Yesterday was such a wonderful and special day for me, the day when I
revealed a really huge and important secret.
I want to THANK you so much to all of you that made my day even more joyful and successful!!! I am smitten by all your kindest comments, words of encouragement and support - on Instagram, Facebook, blog and twitter- it really means a world to me!!!
I can hardly wait to get to know some of you even in real life, as I will be attending the
Spring Quilt Market (see the letter K*) at Pittsburgh, PA, as the new exhibitor with
Art Gallery fabrics.
And I am so excited about that!!!!
Not only that I am going to have the booth featuring
Indelible, but I will be introducing even my second collection with AGF. Double squeal!!!
Oh, and how incredible is to have the name on the fabric selvedge? So unreal!!!!
And not on any kind of fabrics- Art Gallery fabrics are well known for their exceptional quality and drape, and I will have 20 prints printed on the 100% PIMA Cotton, 4 prints on the most extraordinary 58" wide knit fabric (newly introduced) and 2 prints on the 52" wide voile.
Can hardly wait to get them and start creating!!! Can you say that I am excited? :D
Now back to the
Indelible.....The WIP name for the collection from the start was actually "Doily".
"Doily" was my first trial to design the fabric collection, back in 2008. I mentioned it as well,
here , in this interview x Belle Armoire in 2010.
I was working very hard on the designs, and at that time I didn't know how to develop some patterns as repeat, in computer, so I remember, for example drawing the thousands of dots by hand in way to obtain the dotted pattern, lol.
The collection was somehow completed in the 2010 and I have uploaded the designs to my website and submitted them on-line to Art Gallery fabrics and to some other US fabric companies.
I got different replies and comments on the designs, like
"Your work is beautiful. Unfortunately at this time we feel it is not something we are looking for here at ...... Please know that we see great talent and would hope you would continue to design. Feel free to submit anytime you would like as you never know when we will need the look and feel that your designs provide." or....
"We have carefully reviewed your art submissions and have decided to pass.
We feel that we currently do not have an opening for this category at this time."...or ..
" It is not confirmed yet but most likely we will focus more on to our house lines designed by our house designers. I would not like you to wait for our final answer any longer. Your beautiful designs and ideas can not sit on the shelf any longer either. I hope you will understand our situation for now.".....and from one company I even got this :
"I have reviewed the portfolio again today and unfortunately, feel it is too similar in style to several of our current artists, and we would not be able to proceed with a licensing agreement with you in order to protect their license. We do, however, have another opportunities for purchasing artwork if you are interested in pursuing this option. There are a couple of prints in your portfolio that we would purchase; however, in doing so all copyrights would become the property of ...."
So, as you see, it's a long story behind my trial as a textile designer.
Than I discovered
Spoonflower and I couldn't be happier about this new opportunity to learn even more within the field of the fabric design. They have an amazing community of the designers and fantastic themed contests that helped me a lot developing my designs and design ability, and certainly the amount of designs.
So, I printed @Spoonflower my "Doily" collection, pictured here around.
Than I created the real, nice portfolio with printed designs and also posted as a sneak- here
at the end of this post.
I sent this portfolio to Art Gallery fabrics 2 years ago, encouraged by the fact that they started licensing designers, so I thought to give it a try for the last time...
I don't know if the moment was right, or I was just so lucky, but after a few back and forth e-mails with
Pat Bravo, she actually said YES.
I received the official
yes last year and I remember it was the first day of spring (almost precisely one year ago) and I was all over the moon!!
So, a bit later, we started developing my "Doily" line and as the line
was quite changed from the initial point and doilies all over, I thought
that the name
"Indelible" would be more appropriate.
I just love the meaning of that word:
INDELIBLE - definition:
1. Impossible to remove, erase, or wash away; permanent: indelible ink.
2. Making a mark not easily erased or washed away: an indelible pen for labeling clothing.
3. Unable to be forgotten; memorable: an indelible memory.
So, as you can see it wasn't an easy ride and all I can say is that it was well worth the wait and effort, because, now, I can feel that I am at home. I am so blessed that I can call those wonderful people behind AGF a family, and looking forward to see where our collaboration will bring us!!!
Also, what I wanted to say to other designers is to not give up, to keep learning and trying and to believe in yourself. And above all to be original and unique!!
Don't try to follow the trends, but rather make trends!!!
Talk to you soon,
Katarina
GRID
DECADENCE
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