Why the Ayomi Yoshida Collection is Driving Me Crazy
As soon as my eyes caught sight of the Ayomi Yoshida ART + DESIGN collection of gift wrap and trim in Elle decor magazine there was a major glazing over moment. There it was in all its glossy glory. Bright red polka dot gift wrap and even better... what appeared to be large and incredibly novel felt Sakura (cherry blossom) flowers in the place of the more traditional bows. There it was, the look I was going after when I started to investigate Japanese Tsumami Kanzashi (delicate flowers made of fabric and worn in the hair on special occasions such as the cherry blossom festival) which I thought would make a nice change from traditional bows.
You're probably wondering why I'm describing all this and no pictures are present. Well we can hold Target responsible for this. Hence the being driven crazy in the title... I wanted badly to show you. The gorgeous spread in Elle Home can't be located anywhere on the web so no go with posting that here. Target for what ever reason decided not to release pictures of that aspect of the collection even though it's the only thing highlighted in their major ads. They also never sold any of the collection online. The artist and print makers own official website also fails to show the collection at all, although the old collection from years ago is there. I know they want to bring the next designer in but come now. It all seems rather odd and prematurely abandoned.
The collection itself which I viewed on a tiny display in Target recently was sadly not how it appeared in the cutting edge Elle decor ads. Instead of being vibrant, the gift wrap looked liked peperoni's on brown butchers paper. The flowers that caught my eyes in the first place ended up being incredible tiny. While they would look cute on, say a gift the size of a ring box, anything else would cause a rather cheap effect.
Still I adore what Ayomi Yoshida was going for in both her collections. The use of large Origami paper cranes and thick felt bows were incredibly artistic and different for gift design. The same is true with the Sakura looking flowers which turned out, according to Glam, to be based on ancient Japanese floral crests called kamon. This gave me the idea that maybe I could use these pieces as inspiration and come up with some of my own designs. Look for a post and pictures on this soon.
Image: onnanoyume
Recently Yoshida has had a show where she placed cherry blossom flowers on the wall where tree branches had been painted on. This must have taken a huge amount of time to do. On a much smaller scale, one thing I have done is pressed cherry blossoms and glued them onto gift wrap. I've also made my own cherry blossoms out of tissue paper for lovely results when, again, they were glued to gift wrap. This artist is incredibly inspirational!
You're probably wondering why I'm describing all this and no pictures are present. Well we can hold Target responsible for this. Hence the being driven crazy in the title... I wanted badly to show you. The gorgeous spread in Elle Home can't be located anywhere on the web so no go with posting that here. Target for what ever reason decided not to release pictures of that aspect of the collection even though it's the only thing highlighted in their major ads. They also never sold any of the collection online. The artist and print makers own official website also fails to show the collection at all, although the old collection from years ago is there. I know they want to bring the next designer in but come now. It all seems rather odd and prematurely abandoned.
The collection itself which I viewed on a tiny display in Target recently was sadly not how it appeared in the cutting edge Elle decor ads. Instead of being vibrant, the gift wrap looked liked peperoni's on brown butchers paper. The flowers that caught my eyes in the first place ended up being incredible tiny. While they would look cute on, say a gift the size of a ring box, anything else would cause a rather cheap effect.
Still I adore what Ayomi Yoshida was going for in both her collections. The use of large Origami paper cranes and thick felt bows were incredibly artistic and different for gift design. The same is true with the Sakura looking flowers which turned out, according to Glam, to be based on ancient Japanese floral crests called kamon. This gave me the idea that maybe I could use these pieces as inspiration and come up with some of my own designs. Look for a post and pictures on this soon.
Image: onnanoyume
Ayomi Yoshida Biography from Target.com
Ayomi Yoshida is the youngest artist in a widely recognized Japanese family of Yoshida artists. A fourth-generation Japanese printmaker, Yoshida combines art and design to create her astounding work. Her approach has drastically broadened the already varied artistic tradition of the Yoshida way.
Yoshida is passionate about creating simple, striking work that requires no translation. Known for bold colors, handcrafted touches and geometric shapes, her pieces are often minimal in style, yet powerful in effect. She believes that, "timeless design is always a treasured gift."
Yoshida is most recognized for her room-sized installations of woodchips and carved woodblocks created for museums and galleries in Japan and the United States. For 16 years prior to this display, she was widely recognized for her woodblock prints. She has exhibited her work in the College Women’s Association of Japan, the British Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts among other venues.
Her creativity is expressed through woodblock prints cut into the surface of plywood and by mixing colors on paper to achieve different color effects and repetition. Her latest inspiration is founded in 12th century floral crests (kamon) originally worn by warriors and aristocrates—a centuries-old art form that still feels refreshingly modern.
Yoshida’s latest work of art is an exquisite stationery collection that is anything but ordinary. Available exclusively at Target this May, the assortment highlights her latest inspiration of kamon designs in bold colors and geometric shapes. Yoshida’s collection ranges from gift boxes and wrap to photo albums, scrapbooks, photo boxes and note cards.
Yoshida was born in Tokyo, Japan, and graduated from Wako University.
Recently Yoshida has had a show where she placed cherry blossom flowers on the wall where tree branches had been painted on. This must have taken a huge amount of time to do. On a much smaller scale, one thing I have done is pressed cherry blossoms and glued them onto gift wrap. I've also made my own cherry blossoms out of tissue paper for lovely results when, again, they were glued to gift wrap. This artist is incredibly inspirational!
Comments