LIFE
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Art Basel Miami is one of my favorite weeks of the year, alongside Salone in Milan. Here are some of my highlights from the week!
Artists: Hebru Brantley, Alcova Miami - Nefertiti by Marco Zelli, Studio Haos, Jialun Xiong “Something Last” Alcova, Mathieu Lehanneur, Roham Shamekh
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I made this video back in 2022, during a year of constant movement between Tulum and Miami. It was the beginning of my journey living out of suitcases and taking CKD beyond Toronto. At the time, I thought the journey was all about growing CKD, but what I didn’t realize was that it was really a journey of self-evolution.
By 2022, I’d already been working with US clients like Maman, Kristin Vincent’s Sel Rrose in NY and Montauk, Steven Salm’s Plantas, and David Grutman—relationships that, today, feel more like family. Now, as I sit here writing this from my little LA beach apartment—a place I never imagined I'd end up—it’s clear that the path I’ve been on has led me to so much more than I expected. There is power in being grounded in one place. CKD has a fresh new visa—one I had to give up when I left NYC to start my business in Toronto. Eight years of what I once thought was failure turned out to be the exact lessons I needed. What I saw as setbacks at the time were really just my ego getting in the way. It’s now CKD’s turn to grow and evolve, because I am now ready for it. I didn’t realize it then, but eight years ago, I wasn’t ready for what’s about to unfold for this company now.
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There’s an energy in LA that resonates with me in a way I haven’t felt since I moved to New York. There’s a sense of freedom and possibility, creativity and ambition. A celebration of innovation and relaxation. I’ve spent a lot of time in LA over the last three years, our newest “Cali” collection is inspired by my time spent here. I wanted colorful, fun, easy. We introduced our newest stripe collection. I’ve been wanting to add stripes to my collection of wallpaper for a while. The colors look amazing printed.
This is part one of the collection, part two coming soon!
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Hello Los Angeles. CKD is setting up a new office on the beach! Updates soon :)
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Have you read Oprah’s book “What I Know For Sure”? I kept this book in my bag at all times when I lived in new york. It was the book I read on the subway. I started reading it again and paragraphs that I underlined in 2014 read completely differently to me now 10 years later. “What I know for sure is that the only way to endure the quake is to adjust your stance. You can’t avoid the daily tremors. They come with being alive. But I believe these experiences are gifts that force us to step to the right or left in search of a new centre of gravity. Don’t fight them. Let them help you adjust your footing. Balance lives in the present. When you feel the earth moving, bring yourself back to the now. You’ll handle whatever shake-up the next moment brings when you get to it. In this moment, you’re finding a way to step into higher ground.” I’m learning how to become more aware of this. I forget to bring myself to present moment often when I’m moving through something difficult, or working through something I have never experienced before. Life has a funny way to testing you - for me personally the tests tend to come all at once. “Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you, too, will keep encountering challenges. It is a blessing to be able to survive them, to be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other - to be in a position to make the climb up life’s mountain, knowing that the summit still lies ahead. And every experience is a valuable teacher.”
Every experience is a valuable teacher, it also brings an added level of depth to us as humans. I feel different than I was 3, 4, 6 months ago. I guess this is what Oprah meant when she said “new centre of gravity”, it’s impossible to ever be the same when we step to higher ground. As the summer ends, the last 6 months feels like it’s fading away too - with all of its lessons and experiences that came with it. It really is a blessing to be able to experience life’s mountain. To the next mountain.
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Last year I spent my birthday alone on a plane home from Paris dreaming of what my next summer will look like. So much can change in a year, and pretty much everything I dreamt about has come true. It’s nothing like what I imagined, it’s even better. I have so much to tell you, but I’m in the middle of painting new bespoke work. Here are some photos from home, update you more later! x C
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Cozy rainy Saturday in the studio :) Not planning on leaving here for the next week. Lots of work to get done!
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How do you deal with the pressure of it all? This is a question I have been asking people I look up to lately. Their answers are all the same, “you just do”. I am an artist who also has to run the business. I’m sensitive, I feel it all and sometimes the business can feel personal. I was going on a walk the other day when it came to me - it’s not how do you deal with the pressure, it’s can you accept the pressure. When you accept it the pressure becomes an unwritten contract with you, life and the stresses of building something from scratch. When you accept it you do whatever it takes. When I accepted it I realized everything that I was getting hit with lately was just part of the process. Education is expensive - but whatever the cost of the lesson is won’t kill you. This changed things for me and the way I see the next level of my business.
Hello June, you’re feeling inspiring with this fresh new perspective.
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One of my favourite weeks of the year. Design, wine, Milan, my best friends. I’m looking at things differently lately with CKD. Exciting changes, shifts in perspective, shifts in the way I am doing business. Milan design week is always the best inspiration. Not just with the installations, but the city, the fashion, the food, the restaurants. I could live in Milan forever. I just need to learn Italian.
