 1909 and 1929.
I did ballet for about 10 of my (much younger) years and I have always loved the world of dance and still go to the ballet regularly. The Ballet Russes has always inspired me because the costumes are so incredibly beautiful, and designed by artists who were very avant garde for the time—from Picasso, Matisse, Chanel and yes, Leon Bakst.
His costumes are bold and bright and I can really imagine that the simple shapes and vibrant colors would be perfect for viewing from a distance while moving across the stage. Here is just a selection of a few I loved in particular. How beautiful that must have been!
He also did set design, and created patterns for textile that were never put into production (as far as anyone knows). Here are a few incredible examples in rich palettes that I found here.
I found the artist Javier DeRiba on thisiscolossal.com. I have always been drawn to colorful street art and this stood out to me. It combines a few of my other loves—color, pattern and tile work. It's different than the in-your-face art you see on walls out on the street. His work is behind the doors and on the floors of dilapidated buildings. He brings the floors back to life, recreating tile work reminiscent of what might have been there before, by stenciling and spraying the patterns right onto the concrete floors. Cool!
Original article by Kate Sierzputowski & Images: thisiscolossal.com
Wowza! I came across this amazing outdoor art installation on thisiscolossal.com. Janet Echelman, the artist, has created a knit sculpture of twine netting that spans 600 feet across and floats 600 ft. high above the ground. From day to night its appearance changes—with vibrant colors that glow, triggered by tension sensors as it blows in the wind. It is currently located along the Boston waterfront. How much do I want to be in the grass looking up at that at night!
Read more about it here.
All images from thisiscolossal.com.
I was really taken with the new line from Missoni for 2016. They have always been at the forefront of bold and colorful knitwear and this collection just took my breath away. I then come to read on Style.com, that this collection was inspired by the great Sonia Delauney. No wonder I love it! There is currently an exhibit at the Tate Modern in London celebrating Delauney's vibrant artwork. You can really see the influence of her work in these Missoni pieces. I find it very exciting to see how great artists and designers can influence each other.
Who influences and inspires you?
Sonia Delauney - The EY Tate Exhibition, London
Sonia Delauney - The EY Tate Exhibition, London
Source: Missoni images are from Style.com
I don't recall how I came across Anna's work, but when beautiful artwork is bright, colorful and full of pattern it will most definitely catch my eye. I love her still-life paintings depicting scenes in her room and studio—of various books, collected objects, plants and decorative fabrics. I like to say that they "make my eyes hungry". Hungry for more!
Anna lives and works in Oakland, CA and you can read more about her artwork and process here. Any inquiries about purchasing her art can be sent to info@annavaldez.com.
All images shared are with kind permission of the artist.