An interesting article!

Today I have a fun post about an interesting article which I came across in an Italian magazine called Verde Facile. The article featured the Canadian Surface Pattern Designer Elizabeth Olwen. Some of you may remember that Elizabeth was a guest on my blog in one of the Dream Designs features, you can read my post from far away September 2012 here. 

Verde Facile has written a lovely feature and dedicated six pages to Elizabeth and her work. They had the idea to make some seed envelopes to cut out and keep so her patterns are in full evidence with a half page for each design.

The article is also well written and very inviting, so inviting in fact that I cut out a couple of envelopes myself and made them up! Elizabeth's patterns are described by Verde Facile as delicate and beautiful, and we can't argue with that!

Read news of Elizabeth's successes and licensing deals, catch up with her portfolio, and, find out where you can buy her fabulous designs at www.elizabetholwen.com

Welcome back Milvia

For those of you who follow my blog regularly you will have noticed that I mention Milvia from time to time. Milvia is an Italian painter and artist who enjoyed fame in the late 50’s and 60’s. Her illustrations and patterns were produced on fabric in Italy and in the U.S., even Liberty London became one of her clients. There was never enough written about Milvia when her career was at it’s height and this fact has created a certain illusive atmosphere about her being. This lack of information has also created curiosity and regard towards her work. For quite some time I didn’t know anything about Milvia’s real identity but I was attracted to her quirky illustrations, her talent, and her style. Basically I was a great fan of the illusive Milvia. 

Then about 8 months ago things changed, I was contacted by Milvia’s daughter. Just one meeting lead to the creation of the Milvia project. I have been working with Milvia and her daughter for more than 6 months. The project begins with cataloguing Milvia’s work from the 60’s onwards and ends with the work being digitalized and made available for licensing. I am responsible for the licensing and promotional side of the project and Milvia’s daughter in turn for the archives and restoration of the works. I can’t tell you all our plans but we are working on many aspects and markets, I hope very soon you will be seeing more and more of Milvia and her fabulous work. 

The real news is that Milvia never really went away, I have been privileged to see her studio at her home in Florence. The studio has always been there for her work and as ‘real’ artists do she has continued to lead the life of a creative. After raising a family and following her husband all over the world in his career she has always found time to work and experiment. For those of you who have not read between the lines this means that there are many unpublished designs waiting to be discovered and I hope to lend a hand in making this happen. 

So now it is time to really begin the Milvia adventure. Work has gone on for months behind the lines and it is now time to share some of it with the public. Milvia’s website will go live on 5th June 2014, which is of course today! Please visit us at www.milvia.eu I think you will all be interested in our unique proposals. Obviously there is limited information available on the website and for anyone with serious intentions just contact me at dawnclarkson@milvia.eu and I will be delighted to help.

In addition you will find Milvia on Pinterest, http://www.pinterest.com/milviahome/
and Twitter  https://twitter.com/MilviaHome
More news of Milvia will be published regularly in press releases and obviously here on my little blog.

Thank you for reading.
Dawn Clarkson