Creative Matters Immersed in “Contemporary Culture”

Last night the Creative Matters team was delighted attend the celebration of the newly renovated 3rd location of Weavers Art in Toronto. Michael Pourvakil and his team launched Weavers Art – Contemporary Culture last night at 162 Bedford Rd., in Designers Walk Building 3.

Contemporary Culture is showcasing hand-knotted, silk and wool luxury carpets by a handful of international designers such as Emma Gardner, Lapchi and New Moon, and perhaps, most excitingly, yours truly - Creative Matters. Pause for applause. – Thank-you.

The beautiful open-concept showroom exudes luxury with it’s high ceiling, cream wall colour and seductive lighting. I must say, we felt right at home...and so do our rugs!

If you get the chance, go and have a look - you'll be floored. ;)

Cheers,
Erin

There's something in the air...

Spring has sprung in the Creative Matters studio, the sun is shining and thankfully, there is no more snow on the ground in Toronto (knock on wood). We’ve all been super-busy with various new projects and we can hardly believe that it’s almost the end of March! It seems that we have a million things on the go - ok, maybe just a hundred - but the there’s a buzz in the air and we like it.

The design team has been working hard on new additions to the Aerial Collection (some are in the sampling stages) and we’ve been toying with the idea of adding a second collection to our Creative Matters line of carpets, with a completely different look and feel. That’s under lock and key at the moment so, stay tuned to see what we come up with! Trust me, it’s going to be great.

We’re also excited to be in the throws of planning an event in April with the lovely people at Modern Weave to celebrate our successful collaboration and creative merging of the minds, if you will. Modern Weave, along with their sister store Weavers Art, carry our entire Aerial Collection of wool and silk carpets in various sizes and colourways. They are continually supportive of what we do and they have a breath-taking showroom so if you haven’t seen our carpets in the flesh (or fibre) head to King Street East for a peek. For those of you in the trade, visit one of 3 Weavers Art locations in Designers Walk or on Davenport Road or Bedford Road all in Toronto (see the website for details).

I know it’s short but hopefully this post piques your interest. Before you know it, the season of bare feet will be upon us – what better time for a wool and silk carpet, hmmm? The carpet above has some nice Spring appeal - nothing like a bright, cheerful botanical to freshen things up. (You can check out this one in the December 2008 The World of Interiors, December 2008 article "Made for Manhattan" with Studio Sofield)

Talk soon,
Erin.

...and the winner is!

Well, the votes are in and the people have spoken! Creative Matters is tops in design according to the Domotex visitors who voted at floorforum this year. As I mentioned before, floorforum is an area in Hall 3 (where our stand lived) "devoted to trends in the modern carpets and textile floor coverings industry." This year the area was divided into 3 categories - design, structure and colour - and Creative Matters displayed 3 of our best, Rory-Platinum, Polarize-Ice and Pepe-Gold, in the category of design. Pretty great, right? This is a photo of the floorforum area- it was quite impressive. You'll notice Ana in the bottom right, striking a pose.


So now for the best part - we won! That's right - Best Liked by Visitors in the Category of Design! We're thrilled and totally flattered to have been chosen, on an international stage, as best design, by the people in the trade who buy our rugs. Just as a refresher, I give you Rory Platinum, our winning rug:



Additionally, Creative Matters was honoured to have, once again, been short-listed for a Carpet Design Award for Best Modern Design. The judges included some of the most recognizable names in the industry, including Matthew Bourne of Christopher Farr Contemporary Rugs and internationally exhibited textile designer Kate Blee. These awards are organized by the great people at Modern Carpet and Textiles/Hali Magazines whose magazine we love! Check it out.

Needless to say, the Creative Matters team left Germany on quite a high. We did a little survey find out just which carpets received the most attention. And the survey says! - Scratch Ice. For your viewing enjoyment-



Now it's back to the drawing board for us - the wheels are turning and I think you should be very excited (and intrigued) as to what we come up with next. I'll keep you posted.

Stay warm - spring's just around the corner, I promise.
Erin

Home Sweet (and cold) Home

We're back! The Domotex team is slowly trickling back into Canada, buzzing with excitement - let's face it, we had a great (and very successful) time. This show was great - so many stories and so little time! In the next series of entries, we'll fill you in - we know you're curious. Let's start with our arrival...


Ana and I landed in Germany on Wednesday, January 14th and went straight to the Deutsche Messe, where the show was being held. Running on sheer adrenaline and 3hrs sleep, we excited to see how the booth looked...and it was beautiful and glamourous and we were extatic! Our massive crate, containing our goods and supplies was there too - things were falling into place nicely...all we needed now were the rugs. We held our breath and waited and finally the rugs arrived (direct from Nepal)...looking terrific.


We did our best to lay the ground work for the next day which included vaccuuming and hanging the carpets and setting up the rest of the booth and then decided that this long day was beginning to give up its fight. Our trip to the hotel was fairly smooth, although I must admit, my brain was working in overdrive to remember exactly where the little inn was located.

The next day we were back at the Messe at 9 and Carol and Donna arrived just after noon. We got to work, turning our canvas into art, hanging carpets and setting up shop. We delivered our carpet to "floorforum", an area devoted to trends in the modern carpets and textile floor coverings industry was designed internationally renowned designer Ulf Moritz. This year the categories were reserved for design, structure and colour. Creative Matters was selected to contribute 3 entries this year - all under the category of "design". Throughout the show, visitors were invited to vote for their favourite - a "peoples choice" award, if you will - and who better to choose the best carpet? :)

Next up - deliver Nova Platinum - our Carpet Design Award nominated master-piece. It must have been quite a site...4 Canadian women traipsing through 4 separate halls, lugging 80 square feet of pure wool and silk, in what appeared to be a little carpet train. After a slight detour, we found our destination in Hall 15 and left our CDA hopeful in the capable hands of Hali/Modern. Sorry, no pics of this area - highly secure and classified, just the way we like it. Trust me, Nova Platinum looked gooooood on its own little personal stage.


The next day the Domotex team arrived at the booth ready to work , reconnect and meet new faces - our neighbors for the next 5 days. We were excited about our beautiful booth and our prospects with the new Aerial Collection. You'll have to stay tuned for the results of the awards!



Until then -
Tschus!

Erin

Our bags are packed and we're INCREDIBLY excited to go!

Happy New Year! Gutes Neues Jahr!

It's January 2009! We're packing our bags/crates/boxes for Domotex in Hanover, Germany in preparation for our international launch of the additional pieces to our Aerial Collection.
Domotex is one of the largest carpet focused trade shows in the world, featuring a diverse range of offerings, presented by some 1,350 exhibitors from 60 different nations.


And here's an exciting tidbit - we've received news that we are short listed for an award! We're crossing our fingers. In the words of the organizers:

"These awards are given for innovative design, creativity and quality in the handmade carpet sector. The CDA are the benchmark for this industry and the place to showcase new trends".

As well, 3 of our rugs have been chosen for "floorforum", designed by the internationally renowned designer Ulf Moritz. This is an area of the show that is reserved to showcase trend and innovation in the carpet design field and we're delighted and flattered to be a part of it. Again in the words of the organizers:

The theme is "less is more", and the focus here is on the natural, tactile quality of textured carpets, which bring warmth and feeling to any room with their subdued colours, restful patterns and their suitability for any setting. Dramatic textures and natural textiles are seen from a new angle here in a sensitively staged display.


Carol, Donna, Erin and Ana, will be welcoming international visitors to our booth in Hall 3 Stand 54, and look forward to positive feedback for the Aerial Collection. It is an amazing fair with every type of carpet imaginable, available from vendors worldwide. We look forward to sharing our experiences and the information on new innovative products upon our return. If we get a second, we'll try to post some pics and info while we're there!

See you! auf Wiedersehen!

Happy 20th Birthday Creative Matters!!

What a flurry of activity November has afforded Creative Matters! More than a week after our 20th Anniversary Gala Fundraiser, I finally have a chance to sit down and write about our fantastic night.


First of all, we’re 20! Happy Birthday Creative Matters! Congratulations to Carol and Donna for such a great feat – and here’s to 20 more, right? So, the night went off without a hitch and we saw just over 500 people come through our event at Gallery 345 to help us celebrate. Our long and arduous hours of installing the show, that saw the whole staff (and some of their parents!?) hammering and hanging, sweeping and cleaning, paid off. The gallery was transformed from a very promising canvas into a feast for the eyes (and hearts!) that displayed our new collection of hand-knotted carpets as well as a retrospective of 20 years worth of CMI designs and photographs.


One of the other big highlights of the evening was the unveiling of Hariti, the responsible, luxury rug that was created as a fund-raising piece that will be raffled to benefit RugMark. RugMark, as you know, works to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry in South Asia and offers educational opportunities to children who are rescued from carpet mills. The carpet is stunning and we sold a ton of raffle tickets. We’re nearing our goal but we’re still not there – so buy buy buy! You still have 13 days left! I can't even tell you what an opportunity this is - the chance to win a hand knotted, one-of-a-kind, wool and silk carpet - for $25!


In addition to all of this we finally had the opportunity to meet a RugMark representative, in the flesh! Heather Joseph, RugMark’s Development Officer (who is lovely) flew in from Washington, D.C. She came and spoke and worked the room to spread the word. And as a special treat, Heather was joined by Robin Romano, the talented photographer (and amazing speaker) who shot the Faces of Freedom show that hung at Gallery 345 in conjunction with Floored to be 20. The photos were breath taking and we were so happy that they could share in our celebration.


Great big thank-yous to everyone who helped to make our party perfect! Stay tuned for more party pics on our next post "The Guest List".

Stay warm (curled up on a wool carpet)!
Erin

Memories of Nepal...

With the RugMark Raffle well underway, many of you may be curious as to the origins of the carpet Hariti. We know that it was inspired by a photograph taken by Carol while on her first visit to Nepal and that the name translates as "Protectress of Children" in Tibetan. When asked about the photo and her trip to South Asia, Carol spoke about her feelings and memories from that sunny say in October 2000:




"The inspiration for our rug Hariti was taken from a photo I took in Kathmandu at Durbar Square in October 2000. It was my first trip to Nepal and I was overcome by the spiritual connectedness of the country and the people.

This photo of a child in the temple area surrounded by the pigeons was a thrilling moment. The cooing of the pigeons, the relative quiet in the temple area and then stepping out to the mayhem of the street, foreign yet oddly familiar. People confirming their beliefs in the temple, turning the prayer wheels, lighting candles, oddly similar to going to church in Canada.

I'm so happy that the rug has been made and has the beautiful energy that reminds me of that October journey." - Carol Sebert



There you have it. The finished carpet is absolutely breath taking - and so are the photos but, you have to see it in person. Hariti will be hanging at Gallery 345 from November 13th to 15th as a part of our 20th Anniversary gallery show, Floored to be 20. Tickets are available by visiting the RugMark website. All proceeds go to support this great cause to end child labour in South Asian carpet mills. Thanks in advance for your support!