Store Tales: Almost there!

Whaaa what was I thinking. Setting up shop in the historic city centre of Amsterdam. I received the key a few weeks back and slowly the place is starting to look like the real thing. I am learning new things everyday. I am enjoying (almost) every single minute, but I am totally exhausted in the evenings. Having a shop is such a different energy. One of the things I love most is the interaction and the feedback from my "end" customers. What is beyond all my expectations is that so far about 80% of my clients are from abroad. From Sao Paolo to Sydney from Stockholm to Tokyo....
This Wednesday May 2 on my 50th!!! ;}}}} birthday my Flagship will open officially. A new shopping destination for lovers of quirky, original home accessories, art & gifts. Most of it is my own designs, but teamed with vintage finds, photography by US artist Elizabeth Kleinveld and lamps from Paris by Mathieu Challieres with more to follow soon....(including a first peek at a Dunes and Duchess lampbase (made in in the USA) complimented with my lampshade in silk Micro Ikat (made in Amsterdam))
 

Setting up Shop at Singel 434 Amsterdam!

Singel 434 (front)

 artist impression (Mariska Meijers)

The last few months have been consumed by fulfilling another important part of my dream: finding the perfect spot for a store. The studio/showroom I occupied over the last 2 years was getting too small and my house was starting to look like a warehouse. But more importantly I kept getting this uncontrolable urge to have a window to the world. I was out on the hunt almost everyday on my bike or surfing the net, viewing properties.
Amsterdam has such a rich history. The Dutch Golden age was a time of ultimate prosperity, the Dutch East India Trading Company was one of the largest world powers. At this time gorgeous buildings were put up along the canals, the architecture lining the Herengracht and Singel were especially ornate.

Today most of these 17th century canal houses are still in tact and in one of these buildings I found my store!


I found some pictures of Singel 434 in the city's archives showing how the property and its surroundings have evolved. It still feels surreal that I am now occupying the ground floor of this 17th century monument overlooking the canal. I moved my paintings, pillow and tray designs, eclectic collection of furniture and accessories only last Thursday and we are really working hard to getting the space to work. It is becoming my second living room, a gigantic mood board and perfect setting to display my art and designs. A place to create new work and hopefully a new destination for those who love to be inspired.

Singel 434 in 1911

Singel 434 (in the'50s)

Singel 434 in the 1960s

Thank you Press in Amsterdam and New York (and my Mum)!

 commisioned water color of Dutch Interior for Residence (MariskaMeijers)

Editor's letter with my water color sketch

 

Ikat and Daisy birchwood trays in NYC&G magazine

 and on the NYC&G website

 With publicist and political scienist Mei Li Vos

 at the Esta Magazine event

Oeps, I completely forgot to post some new press on my blog. I posted some of it on facebook and can't remember if I tweeted. TOO many things to maintain! Anyway I am proud to share this wonderful artist profile in Dutch magazine Residence which since the arrival of editor in chief Jantien Nunnikhoven has become an absolute gem. Jantien also asked me to do an illustraion for the magazine with the theme "Holland's Glorie". Thank you Residence, Jantien and team for the wonderful exposure!
And then to my big suprise I received a message from my brother Bobby Berk in New York with a picture of NYC&G magazine (New York Cottages and Gardens) where he spotted 3 of my birchwood tray designs in Zoe Settle's article "Best in Show" about the NYIGF. Checking the magazine's website I saw my trays featured again. A big thank you NYC&G and Zoe!
Last but not least I attended an event yesterday organized by Dutch magazine Esta. I was selected out of 150 nominees to compete with 2 other talented women for the "creative" woman of the year award.
In a 2 minute presentation we had to tell why we are the best. Oh bummer it is something I do not like at all but it had to be done. There is something about talking in public. I am good with words, or at least I think. Writing is fine, an interview for a magazine or even the various TV appearances I had so far went all just fine, but standing in front of an audience....It is nerve wrecking. I have this "huge potato" in my throat when I speak and I tend to get emotional because it is oh so personal. Well I didn't win, I guess I am just not a Jack of all Trades but I am proud that I did it, speak I mean. Thank you ESTA and editor in chief Ellen de Jong I am already grateful for the nomination and congratulations to the winner film editor Elsbeth Kasteel!
Not sure whether you want to read what I said or at least what I wanted to say, because I forgot bits and pieces in all my nervousness but here it is.....(and I dedicate these words to my mother, love you mum!).

"My name is Mariska Meijers, mother of 2 kids. I live and work in Amsterdam as an artist-designer. I have my own label, including home accessories that are sold worldwide in (department) stores like Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Neiman Marcus in the US. You must think WOW what a success when you hear this, but what you don't know is that this part of my life only started a few years back.
I come from an artistic family. My mother was an opera singer. For hours she would practice to perfect her part in upcoming productions. As a child I joined her many times to the Opera and I would sit backstage next to the firemen, listening to my mother, goose bumps especially when the audience bravoed her. She could touch people with her voice and I felt that I wanted to do something like that too. Touching people. But life turned out very different. I did not choose an artistic education but went to law school and became a corporate lawyer for an international bank. But I did love that job for a long time and forgot all about my creative ambitions as a child. I travelled the world business class in high heels and suit. But a few years back I started to feel empty and the emptyness grew into a big black hole that could have swallowed me. I got out, in time, by myself. Got rid of the job and started all over again. Brush and canvas, no training, no track record of any kind in the art and design industry. Over the last 5-6 years I have been building my brand. It started with painting and from there I developed various product lines such as stationary, pillows, trays with much more to follow. Sold in over 15 countries already. A bumpy but wonderful road. I am proud that I am now in a position to touch people with my decorative arts like my mother did with her voice."

 

My parents (Christmas 2011)

In Respectful Memory of Marieke van den Heuvel-Wessels

Bright, cheerful and intelligent. Only a few characteristics of Marieke Wessels. I met her for the first time in 2003 when I became head strategic client marketing for ABN AMRO's wholesale division. She was part of our team, the youngest member but she was more grown up than most of us :)).
We worked intensly together but she was also part of my personal journey in the pursuit of my passion. It was her dream as well that when the time would be right to evolve in a more creative direction.
In May 2009 she called me that she was in hospital and that "things" were not looking good. Marieke was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly after that she started a blog "Ik wou dat ik een toverstafje had" which translates "I wish I had a magic wand". The blog is a wonderful written testimony of a feisty girl with an enormous stamina. Unfortunately her spirit was conquered by her unreliable body.
Yesterday I attended the funeral. Marieke (as we know Marieke) had to have the last words as she spoke to us in her good bye video. Dear Marieke YOU will not be forgotten and YES I promise I will live every day to the best of my ability and enjoy! I wish your husband Lukas, your parents, brother, parents in law and other family and friends a lot of strenght. Until we meet again in your creative heaven xox

Tea in the City

Abstract Neon with Teapot and Tea Cup (oil and gold leaf on canvas 40x40cm)

Sipping on a cup of tea right now, taking a moment to relax  is exactly what I need.  Constant chaos here in the house, the kids bustling in and out, friends visiting, finishing paintings that will me on show over the next few months at various locations in The Netherlands and Belgium. First exhibition of this year is already up and running at Tea in the City in Amsterdam.


Just moving to a new location, Tea in the City sells a wide range of teas and accessories to have your tea with style. Evelyn, the shop owner, one of my first clients has done a wonderful job with her new shop located in the southern part of Amsterdam on the Beethovenstraat.

Just inside of Tea in the City

My painting and products feel right at home! The exhibition features works highlighting the beauty of traditional Delft pottery, Asian ceramica, sweet cakes, and of course, tea! The paintings dot the staircase and are mostly shown in the salon upstairs.

While the exhibition is running, my pillows and trays will be brightening the window front against Amsterdam's grey skies!

Our New Window Display

Maybe just a sweet little tea tray to serve tea and biscuits on! Yum.

California Dreams: a week in pictures

touching picture of Meryl Streep and Colin Firth in the LA Times

I feel spoiled. I spend a whole week in California. Nooooo I have not been star gazing in LA during The Oscars (but could not resist watching it live on tv of course, especially being in the same time zone for a change). I have been hanging out in small beach towns North of San Diego. My daily routine started with a run on the beach. It keeps amazing me how many surfers are already in the water early mornings. What a luxury it must be to hit some waves before going to work. Californian lifestyle in these smaller beach towns is so laid back it just forces you to go in lower gear. And that is exactly what I did. A week of relaxing, thinking, planning, dreaming whith the soothing sound of the Pacific in the background. I even managed to finish a book that I bought at my favourite bookstore in New York, The Strand. An out of print book "Sonia Delauney: The life of an Artist" by Stanley Baron. It has been a fab week, California dreaming!...... and now back to the Amsterdam circus :))

In the Window of......Galeries Lafayette, Paris!

In Bloom Orange in the window (picture courtesy Galeries Lafayette)

 More bloom in the window (picture courtesy Galeries Lafayette)

What a start of the weekend! We just received these pictures from Galeries Lafayette. YES I am proud to see my designs in the windows of iconic department store Galeries Lafayette in Paris. What more can a girl wish for (besides the moon :)). Have a wonderful weekend, mine will be bubbly for sure!

"Almost Incredulous Feats in Mid Air....."

 

 Ingenious display @ Andrew Martin (Maison et Objet)

With The Zush @ NYIGF 

  Lamp Base by Dunes and Duchess

 (the yellow is just perfect with my dark grey walls!)

Happy to bump into Anna Spiro

Storefront Elizabeth Bauer

VaVaVooom from Paris to New York back to Amsterdam!
I hope I don't make you mad by just "flying by" occassionally nowadays. It is what it is, I do the best I can dividing time between creating my art and designs, building the brand, doing the trade fairs, make sure that my products turn out the way I want them to turn out and oh yes there are my children as well 13 and 16, lovely age :)). Hence this fabulous antique Circus Poster that was gracing the walls of Andrew Martin's booth at the Maison et Objet. It simply says it all!
[According to the Oxford Dictionaries  "incredulous" means "unwilling or unable to believe something" and a "feat" is "an achievement that requires great courage skill or strength"]. REALLY in all honesty I can hardly believe that I survived the last 12 months (and still absolutely LOVE what I do).

Paris was covered in my previous post and as far as New York is concerned, our second NYIGF was beyond expectations.  We have wonderful new stores on board (including one of America's iconic department stores!) which we will disclose on our list of retailers as soon as the products are delivered early Spring.
I was delighted to see Jonathan Adler (again :)), but I did not take a groupie picture with him this time (ha ha), the elegant Quintessence and Hamptontoes, wonderful client The Zush,  ELLE Decor, Canadian House and Home, Home Accents Today and many more (and I apologize about the lack of pictures, there was hardly any time...). I also took some inspiration home from the fair. A wonderful lamp base designed by Dunes and Duchess. I just can't wait to design a lamp shade to go with it but in the meantime it already looks superb as an ornament!
After the show I had a day of meetings (of course :))}} but also some time to play so I finally managed to see Elizabeth Bauer's store whose eclectic style is right up my street. The cherry on the cake was bumping into one of my favourite designers Anna Spiro!

Travelling the World

A quick update as I am busy travelling the world with my designs in tow. After spending a week in Paris for the Maison et Objet I had less then 24 hours at home in Amsterdam before flying to New York to set up for the New York Internantional Gift Fair. One wonders what the hell the organisers of these fairs are thinking when they plan these shows so close together considering quite a few exhibitors do both shows. But let's not complain. Travelling the world has its absolute perks (besides being slightly exhausted). In Paris I stayed with my team in an appartment, courtesy of one of my clients, with a fabulous view, having too many pains au chocolat and well deserved dinners in great little places. And now in New York the view from my friends' appartment isn't bad ether :). As I have promised myself for this year That I will spend more "self" time. I will get in to my running gear NOW for a run along the Hudson riverside before heading of to my first day at the NYIGF and wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

2012 HERE WE GO AGAIN! Kicking off with shows in Paris and New York

 Ikat & Fish tray based on a hand-painted design (Mariska Meijers) made in Scandinavia out of FSC certified birchwood

to be launched at the Maison et Objet and NYIGF

Oh yes the wonderful circus has started again. In full preparations for the shows in Paris (Maison et Objet 20-24 Jan) and New York (NYIGF 28 Jan-2 Feb). I am excited, nervous and still have a massive list of "Things to Do", but I Do I Do love it!
Today I received a letter from the organisation of the Maison et Objet that 'Mariska Meijers Amsterdam'  has been selected by their Committee to receive the label of Special Archi Designer which according to the letter "you receive for your know-how, your recoginized expertise and your custom-made production for large-scale projects". A wonderful reward for all the hard work last year!

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work*."

Colin Powell 

*and in my case also tears sometimes Mr Powell :)

Bye Bye 2011, Hello 2012!

with my kids Annemarth and Mauk (26 december 2011)

For the last few weeks I have been quiet on all fronts: Blog, Facebook, Twitter...... Mid December I just crashed. Exhausted, in bed with the worst flue in years. My body forced me to take a rest, but my mind kept wandering, especially about all the things that have happened last year and how to go forward.
2011 has been a year of enormous growth. We did our first trade shows in Highpoint, New York and Paris, added more product ranges and designs, received great media coverage. I met inspiring people, including Jonathan Adler and Maxwell Gillingham. More designers and retailers support the brand Mariska Meijers Amsterdam and last but not least the social media support has been fantastic. But in between successes I had many doubts and insecurities as well. Am I good enough, can I keep up with the pace...... I have had days that I felt I was all over the place, losing focus. I just so much admire colleagues who just seem to manage everything effortlessly. I could make a long list of do's and don'ts for 2012.....I could but I won't.....

What I envisage for the New Year is that I will continue to believe in myself. I will continue to do my best every day to the best of MY ability, whether it is being a mother, (girl) friend, daugther, sister, artist, designer, marketeer, employer.... I will not worry (too much) about what others say about me. I will continue to trust my heart and gut feeling and be grateful for all the support and positive feedback I receive. I will continue to embrace life with all its ups and downs and be happy with the choices I have made.

Thank you for your support and patience and I wish you all a wonderful 2012, making time to chase your OWN
dreams!

"Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true." Napoleon Hill