About my CreativeWorld and more than 400 years making paper
Recently I told you about my new pair of shoes and why it was so urgent to buy them. The thing is, at the end of January I had been at the CreativeWorld trade fair in Frankfurt for only one day but walking in high heels. At the end of that day and knowing that two weeks later I would be there again but for two days... well, it was clear. New shoes. A little bit heel but not so much, preferably wedges.
I hadn't planned to go to the CreativeWorld. Not out of lack of interest, but, you know, so many interesting fairs, how to choose among them, and then travelling on the weekend and so on. You need a reason. My reason was that Hahnemühle, the paper company I had collaborated with a couple of times, invited me to their blogger meet. They treated us really well: See the muffins above? That was the tone. We had the opportunity to know each other and it was fun to see from which different angles we bloggers came. We also learned about this incredible company, I mean: Have you seen the number in their logo?
Yes, you read it right: 1584! Europeans were still exploring the coast of North America and Hahnemühle was already making paper. They do it that long and at the very top: they developed together with Epson the first digital print paper and now they have this beautiful range of fine art print papers:
And all that from a small village in the north of Germany luckily situated on top of the water source that makes this paper what it is. And: with only 180 employees worldwide! That used to be just a department in the company I used to work for.
We had the chance to test the Watercolour Book following the instructions of Audry Backs, who gave us a little workshop at the booth. But we will still be able to test lot of other products because a bag full of different notebooks and sketchbooks was waiting for each of us as we left. I will tell you about it as I start drawing and painting on them.
I spent the whole afternoon at this blogger meet, we stayed longer as planned, so many things to talk about. But in the morning I had had the chance to visit the booths of other art supplies producers: all of them were so open and ready to talk with this illustrator without having had an appointment in advance, it was really nice. I hope those talks bring some fruit one day. If nothing else it was interesting to tell, for example, the responsible of Vallejo that I have to ask my mother to send me some of their bright "liquid watercolours" from Spain every time I need a new bottle, because I don't find a retailer in Germany.
Then: the CreativeWorld takes place at the same time as the PaperWorld and the ChristmasWorld shows. I decided I would have a look at the upcoming Christmas market, but honestly, going into a huge pavillion full of Christmas stuff at the end of January, having Christmas "again", wasn't an inviting thought. But still, there I went. With the luck that on the way I came by the Trend Gallery, which was exposing: right, Christmas trends! So I saved a lot of time and nerve listening to the lecture of Annetta Palmisano and going with her through the trend stands. Here just some samples of the four trends: "Surreal Laboratories", "Boho Treasuries", "Quiet Harmonies" and "Playful Possibilities".
And? Do you see the parallels to the trends I showed you in the post about the Ambiente? Clearly, right? I love that stuff.
So, thank you, dear Hahnemühle, for the invitation and your generosity. Now I know I have to fest appointments in Frankfurt for the next future Januaries and Februaries. I will start looking for an apartment in Frankfurt.
Blogger meet with Hahnemühle, Hagar Lotte Geyer, Catalina Somolinos, Peggy Hoyer, Pia Rom and Marianne Bühler.
