NEW, Blossom in Lavender

Detail

Exotic Plant Study

After picking up a book by German biologist Ernst Haeckel, "Plant Forms in Nature", I decided to do a series of drawings. Inspired by the various forms and a night of watching the ever so charming, cheesy classic 'Little Shop of Horrors', what started out as a simple plant study made a slightly exotic turn. As my new silkscreen image dries in the window after exposure, I can't wait to see how this drawing will translate onto fabric.  Stay tuned!

Had to Share..

What a great room by Interior Designer Muriel Brandolini. Such intricate detail and blending of colors and patterns!

Beautiful rug by Fedora Designs

BLOSSOM

I've been a busy bee lately!  I haven't been able to post much, but I thought I'd share this new pillow design I've just added to my shop.  I call it Blossom, and it comes in Sea Foam Blue and Marigold!  More to come later...

I'm also working on pics for a sneak peek of my humble Brooklyn abode, so be sure to stay tuned!!!

Don't forget to visit me and all the wonderful artists of this month's Poppytalkhandmade.

Poppytalk

Today is the opening of Poppytalk's Home Sweet Home Market, and I am so pleased that mine will be among the featured shops. It's a housewares themed market and will run from June 7th - August 8th. Here are a few of the items that will appear...

You can visit me on Poppytalk here or at my Etsy shop, Khiti.Etsy.Com

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you enjoy the market!

Have You Seen Me?

Where did you go?   

A question for the ages that even the Mighty Bosstones once asked.

I think we can all relate to that one missing sock after a fresh load of laundry.  What happens to them is one of life's mysteries.  They must have some kind of premeditated escape plan that happens during the dryer - basket change over.  They use the static cling to scale down the side of the machine like a high tech thief on an extension wire down the side of a skyscraper.  But after all, who could blame them? They don't have the best job in the world. I guess its just they're version of a major career change.

No matter what the cause, reason or phenomenon, it's a part of life, though it doesn't make it any less irritating.   If socks and laundry machines existed in the times of great kings and be-headings, I think it would have meant the demise of many royal servants.

So, join in the search for missing socks everywhere.  Maybe they'll eventually turn up with Jimmy Hoffa and the five Navy Avengers lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

My new Missing Sock prints can be found here.

Lotta Prints!

Friday evening I had the pleasure of attending Lotta Jansdotter's 'Printing Party' held at her new Brooklyn studio.  It was the second of two parties to celebrate her new book 'Lotta Prints'. I've been following her work and fell in love with her signature hand printed fabric. Her designs have such a great rustic elegance about them. Needless to say, I was not only thrilled to meet her in person, but absolutely ecstatic to experience first hand some of her favorite stamping and printing techniques.

A wonderfully mixed crowd of fans and curious participants both young and old gathered around her studio work table supplied with paint, rollers, sponges, brushes, stencils and hand carved potato stamps.  Following a demonstration of each printing technique, we all dove in and began to create our own designs on the same type of crisp cotton fabric Lotta uses herself. 

Due to the large turn out, finding a spot on the work table took some effort.  But one could hardly complain with her wonderful collection of art and design books throughout the studio to keep you occupied, not to mention the mini shop with signature Jansdotter items!

What a wonderful night indeed.  I look forward to more printing events with the infamous Lotta Jansdotter in the future.

For her online shop, visit www.jansdotter.com

Hot Fun in Summertime

Summer has arrived, and along with it, humid 90 degree weather and sweating in epic proportions.  My Grandma preferred the Winter months over the Summer ones.  Her philosophy was that you can always put on more clothes to warm up, but there's only so much you can take off.  After years of living in the concrete jungle where the heat rises from the sidewalks, and more specifically in Brooklyn, on a street where trees are few and far in between, I completely understand her way of thinking.

However, one of the best parts of warm, sunny days are barbecues and picnics. I salivate at the thought of grill cooked burgers, slightly burnt hot dogs with baked bean dip, buttery corn on the cob, crisp salad and large glasses of iced tea lemonade to cool off with.

Inspired by these images, I've created a line of silkscreened butterfly wall art and linens.  He are a few...

Hand silkscreened 9X12 canvas wall art in Charcoal, Blue and Yellow.  

Available here in my Etsy shop

18x14 Butterfly placemat sets in Red, Charcoal and Ochre.  

Available by special order.

These placemat sets are my favorite.  Like the canvas wall art, I love how the pair create whole images when set along side each other.  Also available in an Ochre/Blue colorway.

 They too are special order items.

Left Side

Right Side

Detail

Detail

The butterfly canvas sets are available here at my Etsy shop.

For more information on the special order items, contact me at nykeiam@gmail.com 

Enjoy and Stay Cool!

In a New York Morning

New York subways are definitely not for the timid or the claustrophobic! It's beginning to feel like a chaotic, moving mosh pit by the day. For a calm person, even I admit to a slight feeling of panic (sometimes rage) and lack of breathing air during really bad rush hour traffic. But if the crowd or lack of oxygen doesn't get to you, the messages on the loud speaker may. That is, if you're an out-of-towner.

On the way into work this morning, my usual thoughts of wishing I were on the way home was interrupted by the usual announcements. I was ever so casually reminded of all that I really do have to fear on a daily basis in a city like this. Things like, be sure to watch our bags and wallets, beware of pickpockets, be cautious of panhandlers, stand clear of closing doors, make sure you still have your kidneys when exiting the train...And of course, the all too important..."If you see a suspicious package, tell a police officer or an MTA employee". All good advice. However, this last one is the hardest of them all when having to take action. What you don't want to do, is ignore something that could potentially be an exploding device. But at the same time, do you really want to be responsible for hysteria, bedlam and bomb squads over a bag with a half eaten ham sandwich inside?

What an odd state of affairs to be in when, not only are we warned about possible dangers in our immediate vicinity day in and day out, but that we've all become so accustomed to it. It's about as typical as hearing the current time and the next arriving station.

To check out more phobias