Hello pattern, hello fabric!

It's nice to look at this part of my work again! It's been quite a while … The reason for revisiting pattern design is another contest, the Minted "Fabric Frenzy" challenge. Minted is looking for a wide range of designs for homedecor (both kids and adult) and kid's clothing. 
I'll be featuring a small selection of my submissions here in this blogpost. If you'd like to see all of them, feel free to look at my "Voting now!" page, I've listed everything over there (18 patterns in the whole).

Like always with Minted competitions, the selection of designs goes by public votes or by editor picks. So if you see something you like, please just quickly click on the image! That'll lead you directly to my submissions on the Minted page. Thank you so much! Voting is extended until Monday, October 2! (Please note: If you are not a Minted customer already, you'd need to set up an account on Minted to be able to vote.)

"Ocean Garden"

As I love anything that has to do with the sea, and especially the amazing beauty of underwater flora and fauna, designing these two patterns was very much my cup of tea. Both pattern were done for homedecor. "Ocean Garden" above is a handpainted watercolour pattern, whereas the elements of "Ocean life" below were done with papercuts. Both patterns would work especially well in maritime/ beach house style homes.

"Ocean Life"

"Soul Food"

My "Soul Food" pattern inspired by all kinds of root vegetables is pretty much mixed media: papercut, monotype printing and crayon textures are all in the mix, and finally I edited everything digitally. A fab pattern for for the kitchen or for table linens.




And here's some designs for children!

"The Tale of Little Red"

The first design up features a classic, the fairytale of "Little Red Riding Hood". I had lots of fun drawing the characters and all the lush nature elements. This pattern is aimed mainly at children's homedecor, but would work for kid's clothing as well.

"Knights and Dragons"

"Submarines Ahoy!"

Same goes for the two boy's patterns above, they work for kid's home decor as well as for kid's apparel. Both are quirky and handdrawn and had lots of fun doing them. I especially like my busy little submarine rescue boats, I hope kids will love them too!

That's my selection for today. To see more of my patterns, please hop over to my "Voting now" page!
To see all of the submissions to this compettition (4541!), click here!

Heimtex trends 3 – "Wellbeing 4.0 – Nourish"

Here's my third trend post on the Heimtex trend "Wellbeing 4.0". Today's trend theme is called "Nourish your body" and is based on the human need for a natural environment.

Now this one definitely is a very "me" theme :-)

Theme Park … source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera

"Nourish" is derived from the growing interest in sustainable life, in protecting nature, in planting green spaces, in urban gardening: reclaiming abandoned areas to plant new life. It is the ecological vision of uniting city and country, man and nature.

Source - WGSN

Theme Park … source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera

Think sensory and nature oriented designs. A purist but earthy elegance, a quality feel, products that are handcrafted and/or using pioneering techniques. Transparency and natural materials are key.

Source - WGSN

Hermann Pichler GmbH + Co. KG … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jochen Günther

Christian Fischbacher Co. AG

Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jochen Günther

Curt Bauer GmbH … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jochen Günther

Sander GmbH & Co. KG … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jochen Günther

 
Colours are all about plant life and the soil, and use the whole natural palette of greens, beiges, whites, browns and greys.

Source - WGSN

JAB JOSEF ANSTOETZ KG

Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jochen Günther

Patterns show mostly natural or nature inspired, abstracted motifs, like stone, wood textures or plant motifs.

Rioma S.A. … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jean-Luc Valentin

Handmade and craft is getting more and more important. The source – the way things were made, the "story" – is as important as the final product.

Fiorete Group S.p.A. 

Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jean-Luc Valentin

Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera

 

I think that's a very good direction for all us independent designers, and especially for those who are designers/makers. It as well tells us how important it is to share our motivation/ our story and to show our work in progress!

The next and last theme is "Enrich" … coming up soon!
If you'd like to read about all themes, just scroll down! You'll find the "Protect" and "Energise" themes in my two previous posts.

Heimtex trends 2 – "Wellbeing 4.0 – Energise"

The second theme under the main trend "Wellbeing 4.0" is called "Energise".
It is quite an opposing influence to the first "Protect" theme.
This time it's not "switch off", rather "switch on" – and energise your being!

Theme Park … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera

At the core this influence originates in using modern technology for wellbeing, for enhancing our  lifes. The offline and online worlds get more and more blurred. The internet gives us "digital dreams", offers inspiration abound and opens up larger worlds, providing us with new levels of energy.

Theme Park … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera

Theme Park … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera

 



Think high energy, brilliance, bold and loud designs.
A lively aesthetic, dynamic shapes and a good dose of humour too.
Colours play with contrasts, fluorescence and intense, electric shades.

Source - WGSN

Source - WGSN

Source - WGSN

Light is used as a "material", so designs play with gloss, refractions and reflections.

Theme Park … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera

Theme Park … Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera

Patterns are bold and vivacious, and sometimes kaleidoscopic.

Muller-Textiel BV …
Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jean-Luc Valentin

Abbas Nishaburi  …
Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jochen Günther

Kayoom GmbH  …
Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jean-Luc Valentin

From a personal view this theme is not sooo much my cup of tea … still I think accents in high colour and bold pattern can be gorgeous. If contrasted with neutrals I even like fluorescence. It really depends on the dose I guess! But ok, that's just me … there are certainly lots of people around who like it more bold! And if it really gets too much? Well ok, then switch off again ;-)

Novartiplast Italia S.p.A.  … 

Source - Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jochen Günther

Next post is about the "Nourish" trend theme.
To find out about the first theme "Protect", please just scroll down to my previous post.

Another competition: Kid's Wallart … und noch ein Wettbewerb: Kunst für Kinder

Hi! Believe it or not I am back already – now really everything happens at the same time!

Here are my entries for the "A is for Art" competition on Minted. The brief was for personalizable art prints for children. I had lots of fun doing these, based on motifs from some older pattern designs of mine, and I think they worked out well. Hope that you have fun looking at them as well! Please vote for them if you like them! Voting is open until Monday, August 31.

First up there are three prints to give as gifts to the parents of a newborn child:

Please vote for my "Butterfly Wishes" here!

Here's the link to vote for my "Bunny Welcome"…

 

and this is the link to vote for the "Heart Tree".

And here's three more prints for a boy's room – although I think the pirates would work for a girl as well. As a girl I would have loved to be a pirate princess!

This link leads to the voting for my "Animal Pirates"!

 Please go here to vote for the big "Space Adventure" …

… and if you like this fearless knight go here for voting!

THANKS SO MUCH!!!

And please don't forget to vote as well for my submission to the Fabric 8 contest "Botanical sketchbook"! My pattern got me into the semifinals :-) and I would LOVE to go on further!
You can vote here http://www.spoonflower.com/contests/317 until September 2, 2015. 

THANK YOU AGAIN!

And I promise I'll come off of this vote asking soon. It is just all these good contests at the same time … 
(One more to come … more about that one next week …)

Old and new and a contest … Altes und Neues und ein Wettbewerb

When recently sifting through my studio stuff I stumbled upon an old folder with watercolour works and monotype prints that I did quite some time ago. Turned out I still love lots of them, so I decided to submit them to the Minted "For Art's Sake" competition. Along with some newer pieces. I really enjoy seeing old and new together!

Als ich neulich durch meine 7-Sachen im Studio schaute fand ich eine Mappe mit alten Aquarellen und Monotypien. Ich mag immer noch viele davon, und so habe ich sie zum "For Art's Sake" Wettbewerb auf Minted eingereicht. Zusammen mit einigen neueren Arbeiten. Mir hat es richtig Spaß gemacht, Altes und Neues zusammen zu sehen!

"Cloud Symphony Ring of Beara Ireland"

"Cloud Symphony Donegal Ireland"

Here are two watercolour landscapes, part of my Irish "Cloud Symphony" series. Although they're different to what I mostly do nowadays I don't feel they're outdated. I can well imagine taking my watercolours and brushes out for a hike in the valley to do some river landscapes … hoping to do that soon! For me landscapes are good when they manage to transport feelings and evoke the atmosphere of the place. Hoping that I managed to do this with these works!
Landscape painting will always be close to my heart as it's very much where I come from as an artist. My father is a watercolourist and I spent many happy childhood days painting together with him somewhere in the forest or the fields.

Hier sind zwei Landschafts-Aquarelle, die zu meiner irischen "Cloud Symphony" Serie gehören. Auch wenn sie nicht das sind, was ich heute meistens mache, kommen sie mir nicht verstaubt vor. Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, mit Pinsel und Aquarellkasten bewaffnet rauszufahren und Flußlandschaften zu malen … das müßte ich wirklich mal wieder machen! Landschaftsbilder finde ich immer dann richtig  gut wenn sie es schaffen, Gefühle zu transportieren und die Atmosphäre des Ortes zum Leben zu erwecken. Ich hoffe, diese hier schaffen das!
Landschaftsmalerei wird mir immer am Herzen liegen – weil hier meine künstlerischen Anfänge zu finden sind. Mein Vater ist Aquarellmaler und in meiner Kindheit habe ich viele glückliche Stunden mit ihm zusammen draußen im Wald oder in den Feldern verbracht und vor Ort gemalt.

Rock Symphony No.2 Brittany France

This is a monotype printed from my own photography. Back in the old days I loved to experiment with all kinds of handprinting. I think it goes along well with the next piece, my little collection of seaweeds, done just some weeks ago.

Das hier ist eine Monotypie, von meiner eigenen Fotografie gedruckt. In der guten alten Zeit habe ich gern mit allen möglichen Handdruck-Techniken herumexperimentiert. Ich finde, sie paßt gut zum nächsten Bild, einer kleinen Seetang-Kollektion, die ich gerade mal vor ein paar Wochen gemalt habe.

"Garden of the Seven Seas"

I love the idea of painting collections and play with the thought to do more of these soon.
Ich finde die Kollektions-Idee gut und spiele mit dem Gedanken, bald mehr "gesammelte Motive" zu malen.

 

"Autumn Fire Fern"

The piece above is a real mix of old and new. It's based on an old monotype of fern leaves found here in the Lahn River Valley. I scanned the monotype in and manipulated it digitally.

Das Bild oben ist ein wirklichen Mix von alt und neu. Sie basiert auf einer alten Monotypie von Farnen, die hier an der Lahn wachsen. Ich habe die Monotypie eingescannt und dann digital weiter bearbeitet.

"Cactus Night"

"Cactus Night" is one of my fave pieces from this year. It holds a little aha-moment as it's made of elements that I did for three different assignments from the MATS courses and last year's Global Talent Search. One of the great learnings from Lilla Rogers and the MATS courses is to work in icons and combine them digitally. Love the freedom that you can have with this approach! I too love this piece's combination of watercolour, papercut, monotype and drawing. It feels 100% me and I am looking forward to more works with this style.

"Cactus Night" ist eines meiner Lieblingsmotive aus diesem Jahr. Es ist mit einem kleinen Aha-Moment verbunden, denn es besteht aus Elementen, die ich für drei verschiedene Aufgaben aus den MATS Kursen und der Global Talent Search 2014 gestaltet hatte. Ein Ergebnis der MATs Kurse ist das Arbeiten in einzelnen Bildelementen, die dann digital kombiniert werden. Ich genieße die Freiheit, die man dadurch hat! Und ich liebe hier auch die Kombination aus Aquarell, Scherenschnitt, Monotypie und Zeichnung. Die ist wirklich 100% "ich" – in diese Richtung möchte ich weiter arbeiten.

"Soft Summer Bouquet"

And I think it's fun to see that the "Cactus Night" goes along well with my "Soft Summer Bouquet", an old watercolour floral.
Und es ist schön zu sehen, daß die "Cactus Night" gut zu meinem "Soft Summer Bouquet" paßt, einem alten Blumenaquarell.

"Essential Garden Treasure"

 

"Essential Garden Seed"

And finally here are two pieces from the "Essential Garden" series. Again they hold an aha-moment for me as working on them I developed a monotyping technique that I now use pretty often. This way I reintroduced handprinting into my work. After I hadn't used it for years – a kind of full circle moment. I truely believe that nothing is wasted and everthing we once did shapes what we do today, in art and in life.

Und zum Schluß kommen hier noch zwei Motive aus der "Essential Garden" Serie. Auch sie sind mit einem Aha-Moment verbunden, weil ich bei der Arbeit daran eine Monotypie-Technik entwickelt habe, die ich heute oft benutze. Nachdem ich Handgedrucktes für ewige Zeiten nicht mehr verwendet hatte. Da schließt sich dann der Kreis! Ich bin mir sicher, daß nichts umsonst ist. Alles, was wir früher gemacht haben, beeinflußt auch immer das, was wir heute tun. In der kreativen Arbeit ebenso wie im Leben.

You can see these and some more of my work here on Minted (works by Eva Marion):
Diese und mehr Arbeiten könne Sie hier auf Minted finden (Arbeiten von Eva Marion):
http://www.minted.com/challenge/224?sort=designer&submission_page=79#submissions 
(please scroll down a bit)
(bitte ein bißchen runterscrollen)
http://www.minted.com/challenge/224?sort=designer&submission_page=80#submissions
http://www.minted.com/challenge/224?sort=designer&submission_page=81#submissions

Through the competition Minted looks for pieces to add to their wall art collection.
Das Minted-Team möchte durch diesen Wettbewerb neue Motive für seine Kollektion von Kunstdrucken finden. 


If you like my work and have a moment your votes would be highly appreciated! Voting is open till Monday, July 27, 2015, 10 am Californian time. Which is 7 pm in Germany. And please keep you fingers crossed for me! Thank you so much!!!
Wenn Ihnen meine Arbeiten gefallen und Sie einen Moment Zeit haben, würde ich mich sehr über Ihre Stimme freuen! Abgestimmt werden kann bis Montag, 27.Juli 2015 10 Uhr vormittags nach kalifornischer Zeit. Das ist 19 Uhr in Deutschland. Bitte drücken Sie mir die Daumen! Vielen Dank!!!

My little corner of printed oddities … mein kleines Kuriositäten-Druck-Kabinett

While busily working on my last commission I produced some fab little oddities. I have used monoprinting in some of my illustration work. I can't show that work yet but I think I can share a few "by-products" just for fun – in fact they're either the results of wild experimentation or happy printing accidents.

Während der Arbeit an meinem letzten Auftrag habe ich ein paar nette Kuriositäten produziert. Für einen Teil meiner Illustrationen habe ich Monotypien verwendet. Die eigentliche Arbeit kann ich hier noch nicht zeigen. Aber ich denke ich kann mal nur so zum Spaß ein paar der "Nebenprodukte" zeigen – es handelt sich dabei entweder um wilde Experimente oder glückliche "Unfälle" beim Drucken.

So here's a nice pair of boots!
Los geht es mit ein paar zünftigen Stiefeln!

And a little cow parade :-)
Und hier kommt eine kleine Kuh-Parade :-)




And posting these I realized that here on the blog I never showed the odd sea creatures prints I did while working on these plate designs. So here are some:

Und beim Sortieren habe ich dann gemerkt, daß ich meine seltsamen Meerestiere hier auf dem Blog noch nicht gezeigt hatte. Die sind bei der Arbeit an diesen Tellerentwürfen entstanden. Hier sind ein paar davon:

A busy crab …
Ein geschäftiger Krebs …

an ethereal "ghost lobster" …
ein zarter "Hummergeist" …

and a bold "cubist" one!
und hier ist eine kräftige kubistische Sorte!

And then there's this odd leaf print from my last year's Global Talent Search work.
Loving it for it's simplicity.
Und dann ist da noch dieser ungewöhnliche Druck aus meiner Arbeit für die Global Talent Search 2014. Den liebe ich besonders weil er so schön schlicht ist.

I really like these experimental prints – still need to figure out what to do with them? I have the vague plan to make collages. Maybe add some drawing …? But then again I love some of them just as they are. Let's see … for now I'll just keep collecting!

Ich mag diese experimentellen Drucke sehr – muß aber noch herausfinden, was ich mit ihnen machen will. Ich habe die vage Idee, Collagen damit zu machen. Oder vielleicht noch ein bißchen Zeichnung zu ergänzen …? Aber andererseits mag ich manche auch einfach so wie sie sind. Mal sehen … fürs Erste sammle ich mal weiter!