Indigo & Verdigris

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Post written by Katarina Miletic Follow me on Facebook

Hello to all my lovely visitors and many thanks for stopping and taking an interest! Here is the short story behind Indigo & Verdigris (my Etsy shop).

Artist information

I am a 47 year old London based artist and designer who started exhibiting back in May 2000. I have studied Art and Interior Design at the Regent Academy of Fine Arts in London and the National Design Academy in Nottingham, back in the days when all the drawing was done by hand, on real paper, touching real materials, using actual colours and real pigments. The name of the shop came precisely from the two of my most favourite pigments in the world: Indigo (as blue and inky as the deepest seas on Earth) and Verdigris (as the loveliest pale green and blue hues of the copper roofs, gracing the grand architectural cityscapes of all big European capitals).

Inspiration information

I love old furniture for its qualities and character, but its look can sometimes be jaded and making it fit within the contemporary interior can be a monumental task for most people. Sometimes you love the piece and the history (perhaps it was your grandmother’s favourite furniture passed on to you now), but it contrasts too strongly with your surroundings making it look even more dated.

I love transforming that piece of furniture into a work of fine art. I will restore its spirit: making it sophisticated, accenting its strong points and designing a modern item for your 21 century home.

Important for you information

Besides the entire creative process (from selecting the furniture to applying only the finest ideas, techniques and products), what I love the most is bringing the unexpected, instant joy when you recognize the one you love, or the one you know someone special in your life will love. That makes me appreciate being able to dedicate all my time to this work.

My influences are inspired directly from the beauty hidden within each specimen. Each one is special in its own unique way and each design treatment is original and often unrepeatable. As we are all individual, our homes should also be a stage to show off exactly that. For what makes you different, makes you beautiful.

See one creative process below

Beautiful little table with pretty woodgrain running across both shelves. The grain is where the idea came from.

Sanded down and prepared for painting the rest and varnishing the newly exposed wood.

Chalk paint lends its magic and graphite compliments old white and old wood.

Yacht varnish has that high gloss I wanted. Notice the details, the grain, ring on top and elegant legs... It's a beauty and it sits alongside a classical Italian sideboard which is huge in comparison, but they balance each other so well. Perhaps I will show you inside my home one of these days.