// FOLLOW YOUR BLISS

//

I am on the beach in Pompano listening to Alicia Keys’s 21-day mediation experience. It’s end of Jan 2022 and I’m dreaming about what this year will look like for me and my business. I realize in that moment whenever I think about my future, I think of CKD and I as one. The choices I make for myself directly effect what happens to my business and vice versa. I’ve been growing CKD for almost 7 years now. Sacrificing my early 30’s, living a life literally no one around me was living. Together we were learning lessons, going through life experiences separately with different challenges but knowing that the lessons and growth would benefit and help the other. This thought process has brought me to this point, I tell myself - how do I get to the next phase. I feel like there is a gap between my life now and what I truly want for myself. “Do you feel a resounding yes”, says Alicia Keys in my ear. The meditation is about following your life’s bliss. If you do not feel a resounding yes she says, don’t do it - it’s not your path. I took this a sign and told myself the way to evolve next is to open my mind and heart to new opportunities and if the feeling is not a resounding yes, don’t do it - if it is, jump.

I am currently writing this from Los Angeles. A city I never thought I would find myself spending time in. These photos are of life recently from Paris to Mykonos for Roberto’s 40th with my best friends (some of them I just met this year while in Tulum ) to LA . I realized so much about myself over the past 6 months. I learned how to put my personal life first and let CKD adapt. This shift hasn’t been easy and it’s exposed some very vulnerable parts of me that have been hiding in safety for years. But now - somewhat on the other side of it all, there have been way too many serendipitous moments happening to trust the jump and be in awe of life and its magic. It has been a while since I’ve been in this flow - in life’s flow. A place of presence. A place of acceptance for all that is here to stay and all that is supposed to leave. But most importantly a place of inspiration and excitement.

That gap has closed, bringing me through new doors of adventure filled with new people, new lessons that will require different versions of myself that I’m ready to explore. Guys… there is some really cool stuff happening right now. I’m scared but excited. In the words of Roberto - LFG .

Mykonos, Greece. one of the best trips of my life. I left my phone at home and took my camera out. Felt like old blogging days.

Los Angeles :) Living the beach town life for a little bit

// MILAN

//

Milan design week with my best friends. The design, the dinners, the people! It felt so nice to get out and be at events again. The work that was shown during this week was stunning. Here are some highlights from Fendi, Mooi Carpet, Tom Dixon, and Lee Broom.

// THE OPENING OF GEKKO MIAMI

//

CKD’s newest bespoke work for David Grutman and Bad Bunny’s Gekko. WHAT. A. SPACE. Four completely different bespoke prints, each area its own vibe - yet all work together as you move through the space. These prints were a true collaboration with the most creative minds. We wanted Japanese steakhouse but elevated. My goal with the Geisha mural was to create something unexpected. I hand painted palm leaves and selected florals found on the traditional Japanese Kimono. The color story was suggested by my close friend (& talented interior designer) Kayla Pongrac - a very popular color story we kept seeing while in Milan design week also (I just realized I never did a post about Milan design week! Will do this this week). Scroll down to see some behind the scenes photos from installation day! 

Love the way this turned out. Thank you Groot Hospitality for having me. 

Opening night was INSANE. See more here!

Me on-site! The mural wraps all the way around the space. We printed out 8 FT samples to make sure the scale was perfect. Every single inch counts - this is what separates a good print from a great one.

// MOMENTS

//

Happy August! A couple projects are opening up in the next couple weeks that have kept me busy. I’m ready to slow down a bit and rest with my friendsss and enjoy the last bit of summer.

Some photos from last weekend up in Sauble Beach at Once Upon A Stay. Carmen and I are working on a new boutique hotel in South Hampton. This is CKD’s first boutique hotel project. I really can’t wait to get started on that.

Anyway, I’m onsite all week with a project I can tell you more about soon. K chat soon x

//53 NYC

//

MoMa

53 NYC

MoMa 53 NYC

This piece created for 53 on 53rd street, located above the new wing of the MoMa in New York city was inspired by the popular traditional Chinoiserie that has been around since the 17th century. I hand painted a combination of traditional flowers you will see in a Chinoiserie, and then painted flowers that you would not typically see within a chinoiserie print. I took inspiration from Alexander McQueen couture and layered in pieces that were inspired by the textile found on his couture. The ground of the print plays with texture and shadow with slight color changes of gold as you move from right to left. Lastly we added depth by adding live hand painted elements with acrylic paint and heavy plaster acrylic medium. 

Thank you iCRAVE And Marea group for having me on this project, this was a lot of fun to create. Jerami was on-site with me and recorded the entire process, video coming soon! 

// LA PAZ

//

Work has been heavy, there have been a couple breakdowns lol due to creative blocks. There was a delay on a project I am working on in New York so I slipped away to Baja with some of the most wonderful people for Andrea’s birthday. La Paz was stunnninggggg, so cool and SO much fun. We stayed on a ranch for 5 days, the Abuela’s home cooked our meals from scratch for breakfast and dinner. It was heaven.

Excited to share the project I am working on in New York!

// NEW BEGINNINGS

//

More me. That’s how this season feels. My experiences over the last year have shed layers that were not mine to carry, while teaching me how to set boundaries I didn’t realize I needed. It felt like a slow quiet confidence that reintroduced me to my strength.

I am feeling so grateful for the people I have around me. The people who have sat with me in patience listening and guiding and inspiring and pushing. When the people around you allow you to be you and then celebrate you for it, man. It’s just a higher level of vibration to operate on that will take you to new heights. A vibration that is authentically you and yours.

The door of opportunity has always been open. The door has always been open, and for some reason we choose to stay. It is a privilege to have choice. I am so thankful for this privilege and I am going to do everything in my power to use it to inspire and pave new roads for others to do better than what I could do. Life is a dance - a game, full of opportunities for the taking. I want to appreciate every moment in the moment, not when the moment has passed. I want to take this one life with both hands and shake it up, give it everything I have.

I am back and all of power I would give away freely to others has been taken back. lfg baby.

// CKD JOINS NEWWALL

//

The first time I walked into a showroom I remember thinking I have never seen so much beauty in one space. It was always a dream to one day be a part of it all.

I started my textile career in bespoke wallpaper. My drive came from wanting to challenge the perspective within the textile world. One of a kind prints hit different within the hospitality space. I love the way the prints have become part of the restaurant’s/hotel’s brand, I love watching how their cliental interacts with the wallpaper and get excited about it. Wallpaper has become a detail not to be overlooked but celebrated and treated with special care and intention. While building the bespoke side of CKD I continued to create and launch wallpaper collections. After my travels or simply just going through life lessons - a new collection would be born. I documented my journey and put together videos to bring you along with me. When I was in Morocco, I wanted you to be in Morocco with me. I wanted Collection N 22 to tell a story through a visual of real life experience. Collection N 33 was created after one of my favourite summers, you can feel this from the soft tonal white on white throughout White Snow, White Floral & White Feather.

CKD has officially joined Toronto’s NewWall showroom. Maria and her team have partnered with some of the top wallpaper companies in the world. I feel lucky to be represented beside wallpaper brands I looked up to when starting CKD. Our collection pieces hanging on the wings are not just painted leaves and flowers - but a collection of work that are filled with stories and experiences throughout my life. I am excited and feel so grateful for this new chapter.