Surtex, Part 3: Trends and Friends

“Did you see any new trends?” This is the question we hear most often upon our return from Surtex. The dilemma is that it is difficult for Surtex artists to see new trends, because we are all manning our booths! All day. Every day. Making trends.

However, my boothmates and I did find time for a little trend-spotting during our many treks for water refills. Below are a few of the hot themes and colors that we noticed were either new or back again. Now comes the tricky part. We have to decide if a trend is on the way in … or on the way out … and draw accordingly. Sometimes, we wonder if it might just be safer to get out the Ouija board. (Wait … that was once a trend … Hm. A trend searching for a trend. I might be on to something!)

So here is our official list from Surtex, National Stationery Show and the streets of New York. (Note: All data was gathered without the advice of the Ouija Board.)

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The good news is that no matter which trends are in and which are out, there is something at Surtex that never becomes old hat … the new artist friendships that we make every year. Here are a few shapshots from our Surtex neighborhood this year.

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We had a beautiful view across the aisle from pink paisleys to purple parrots: Meet our neighbors, Diane Kappa from Seattle, Washington, and Nina Favata from Ridgewood, New Jersey. Next door to Nina lived Rachel Gresham from Nashville, Tennessee and her lovely helper, Jill Raney, while our next door neighbors were Colleen MacDonald and Alanna George of Hot Fudge Studio, which, I must say, is a very delicious name for a company.

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And, we were so happy to arrive and see our fun neighbor from last year, Sheila Meehan, who is an artists’ agent and consultant. Sheila is wise and wonderful, and funny, too, which are all very nice traits for a next-door neighbor.

And, finally, the youngest neighbor to visit us was from around the corner … the adorable baby belonging to Ana Davis. And as you know, we love babies! Plus, we thought this outfit coordinated very nicely with our booth decor.

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So that’s a wrap for Surtex 2014. We had a great time in our home-away-from-home with so many talented artists and art directors from all over the world. It was a great show.

3 Comments

  1. Muv June 9, 2014

    Do I detect Julianna’s fine hand…as well as Cathy and Ellen…in this post?

  2. Rachel Gresham June 9, 2014

    Lovely write-up! Your family was so fascinating to watch the whole time….Beautiful and gracious and in pretty pretty clothes :) I hope you had a great show (and I’m quite sure you did)!

  3. Author
    Cathy Heck June 13, 2014

    Oh gosh thank you Rachel … we actually thought you were the ones with the amazingly coordinated fashion for your booth!! :-) Happy post-show art making!!

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