Designer spotlight Sunday: Mark Hordyszynski

ALOHA ALL!

So now it's my turn to be the guest blogger on
The Michael Miller Fabrics' Making It Fun blog!

I suppose the question that I am asked the most is,
"Where do you get your ideas from?"

Sometimes things come to me as specific requests
from Kathy Miller, Design Director of Michael Miller Fabrics, who is always out there interfacing with people to learn what's needed in the market; from the sales reps who converse with their accounts to understand what is needed for their customers; from friends, family and colleagues; and from people like you!

But most of the times, it is what I am inspired to do - how I perceive and process the world around me. Sometimes it is a literal translation of a photograph or image; sometimes it's just something whacky that I come up with; and occasionally it is something that I think I see and yet it isn't what I had thought it to be - and that's great because then I have come up with a completely original idea!

And last but certainly not least is HUMOR. I try when it is appropriate, to infuse my designs with humor, laughter, comedic irony and tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition. It makes my heart sing when someone looks at my fabric and falls in love with it because it is just… so… darn… cute… and it makes them laugh! Who doesn't like to laugh?

APOTHESCARY is an example of a specific request for prints that are needed in the market: for little boys…

Apothescary

 

 A few of the sales reps posed they needed 

flamingos and palm trees  (see below)…

Paradise Cove

When I asked fellow Michael Miller Fabrics licensee, Patty Young,

 what her girls were recently into, she replied, "Dolphins!"

Dolphin Babies

Having moved to Maui 3 years ago, I am inspired by all the lush tropical surroundings and by the highly saturated colors that seem to jump out at me in the warm Hawai'ian sunshine. Thus we have…

HULA DOLLS
and the new

PARADISE COVE: MERMAIDS OF HANA BAY

Something that is just whacky: What would Mark do 

for a cat print that hasn't already been done?
The iconic GONE CATTIN' was the answer!

And misperceiving something was what resulted in 

CAMO SHARK… 

I was walking down the street in Pa'ia town and 

saw a man wearing a pair of camo boardshorts. 

From the distance I was following behind, 

I could have sworn some of the shapes of the camo were actually shark silhouettes. 

So I hastened my pace to get closer and saw! 

Wow! It's just a pair of camo shorts… 

no sharks there 

(and then I knew I had come up with an original idea which I could embrace without being influenced by an already existing idea).

(coming in July)  

WHEW! Did I write this much? I bet you're sorry you asked what makes me tick, LOL!
If you have any ideas, please let me know - hey you never know - 

I just might be able to work your idea into a design for a new group I'm creating…

Mahalo! Mark