Art Day X

Our most recent Art Day was all about the free flowing art of water colour painting.

So much colour.

We gathered on a Thursday afternoon with our aprons on, to get a little messy while playing with paint. Inspiration was taken from nature books and design magazines, generating a line up at the photocopier to get the most inspiring angles and scale from the original images.

Preparing to make art!

Some inspiring books.

A brief introductory lesson in techniques gave us the footing we needed to start our colourful journey.

The methods used included wetting the paper to create an open field for the pigments, letting the paint tell its own story, and using a variety of brushes. We wanted to express a freedom and openness in movement that can be achieved by this medium. We also wanted to create fun, bold, and unusual designs.

Using wax as a resist and water on the paper to let the colour flow freely.

Wet paper with a fan brush.

Everyone was focused.

Painting from inspiration.

Water colours require some drying time, though. Our office became a landscape of drying art, requiring careful navigation as we eventually went back to our desks.

Some interesting and inspiring results from Art Day X!

We Popped Up in the Junction This Week

After almost 25 years as designers of custom carpets we decided to have our very first sample sale. Check out our evite!

We’ve taken over a lovely gallery space at 3109 Dundas Street West to promote our one-of-a-kind designs at once in a lifetime prices.

Our first day was a smashing success!

We had a great response from the community as well! 

"I'm at this once in a lifetime sale at my custom rug fabricators. This is an amazing 8X10. Regularly $8000. For $2900."

Shelley Kirsch, principle, Shelley Kirsch Interior Design

"Making the Junction hotter than ever" Claudine Crangle

Day two saw a slower start but had a very busy finish with many more happy customers walking away with our unique designs.

We’ve made it to day three, and the rugs are going fast. Come and join us before it ends! We’re having so much fun, and who knows if or when we’ll ever do it again. It’s such a great opportunity to buy our fair trade, wool and silk, designer rugs, at 70% off the usual retail price.

Hurry hurry!

Cascading waterfall staircase in ELLE Décor November 2012

ELLE Décors "Luxury Issue" gushes with opulent glamour as it takes the reader on a visual tour of the high life.  In the spread “An Eye for Elegance”, William Sofield gives a New York apartment a luxurious face-lift with delicate textures and tasteful embellishments.   Amongst the delicate textures are three of CMI’s hand-knotted custom rugs found in the bedroom, the office and the staircase. 

The staircase, in 100% silk, mimics the soothing flow of a waterfall cascading down each step.

Original Artwork © Creative Matters Incorporated

Creative Matters launch at by Kamy in Sao Paulo at Design Weekend

During Design Weekend, August 23 - 26, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, CMI launched pieces from the Aerial Collection at the by Kamy showroom.  We had the pleasure of exhibiting our work alongside 9 important national designers.  

Such a beautiful showroom and a great group of talented designers:

Our rugs looked fantastic in this beautiful space:

Our carpets Scratch Frost and Rory Royale being installed at by Kamy:

This photo was taken during a television interview at the opening night launch of Design Weekend.  Carol on the left with Antonio Da Motta, Designer and Director of Outreach for by Kamy, and Francesca Alzati Co-owner and Creative Director of by Kamy on the right.  

Until next time Brazil, tchau! 

Elle DECOR features Wish from the Terra Collection!

Elle Decor magazine is highly regarded in the interior design world and has a great reputation here in Canada, so when we stumbled upon one of our rugs in an Elle Decor feature, we were thrilled!  The feature, entitled “Modern Life”, presents contemporary townhouses reinvented into chic and glamorous living spaces.  We weren’t surprised to find our hand-knotted wool and silk “Wish” rug from the Terra collection in the dining room as the monochromatic platinum color palette juxtaposes the fun pattern making it perfect for a low key family meal as well as an upbeat dinner party.

September 2012 Issue

Sherrill Canet designed this beautiful dining room

Showroom Photo

 

Original Artwork

reDesign 2012 Update

Chosen by popular demand, our modern upholstered “Eames DSW” chair will be reinvented as a colorful deep-sea creature – the jellyfish.  We have started the process by painting silk fabric with vibrant liquid dye and are ready to move on to our next task - creating tentacles and upholstering the surface of the sea jelly. 

Our sketch

Painting the silk with liquid dye

 Vibrant colors

The "skeleton" of the jellyfish

reDesign 2012 Sketches

We're letting our creativity flow from pen to paper.  Take a look at what we've been working on for the Textile Museum of Canada's reDesign 2012 project. 

reDesign 2012

Creative Matters will be participating in the Textile Museum of Canada’s second annual reDesign 2012.  This year, the event will take place on Wednesday November 7^th at Hazelton Lanes in Yorkville, Toronto.

We have been invited, along with an eclectic group of Toronto-based artists, architects and designers to reimagine, reinvent and restyle a modernistic upholstered "Eames DSW" chair provided by MORBA, a Queen West business.  All chairs will be auctioned off the night of the gala, with proceeds in support of The Textile Museum of Canada’s exhibitions, collections and public programs.  The Textile Museum of Canada is dedicated to the collection and exhibition of Textiles.

The photo below shows the upholstered ultramodern chair we will be working on.  Please stay tuned to see the finished product or come out to the Gala on November 7th!

NYICS Makes Room for Creative Matters!

We have decided to increase our space at the New York International Carpet Show, taking place in the Fall, in order to include a brand new Art Day rug (#396)!  The rug is still in the process of being made and we are extremely excited to unveil the finished product for the first time at NYICS.  

Read more at Rug News and Design. 

Milan Design Week 2012: Analogia 003

While in Milan for COVER's first curated show, Forza Tappeti: The Rug Revolution, Carol and Donna had the opportunity to visit several of the countless exhibits stationed around the city during Milan Design Week.  One of the favourite exhibits was Ventura Lambrate, located in the city's industrial area, where restored factories have been transformed into design studios housing a variety of independent design shows.
 
One of the most memorable installations was Analogia 003 created by designer Andrea Mancuso and architect Emilia Serra.  This was an amazing temporary installation using merino wool on a grid of fishing line to create the illusion of three dimensional objects within a room setting.  The wispy and delicate effect was magical, as the  pieces seemed to defy gravity and hover.  To the naked eye, the objects appeared to be drawn by hand, but with a closer look,  you could make out the many networks of fishing line with pieces of unspun wool draped strategically to form images of tables, chairs, plants, and lamps. 
Imaginative, beautiful and creative!
www.analogiaproject.com

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Abigail Williams
abigail@creativemattersinc.com
416-934-9771, ext. 27

Toronto, ON – March 19, 2012: Award-winning Canadian design firm, Creative Matters Inc., will exhibit hand-knotted rugs from its celebrated Art Day and Aerial collections at Forza Tappeti: The Rug Revolution on April 17 to 20 during Milan Design Week. The firm of 12 female artists received an exclusive invitation from the event’s curator, COVER magazine, to show its work at the inaugural event, which will be held at Galleria Giacomo Manoukian Noseda in Milan’s Brera Design District, an area brimming with avant-garde galleries and fresh new designers.

“We are honoured to be among such renowned designers as Jan Kath of Germany and Christopher Farr of England in exposing the designs of our talented team of artists and weavers to such a broad and sophisticated audience,” said Creative Matters co-founder Donna Hastings.

According to COVER, published by Hali publications, Forza Tappeti will “feature the works of acknowledged leaders in ‘design carpets’ who represent the leading edge in a field that is revolutionizing not only the way rugs are made and designed within traditional weaving cultures but also the way that carpets are understood by the public and used by designers within interiors.”

Creative Matters is the only Canadian design firm that will participate in the curated show. Art Day #123, one of the Creative Matters rugs selected for installation, is a magical wool and silk, hand-knotted creation. Its randomized brush strokes, realized in grey and black with a hint of aqua on a taupe backdrop, have been described as “gracefully geometric.”

“Art Day #123 is the collective effort of our talented team of artists and the product of one of our monthly Art Day events. All of our staff participate in these events, which we initiated about a year ago as a way to inspire and celebrate unbounded creativity,” said co-founder Carol Sebert, adding “Art Days are also just a lot of fun.” To date, Creative Matters Art Day events have yielded more than 500 unique designs, many of which have been turned into commercially available rugs.

Forza Tappeti will be held in conjunction with the Milan Furniture Fair, the largest event of its kind worldwide, which is expected to attract more than 300,000 people from around the world. The show will be open to the general public on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22.

Established in 1988, Creative Matters Inc. designs and manufactures original, free-trade luxury rugs and floor coverings. With carpets in more than 40 countries, Creative Matters’ international clientele range from such high-end retailers as Gucci, Tom Ford and Louis Vuitton to hotels, corporate offices and residences, including St. Regis Hotel (Mexico City), JWA Marriott Hotel (Kazakhstan), Covidian Offices (Bermuda), and Canadian diplomatic residences and embassies in more than 35 locations. Creative Matters is proud to participate in and support Label Step, an international organization committed to promoting environmentally friendly production methods, improving the working and living conditions of carpet weavers and fighting abusive child labour. www.creativemattersinc.com; www.label-step.org

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NOTES TO EDITOR:

Photographs enclosed

Donna Hastings and Carol Sebert available for interview

Art Day #123

Scratch Frost

Art Day Se7en!

The CMI team is eager to get out of the office for the 7th installment of Art Day. We have been busy brainstorming ways to come up with the most original designs and have decided to create images through photography. The group is setting out on March 6th to shoot images along the rail path – rain or shine! The focus of the outing will be to capture the natural beauty and balance between industrial and organic elements. Stay tuned for updates and photos of our art inspired field trip!

(Teaser created by Tiffany)

Jeffrey has good advice!

Stair runners were the hot topic in yesterday’s “Ask Jeffrey” column in the National Post. Fisher gave a homeowner some great ideas to jazz up their hardwood staircase, including one of our floral stair runners we designed in collaboration with the talented Shelley Kirsch. Read the article here.

Cover Magazine Ad Campaign Photo Shoot

#13 Platinum - Art Day Collection

Earlier this week, we held a photo shoot at the Klaus by Nienkamper showroom in downtown Toronto. The space was bright, open and displayed pieces from Klaus' modern furniture collection as props on the set. The photos were taken by commercial photographer, Chris Harrison, and will be developed into a full-page ad in the next issue of Cover, a magazine for modern carpet & textile for interiors. The ad will feature one of the carpets from our Art Day Collection and will promote Fiorza Tappeti, a one of a kind rug exhibit during Milan's Design Week, April 17-22. We have been invited as part of a select group to showcase two of our carpets at the show, which is promising to revolutionize the contemporary carpet design world. The showroom exhibit is taking place in the Brera Design District, an area brimming with avant-garde galleries and fresh new designers. If you are planning on attending Milan Design Week this Spring, be sure to stop by the Galleria Giacomo Manounkian Noseda to see our beautiful designs on display!

Klaus by Nienkamper

300 King St. E.

Toronto, On, Canada

M5A 1K4

Monday - Friday 10 am - 6 pm

Saturday 11 am - 5 pm

Forza Tappeti

Piazza San Simpliciano, 2

Angolo Piazza Paolo VI

20121 Milan

10 am- 8 pm

tx: style design challenge 2012

The CMI team has been busy creating new designs and corresponding inspiration boards for the tx: style design challenge 2012. Mannington Commercial, sponsors of the contest, are looking for new inspirational patterns and are developing the winning design into a full carpet collection! They are also sending the lucky finalists on a trip to New York, Chicago or Milan. Help the team by voting for your favourite designs at tx:style. The finalists are chosen based on online comments and your votes, so vote often! There will also be a panel of judges so feel free to give us some positive feedback. New designs are being added daily!

You have until February 19th to get your votes in!

Ange

Illumbra

Lofty

Inscribed

Undulate

Diffuse

Carol

Tossed Salad

Kaleidoscope Ripples

Blackboard

Whimsical Movement

Effervescence

Tiffany

Lacy

Sheer

Flutter

Blaze

Intertwined

Leah

Gold Leaf

Sparkle

Elizabeth

Spanish Tile

Confetti

Damask Graffiti

Donna

Golden Stamp

Retro Landscape

DOMOTEX 2012: Custom Design in, Mass Production out! Hanover Jan 14-17

DOMOTEX was a great success for Creative Matters Inc., with approximately 45,000 visitors at the 4-day trade show; we had a large amount of exposure. We were one of 1,371 exhibitors showcasing designs from around the world and because more than half the guests were from abroad, we had an opportunity to present our products to a global audience. The main theme of the event for 2012 was customized living so we had no problem fitting in! It was fabulous to see flooring and textile play such a significant role in interior decorating: carpets have become works of art and are making statements on their own! We’re back in the office and have recovered from jet lag – fresh ideas inspired by the international trends seen at DOMOTEX should be expected in our next collection!

Souk Deluxe - Selected Carpet Design

Souk Deluxe is a juried exhibition showcasing high-quality hand-made carpets from companies presenting modern designs. Selected carpets are displayed at Domotex Germany for buyers and industry members to view so they are able to experience the latest innovative products and techniques that designers are experimenting with. This is a great way to get an overview of the carpet industry and see the latest trends. If you are heading to Domotex Germany 2012 this year, be sure to check out the Souk Deluxe show.

Creative Matters was accepted and is exhibiting Art Day Carpets Hand-Knotted #74 and Kilim #111.

Art Day VI

The year is off to a great start for the CMI team with our first Art Day of 2012! It was all about creating designs with light and shadow. With transparent found objects we experimented with lighting to cast interesting shadows onto waiting blank pages. We then traced the shadows with different mediums: thick & thin markers, acrylic paint, crayons, india ink, oil pastels, chalk...etc. The resulting patterns have already been scanned into our computers and are ready for our designers to develop them into new and original carpet designs.

(Art Day VI instructions by Tiffany)

We had our first art day in January 2011 and after this first session we set a goal for ourselves to design 500 new carpet concepts by the end of the year. We are proud to announce that on December 23, 2011 we designed "Concept 500" which means we reached our goal! We are very proud of our 500 concepts and are excited to have fresh designs to add to our archive. Some of these ideas became our new line that we will be launching in Germany at Domotex next week.

(The CMI team hard at work creating)

(Maddy creating some interesting shapes & shadows)

We have decided this year to set a goal to create another 500 new concepts by the end of the year. We did it last year and are more than confident we will make it again this year!

To view more photos please visit our Facebook Gallery for Art Day VI!
To view our "art day" line see our website www.creativemattersinc.com