Its been awhile since I've posted any graphic design updates, so I thought I'd do that today. Heres a package I recently completed for The Parkinson Council, a non-profit just outside Philadelphia.
process...
Lat week I had the opportunity to work on a project involving mushrooms. I had a blast creating a myriad of textures and drawings. I can't quite show the results here... but I did want to share some of the process. Many of my more complex pieces begin this way...
acorns + ceramics + week 4 of the MATS Home Decor Class
And here is week 4 ceramics. I would say the bird bowls are my favorites.
coastal birds + glass + week 3 of the MATS Home Decor Class
Week number 3 of my Home Decor class. Glass - this was the toughest yet. But I limited my color pallete and did some more drawing and painting. Pleasantly pleased with the results, shown below...
florals + fabric + week 2 of the MATS Home Decor Class
If i were to design decor for a living room, it might look something like this...
I had a blast making the "patchwork paradise" fabric shown below. Due to traveling for the July 4th holiday weekend, my time spend on class this week was cut a bit short. (That and i am working on 2 amazing new projects that I can't wait to share - once completed.) However, I am please what i was able to produce in such a short time period.
funny birds + metal + week 1 of the MATS Home Decor Class
Hello! I've been pulling some late nights recently for the MATS Home Decor class I am taking, which is taught by two amazing ladies... Margo Tantau (vp of creative at midwest-cbk) & Lilla Rogers (art agent extraordinaire). The class teaches us about creating collections using 5 of the main substrates used for the Home Decor market. (They are metal, fabric, wood, ceramic & glass.) We were also given some excellent trend boards to choose from for the duration of the class. I chose one with a more muted palette for a change + a challenge. :)
For our first week we were to focus on metal and "birds" were to be our inspiration / assignment. Initially, I started sketching offline and digitally...
and then i made a big giant mess of painting and monoprints... this one is one of my favoritess...
And then I sought to combine my drawings and prints... And i quickly realized that i had 2 styles going on. One which skewed towards kids/adult kids and another which was quieter, moodier and so I ended up splitting it into 2 collections.
The funkier one...
BarbChotiner.TakeFlightFunky.jpg
and then a more subtle upscale / adult collection...
BarbChotiner.TakeFlightMuted.jpg
I was really torn which way to finish. (Since in the end, i could only finish up one to submit for a "final.") In the class/community facebook group (another bonus with the class!) each board had its "fans" so to speak but i felt like the adult one was getting more comments.
I ended up working quite a bit more on the wall art and creating a horizontal scene of majestic herons and flying swallows. I used metallic bronze ink and scanned in some branched from my home which had been blown down by a harsh rain storm the night before.
Below is my final piece. In the end, i loved some of my quirky birds - especially the guy on the clock - so I included them as a smaller, perhaps secondary collection.
hello summer!
I know its been a while since I've posted. Things have been busy. Which is good. Today I had a bit of time to play... so while trying to figure a few things out... I made this. Here's to a cheerful week!
Burst of Floral - fabric design
Trying to get some last minute designs done before SURTEX & my trip to NYC next week. (Wee! SO excited!!)
On a separate note, I've decided to put this out there... I would really LOVE to see my work printed on fabric & have a fabric collection... IN stores.
Here is a recent design I created which I think would look extremely fun on fabric. I could see a tablecloth, a tea towel - or, even a fun flowy skirt!
fun with fabric
So - I worked on this today...
surtex baby!!
Well, I have two BIG nuggets of news to share today...
1. I will have work shown at Surtex this year. (Surtex, held in May in NYC is THE annual trade show for the surface design industry. It brings together the artists and manufacturers and retailers). This is the show where large (well known) brands come and buy their art for future seasons... It is a HUGE opportunity and I will be excited to see what comes of it. I will also be at Surtex helping out my very talented friends at the Cloverly Art Collective at their booth and will walk the show the following day. I am so giddy for my trip to NYC in 3 weeks!
2. I'm excited to announce that I now have representation by Astound, an art licensing agency. My artist page is NOW up on their website. Works there are available for licensing. I am also working on a few new collections and am always open to hear about new project commissions.
BARB CHOTINER @ SURTEX 2015 - represented by ASTOUND booth 250