A bit about me: I'm a Hungarian-born designer with a passion for repeating pattern,flat design, colours and coloured pencils (which I haven't pursued lately, but going to as time allows). As a child I loved drawing and colouring, and trying my hands at every kind of art project that looked interesting. My mom was a Biology and Geography teacher, but she studied art on her own and started teaching
it to grade 5-8 students. I enjoyed doing all the class assignments she did at home in preparation for her classes.She also introduced me to Hungarian folk art, and all the flowers and critters we could find. I came to Canada at the age of 19 as a nanny to practice my English and kept extending and extending my stay, till I found myself studying illustration at the Ontario College of Art and Design. After graduating in 1999 with an Associate Diploma, I pursued further studies and received a Bachelor of Design degree in 2004. After graduating I started to look for jobs and managed to land one at a children's clothing company, where I was responsible for computer graphics and putting repeating patterns and presentations together. At that time I had no idea how patterns worked, and had to figure it out from scratch. Before long I was addicted to making them, because they kind of seemed like puzzles, and I like puzzles.:-) After about a year and a half I quit my job for a different one, which turned out to be a disaster. After about a month I was on unemployment benefits, but it all turned out well, because it enabled me to apply to participate in a government supported program called Self Employment Benefits Program at the Toronto Business Development Centre. I learned a lot and made many friends. Now I was ready to start a business. I had already taken courses with Bizlaunch, and taught salsa classes as a part-time business venture, so I had some idea of what it was like to work from home. My first thought was to design fabric, but I soon learned that printing is costly (before digital textile printing took off), so I went around the problem and printed my own fabric using my inkjet printer! I used the fabric to make unique greeting cards and sold them at stores and at the One of a Kind Show.Little by little my business evolved from there, and I was thinking bigger and bigger.... till I started designing rugs and wallpaper. It was a big step, and a challenging one, but then again, challenges give your problem solving skills a good workout. I find inspiration in a lot of things, especially from nature, folk art, fashion and art and design styles like Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts Movement. I love children's book illustrations, and collect children's books. In 2010 I gave birth to my beautiful (and handful) baby boy, Benjamin during the Interior Design Show (figures). I live in Toronto with Ed Beliczynski, my amazing partner of over 13 years and Benji. I owe Ed a lot, without him my business wouldn't be possible.
