EkaBlog - Site Blog for Ekaweeka the Small Business Community

Here here Anne from Hunter Kirby Design.
It feels like everyday there are new designs loaded on her Ekapage and she's volunteered to help us with our upcoming events. Check out her page to see more awesome original work.

Today's awesome Ekaster is Greg and Gbiz Printing. Greg helped us by participating in one of the first item sales. Gbiz can print just about anything on a T-Shirt as long as you can email a jpg of the design to them. Totally affordable - totally awesome! Check out the Gbiz Ekaweeka profile they have tons of pics of other designs they've printed.

Today we put the spotlight on Akira Zosens, a Fashion Designer from Melbourne Australia - Akira describes her influences as "Eastern fusion of wild music and deserts" and the "rococo innocence... paintings such as 'The Swing' by Jean-Honore Fragonard". We're big fans and you should be too - go take a peek :-)

Fire Arts Collective - enough said.

Today's Awesome Ekaster is Mariano Otero. As a storyteller by heart, Mariano David Otero’s work is a profound exploration of both internal and external realities, which invites the viewer to engage in a discussion with the theme and the ideas hidden within his compositions. The nature of his works explores an interest in a greater meaning beyond all the outer measures of physical reality. I dig Mariano, very surreal very colorful, the subject of each painting has very strong and unique focus. All of them evoke powerful emotions and trigger past feelings and dreams of my own.

Check out the recently listed painting titled "California Landscape" by Laura Iverson. I love landscapes I love California!

Thanks to Amber for inviting Jon San Nicolas. You guys make this the best job in the world with the pictures alone!

We saw a bunch of great folks venture onto Ekaweeka last week. With the new names came new trades and some amazing stuff to check out. Maura Vazakas a painter and jewelry designer from San Diego, California added a some great charm necklaces and mixed media state bird paintings.

Diana Rajchel joined us from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Diana creates natural perfumes using techniques that predate 1870. She is the first Ekauser to add a fragrance to the Ekaweeka item catalog.

Another San Diego user - Marion Renee a designer/artist inspired by eclectic and exaggerated shapes and beautiful faces has listed a Red Feathered Sac Bag.

Nearly everyone wants to be unique. What initially drew me to Melissa’s site - or as she fittingly also calls herself: uniQue - was her creativity and originality. In her profile she mentions: “graffiti, the art of hip-hop, the creativity of drawing pictures and words to express your feelings” among her favorite things. And you can see these preferences reflected in her work. Ok, so what is it that she does - besides, of course, drawing and expressing her feelings? She makes individually hand-painted sneakers. That’s right - each one is custom designed and painted.

At first, my 21st century, efficiency controlled brain was thinking, “what an awful lot of work. Couldn’t the process be streamlined and more readily produced?” But then I realized - that would ruin the *whole* point! You’d end up with shoes that look like screen printed tees, designed to look authentic (you know the type - “dripping” paint, imperfections). In reality, these “unique” pieces sit on a rack with 50 others just like them.

At 17 years old, Melissa draws on her love of graffiti, drawing, and hip-hop to create her individualistic footwear. She’s got several pictures up on her Ekaweeka site, and is always creating. Her first couple sales came off of ebay, and went to a guy in Japan and his girlfriend. She says he’s since ordered six more pair - and that’s enough to keep her busy for a while. But, Melissa says, she always has people asking her to design special shoes for them - business is booming already for this teen!

Artists and designers say that they are inspired by everything around them-people, art, and nature. What could be more inspiring than working and living in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands?

After a move from South Africa, a career in fashion in Las Vegas, and finally relocating to the Caribbean, Ekaweeka member, Gina Nigrelli and her husband Brian Smith launched Jules Smith Designs, a luxe resort jewelry line.

Jules Smith Designs features precious metals such as sterling silver, rose gold, yellow gold, semi-precious and precious gemstones in the collection. Gina says that she is inspired by, “Friends, family and my environment. Whether I’m working in New York or in my office in the Caribbean, random bursts of creative energies come to me and I capitalize on those moments.” Of course, azure waters, white beaches and sunshine can probably be as much a distraction as an inspiration.

And while it may sound as if this is a big company with an even bigger budget for marketing and advertising, the entire Jules Smith Design team consists of three people: Brian Smith, Gina Nigrelli and Joni Madere, the line’s sole marketing department.