Side Effects: Art Prints From The Balkans

Some of you know that my family is of Serbian origin and thus I like to peek to the Balkans from time to time and observe what is happening in the design scene over there. Belgrade has become a sort of center for the Balkans design scene with various cool concept stores like THIS one ore fab design cafés like THIS one. Now the first online store for art prints by Balkan based designers has been launched - Side Effects.

Side Effects has curated a fine selection of large scale art prints by local designers and every print is a carefully created silk screen art print and it comes in a limited series of 100 pieces with a hand-signed serial number. And the collection of art prints is constantly growing and so is the pool of young artists.

When I browsed through their current collection I was particularly drawn to the work entitled 'Layers of Needs' by artist Sandra Milanovic and 'Golden Boy' by Mane Radmanovic. But I also fell for the art print called 'Field of Rhombus' by Danijel Savovic - it looks a bit like a giant sketching in a very orderly and designy manner. Now I wonder: Which one is your favorite art print?

I think we will have to look more often to the southeastern edge of Europe in the future. There is lots of interesting happening there right now, many young, creative people are emerging on the design market and I think we all can handle a little bit of a fresh breeze from the Balkans!

Photography via Side Effects

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Giveaway: Win Art For Your Walls By Ixxi

Have you heard of ixxi? If you love art on your walls this is the way to go! Ixxi is the perfect solution for wall art in rented spaces or if you do not want to harass your walls with a hammer, nails or a drilling machine - because the ixxi art is simply attached and detached without trace once you want to change your wall decor! I have teamed up with ixxi and I am working on three German home stories for their blog (you can see the first home story HERE).

Ixxi offers a wide range of possibilities - you can customize your favorite image into an ixxi art piece or choose from their huge image bank. Your chosen image will be divided into square images on a high quality synthetic paper which is waterproof and UV resistant. You will receive your ixxi in a small box within three days and you can then start playing - you can connect the square parts with the included connecting crosses and then easily fix your finished ixxi art piece with the delivered hanging strip. And once you are over and done with it, you can detach the ixxi without traces.

For the upcoming advent season I am happy to give away three winter/advent themed ixxis to three readers. We are giving away the following ixxi art pieces: The colourful advent calendar by Hannes Beer, the blue and white advent calendar by Geertje Aalders and the winter landscape by Avercamp, a favorite art piece from the Dutch Rijksmuseum. 

How can you join in? Simply leave a comment under this blog post telling me which of those three ixxis you'd like to win. The giveaway is open internationally and all comments posted until November 26th, 2014, will be in the draw. We'll make sure you get your ixxi beginning December. So what you're waiting for? Tell me which one you'd like!

Happy week, friends!

Photography via ixxi

This post has been brought to you in collaboration with ixxi

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Fun, Creative, Visual: Mapology Guides

How often have we found ourselves pondering: Right decision? Wrong decision? And I don't mean only while navigating through a new city or hood. Buying a present - this or that? Getting a pet - yes or no? In our everyday lives we are constantly confronted with decision - bigger and smaller ones. How we tackle life's little dilemmas says much about us - some discuss it with friends, others draw straws, again others get numb and take no decision at all. But now there's a cure for us curious and creative ones: Mapology Guides will help us find a good decision!

Mapology Guides is mutual project between my friend and fellow blogger Tina Bernstein and designer Mike Abrahams. Their mission is to help people explore every day questions and as a result make better choices and decisions in their lives. They encourage bite-size, visual learning and self-governing personal growth.

The idea of a map serves here is a familiar concept in decision making. The 'traveller' can decide where they want to get and begin the journey along a route and at a pace to suit. So who said maps are only for geography? Take a look at the first three fun and super creative Mapology Guides!

Be Present Perfect
Just in time for the festive season, this map helps people to get the right gifts for everyone, every time. 

What's Bugging You?
This map provides help to find ways to address the things that bug us in our everyday life - take the right decision and move on!

Would Like To Meet...
This fun map is matchmaking pets and people. How do we know which pet is right for us? Let yourself be guided by this fun map and you'll get to a wise decision!

All maps are curated and art directed, led by Tina and Mike. They team up on each map with a different writer and illustrator utilizing language and imagery to distill a complex subject in a fun, humorous, visual and educational way. The current range of Mapology Guides includes the above mentioned three maps, posters and postcards. Get yours here!

Happy weekend, friends!

Photography by Lina Skukauske

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Art Crush: Urban Jungle Vibe For Your Walls

Will it come as a sort of revelation if I say I love plants? Ha, I can see you all rolling your eyes! As the founder of Urban Jungle Bloggers it comes as no surprise that anything plant related catches my attention - even art! Well, this seems to be the solution for those among you who are too reluctant when it comes to plants - maybe you want to add that urban jungle vibe onto your wall instead? I promise: No watering, no caring necessary! And it won't die away!

This wonderful art print with banana leaves is the work of Hungarian artist Ildiko Olah for her label Oldi Art. Her work is inspired by naturalism and the beauty surrounding us as well as by her two kids with a dash of playfulness in her works. I really like her animal drawings and the plant inspired works such as the shown banana leaves and another piece showing a cactus. Make sure you check out her portfolio here.

And if you like what you see, you might want to hop over to the Facebook page of Oldi Art and join her giveaway - if you are lucky enough you will win one of her art pieces. Now I have to leave you. I have to water my real plants and afterwards I'll relax on my bed with a book and enjoy the sight of the calming banana leaves. And if I fall asleep, I might wake up in a tropical resort. Who knows. It's the magic of art!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

This post has been brought to you in cooperation with Oldi Art

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Art Crush: Decorating Your Walls With Lumitrix

According to my love for illustrations, photography and any other wall art, I should live in a palace with an abundance of free wall space to decorate and redecorate. Alas, reality tells another story. The story of very limited wall space and a pile of framed wall art stored in a corner of my apartment. However, nothing could hold me back to add one amazing piece of art photography to my abode - a large photo of Bondi Beach by Australian photographer Louisa Seton, exclusively sold on Lumitrix.

The atmospheric photography simulates an airy feeling and seems to emanate a light sea breeze and salty ocean mist. This incredibly calming vibe seems not to be disturbed by the numerous bathers populating the famous beach - to the contrary. The juxtaposition of a lively beach scene with an almost elusive atmosphere has a strong visual power - it fascinates me day in, day out.

When I received the art print from Lumitrix I had to decide on the proper framing (but you can also order any photography framed). My choice was a light, thin wooden frame made of beech to complement the airy photography. And I had to decide on the appropriate place to mount it. Since my space is limited, the choice was quickly made. I decided to add it to my bedroom nook thus creating a light, sea inspired bedroom atmosphere (well, I happened to have the ideal bedlinen to colour match the photography).

Lumitrix's motto is 'see, love, frame' - and it basically rounds-up my personal experience. Their mission is to offer fine art photography at an affordable price tag - currently most of their fine art photographies are available for 50 pounds each, as numbered editions of 500. However, as of coming week, Lumitrix will be launching a fine art range with more collectable pieces and different sizes including a wider price span. So if you have been looking for that very beautiful fine art photography to adorn your home, look no further: Lumitrix is a fab source with a great selection and quick delivery. 

Happy decorating & happy weekend!

Photography by Igor Josifovic, other images by Lumitrix

This blog post has been brought to you in collaboration with Lumitrix

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Happy Interior Blog Recommends: Intimacy Under The Wires By Sivan Askayo

Last month, during my trip to Israel, I had the pleasure of meeting my friend and travel photographer Sivan Askayo in Tel Aviv for a dinner (see us HERE). I was pretty lucky taking into consideration that Sivan is an avid traveler - mostly for her work she travels the world on a constant basis. And as a passionate traveler and restless inspiration hunter myself, both Sivan and I have a solid basis for our friendship. 

During our dinner she told me about a project she hs worked on since 2010 and was now ready to launch. A project with a pretty alluring and intriguing name: Intimacy under the wires. I was curious to hear more about it and so she showed a few of her photos which are now part of her limited edition sold on Artfully Walls. 

I loved the idea that Sivan found inspiration in something rather mundane, especially in cities in the south. Hanging laundry above streets is not so common here in Germany, but very normal in many warmer countries. And it was her domestic ground that set the tone for a series born out of her ongoing inspiration hunt: she snapped the first pics in Tel Aviv's Jaffa neighborhood and continued this series on various other trips to cities like Barcelona, Naples, Florence, Buenos Aires and many more. Whereas hanging laundry seems to be utterly mundane, it carries so much more for the curious observer: it tells an intimate story about its owners and ignites interpretations about the people wearing and using the exposed laundry. 

Ten of her exclusive snapshots of the 'Intimacy under the wires' series can now be bought over on Artfully Walls. 

Happy hump day!

Photography by Sivan Askayo

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Giveaway: Art For Your Walls!

Currently I am in the midst of my own little restyling project at home. One of my tasks is a little gallery wall above my new sofa. Since I have quite a few framed art prints at home I started playing around with them, holding them against the wall and marking the desired placement with masking tape to get a better feeling for the look of the upcoming gallery wall. Little did I know that nowadays you simply pull out your iPhone, use an smart app and get an instantaneous impression of your future gallery wall. Sounds rad? Well, imagine my happiness when I discovered Artfully Walls, a new online shop for art with a smart application.

My friend and photographer Sivan Askayo emailed me a few weeks ago to introduce me to a project she's involved in as an artist - Artfully Walls. Since I am a huge fan of art prints and all kind of illustrations, I was interested in learning more. 

Artfully Walls offers a unique portfolio of art prints hand-picked by professional curators and showcased on beautifully styled gallery walls. This is a new way of seeing art prints in a more holistic concept of a gallery wall. You know, sometimes it feels so hard to group the right art pieces together without arriving at the deliberate chaos ending. The best thing is you can choose to either buy a single art piece or an entire gallery wall - all online, all with a single click.

To get even fancier, let's talk about the handy mobile app. I've tried it at my home and I've literally spent half an hour swapping gallery walls on my living room wall via the mobile app. The app uses augmented reality and recreates a realistic image of a gallery wall in your home. Fabulous!

And to top now everything I am happy to offer a fantastic giveaway with Artfully Walls to you my dear readers. We are giving away five art prints picked by me - so please feel free to tell me which is your favorite and you are in the draw for a free art print!

To join the giveaway:

• Leave a comment under this blogpost stating which art print you want to win.
• Like Artfully Walls on Facebook.
• Five winners will be drawn through random.org. The giveaway is open worldwide and closes on Friday, November 15th, midnight CET.

Good luck!

Photography via Artfully Walls

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Botanical Prints By Pernille Møller Folcarelli

It is no secret that I am an enthusiastic urban jungle blogger and that I love greens in homes. On the other hand, I absolutely understand and accept that plants in homes is not everybody's cup of tea. But what about bringing the botanicals on your walls? How about the eternal beauty of immortalized, delicate leafs, twigs or feathers as unique, handmade art prints? Sounds interesting? Then take a look at the sublime work of the Danish artist Pernille Møller Folcarelli.

Pernille has always been fascinated by the botanical universe of plants and trees. For her latest series of graphic prints she is using natural materials such as leafs, twigs and feathers collected directly from her garden in Denmark. She works with a graphic press in her studio and uses the natural materials directly in the printing process thus creating unique, handmade prints that reflect the individuality of every piece of nature immortalized in her work.

The colour palette of the botanical prints is predominately black and white with hues inspired by Nordic nature. To me, these prints look like a perfect detail to Scandinavian inspired interiors. My personal favorite is the prints with three fig leaves. All her prints are available through her website for purchase. 

What do you think of Pernille's work?

Photography via Pernille Møller Folcarelli

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If I Was A Rich Boy (Na, Na, Na…): Art Lust!

I really, really love nice things to hang on the walls or lean on them. It is a little crush of mine. Actually, I am currently working on a gallery wall but that takes time - it must grow almost organically:-) 

Most of the time I buy pretty affordable art prints and illustrations. A few years ago I invested a bit more money in an original art piece of the Berlin based illustrator Olaf Hajek and it is my sort of luxury treat if you want so. 

A friend of mine told me about a site called artsation.com a few days ago. I had to glance at it of course - first because I love art and second because it's a Munich based online art gallery for contemporary art. So I clicked and clicked and well, I ended up with four favorite art pieces. Instantly I had the fiddler's tune in my head 'If I was a rich boy na na na…' - because if I were, I'd be spending money like right now. Of course I'd be living in a spacious lofty apartment where I could hang this fab art and dwell in my own little gallery. You see, it's a dreamy Friday today. But every now and then one must invest in good art, right?

Happy Friday, friends!

Photography: Gallery wall via Line Klein, art via artsation.com

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