marimekko or mekkko with a twist

Before reading.. Scroll down and turn on the tunes.. The music is from great new artists who are just putting their beats out there or they are mixing up some other artists songs to make excellent creations.

The Marimekko Lifestyle is taking over the world right. The idea of fun & simple prints made up of geometrics and random motifs is giving the customer the opportunity to start mix & match anything they want together. Which to me is a great idea. They can buy new but keep the old and their keepsakes while they all stay in style together. I have always been a fan of marimekko but last week when visiting the new flagship store in Madison Square Park I feel even more in love. The lay-out of the store is so clean and simple yet everything looks like they were placed on a table with no thought in the world. They display their fabrics by folding them on hanging shelves so the customer is able to compare all the patterns they have before taking one out and making a mess of the place.

I came across this studio/store....

http://www.littlestudio.se/

They are based out of Karlsborg, Sweden. Their designs are absolutely amazing. It reminds me of Marimekko but with a twist. Many of their motifs are geometrics with bright colors mixed with bold colors and they used a technique like Marimekko where they draw some motifs like sketches and do not fix them to be perfection which makes them so lovable. Their pieces are simple and sweet. Check them out!

(Artist: Little Studio Nordic Happy Design

Poster: "Big Pieces")

P.S. You may not be able to understand Swedish but believe me you will enjoy their work.

follow their blog: http://mamamekko.blogspot.com

Paradise (YoungLife Remix) - Coldplay by YoungLife

passing time...living

Long time since my last post. 

I have no excuse for my laziness but I did start to miss posting so I am back at it.

 Anyways,

I have this new found love for interior styling which is like interior decorating but a tad difference in the sense I do not care about the idea of clean, perfection, and everything matching like it is placed there on purpose but I am more into the idea of living in a room.  The way someone senselessly has their room fall into place, if that makes any sense.  These photos show the idea of living how one can combine patterns, colors, with mix-matching their items all in a different type of room.

this is my new love. this is what i want to do. 

-ryen.

GRiZ - Wheres The Love? 

the things you find...

(I do not know what these are, how they were created, or the inspiration behind them but wow do I love them)

Soooo...

when I am not painting, drawing, screen printing, working, or watching law&order I am most likely surfing the web for anything.  I sometimes dont even type in any certain name in search. I just hope to come across something so outstanding that I just need to save that photo onto my lap top.  Try it sometime.. you will be amazed.

-ryen

to dye or not to dye...thats the question

and so it goes.. There are many ways you can dye fabric.  You can use fresh fruits, veggies, juices, spices, coffee, teas and chemical dyes.  My preference is RIT dyes (chemical dyes).  The reason why I chose this brand over the more organic products for dying is because to me it is more vibrant.  It allows you to mix colors and really work with it like its a paint to create the color you are looking for. These fabrics were dyed with rubber bands all over them.. aka tie-dying them.  Its is an easy way to create an excellent pattern.
-ryen.

black and white

 

black, white, inverted design

1st batik wax splattered, painted with brown watercolor and black paint  

2nd put into photoshop, thresholded then inverted.

-ryen

lyno...

lyno+craving tools=stamp forever!

-ryen

inspiration....

created by Rothco.

-ryen

and more...

sun tea, recycled paper, and soy paint.

-ryen

tea stain to chartpak marker transfer to many textures!

Step #1: boil water, make tea in large bowl...

and start painting paper with tea

-i used a paint brush, a sponge brush, and a sponge to add texture

((also using different tea's can create different hues and tones in color))

 created:

Step #2:  print design on ink-jet printer or photo-copier

Step #3: lay photo-copied patterned design on tea stain paper face down.

Step #4: color back of the photo-copied paper with a chartpak blender marker and it works as a transfer onto the tea stained paper....

created:

 tomorrow: I will be painting over the transferred black ink with brown "delta creative cocca" soy paint.  I will be using a sponge to created texture so that my creation looks like bark or wood grain in a sense. 

If you have any questions on how to do this or other techniques...JUST ASK! i will help to the best of my ability. 

-ryen

okay so i know this is not any screen printing like i promised in my previous post but i ended up forgetting my camera at home and was unable to take photos of the screen printing studio and the work being done at the studio.  instead i will show you what i did today...

this piece is one of many i am working on right now that is in the end going to be a fully eco-friendly collection, i am using soy based paint, recycled products, and more.  this design is a table cloth design meant for a square table.  i do not know if i am quite happy yet with the design so there might be more work to do to complete the piece.

some wovens inspired by navajo blankets.

these are some wovens I weaved during the fall on a 8 harness floor dobby loom.  these samples are much larger than shown, each are about 20x15 or so.  it took weeks to do but it was worth it in the end, the samples that i created i was very pleased with.  i was inspired by navajo blankets, the geometric motifs, patterns, colors the navajo people used in their own woven blankets.  

-ryen.

think.

think stamps. think paints. 

i took lyno and cut it into a designs which i used as a stamp (the black triangles and squares).  i used Q-tips as the white dots and then i used a technique called dry brush which makes the hard painterly like streaks.  This all created depth into this piece.

think new things. think new ideas.  think.