Meeting Stephanie Levy

Early July I’ve decided to go in a trip around Romania (Bucharest, Timisoara and Cluj-Napoca) to sightsee and meet people that I’ve promised to visit. While I was having a morning tea in my hotel room in Cluj-Napoca I took the chance to check my emails as I had 15 free minutes until I was about to meet a friend at the reception desk. In my etsy’s inbox I’ve noticed a new message and as I started to carefully read it I was getting very interested about the project that Stephanie Levy was describing. She wrote that she is an American graphic artist/illustrator living in Germany and would like to meet me in Vienna in the following weekend (in 2-3 days from that time) as she read my bio and knows that my work is mainly influence by Vienna, a theme that she built her project on: how the city where some artists live in is influencing their work. She will be travelling for 12 months in 12 different European cities where she will interview some artists that feel connected to their living environment. Vienna has been the first city to open her project and I am happy for this decision as she fully enjoyed the trip.

Stephanie in Vienna, July 2011

We’ve met on a cloudy Saturday of July and despite the weather she brought a lot a sun in my atelier. At first, I was extremely nervous as I don’t like to speak about myself and especially not to have my voice recorded. But all these worries vanished as she was very relaxed, open and kind. She told me nice, small stories about herself and this help me to have no problem speaking about my life having open, free feelings. Despite designing in different fields, our jobs have many similarities and exchanging opinions was very energising.

New York : Limited Edition Print by Stephanie Levy

Adelaide : Original Mixed Media Painting on Handmade Paper by Stephanie Levy

Vienna : Limited Edition Print by Stephanie Levy

During our talk, she said that a lot of people would like to know the artist’s life who makes a product they see and like as well the back story of both: the artist's and the product's. So, she warmly advised me to start up a blog and I immediately knew that it makes sense: I as well like to see behind the scenes and find inspiration from other stories, lifestyles and "making of" processes.

For months, a customer of mine had been asking me several times to start up a blog where I can document my work but the thought of having an additional work, it was not was I was looking for; at least not this year. But both, finally convinced me so I’ve launched my blog 2 weeks after my interview with Stephanie.

The interview was issued very nice, accurate and flattering. I am happy that she liked my work and nonetheless my person! You can read more about Stephanie Levy and her work on her blog.

Photos: Stephanie Levy's online shop and blog .