Featured - Interview by CanvasRebel
I was very honored to have been asked to give an interview for CanvasRebel and here it is for you to enjoy…
Meet Ariadne Kritonos
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ariadne Kritonos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Ariadne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
“Out of the archives and into the everyday” is how I like to describe my artistic mission. My work is inspired by 18th and 19th century Greek folk motifs, which can only be found in museum archives or displays, as well as public and private collections. Most of them are dismissed as old and irrelevant to our modern society.
But, I am here to challenge these notions and show that folk art motifs not only hold inherent beauty, they also hide symbolisms that are universal and totally relevant to our modern life. I’m passionate to share their stories and the wisdom they hold.
My journey into this world began in childhood with my love for Greek traditional dancing and continued to develop later on when I became a dance teacher.
Those experiences helped me understand that folk art is a language that uses shapes to communicate the feelings, wishes, aspirations, hopes and dreams of our ancestors. And it is so humbling to recognise our own hopes and dreams reflected in motifs that date back hundreds of years.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Sure! I’m Ariadne, an artist and surface pattern design, based in Connecticut and originally from Greece.
My work is inspired by Greek folk motifs of the 18th and 19th century. And I make that clarification because most people associate Greek art with ancient Greece, but my work is inspired by a more recent history of my country, one that is more multicultural and certainly much more unexplored.
I take great pride in the hand drawn quality of my work, using watercolors, inks or lino printing.
My designs can be found on a range of products on my website’s online store, my Etsy shop and Spoonflower.
Along with my art and surface pattern design work, I also do what I call “love projects”. They include limited edition products that I make or creative challenges that I run as a way to share my unconventional ways of finding inspiration in the everyday.
To stay connected with my latest endeavors and even participate in my creative challenges and prize draws, I encourage you to join my newsletter. It’s the best way to keep up with my artistic journey and possibly win a piece of art that carries a story.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
At times it feels like my business journey has been full of stories of resilience and perseverance, after all, ups and downs are just part of the experience.
However, the fact that I am a new mom (my little one is about to turn two in a couple of months) has required more perseverance than I could have imagined. Learning how to balance motherhood and my own need and desire to create and to grow my own business has required me to make tough decisions, learn how to get the most out of the time I do have to work on my business and keep on going even though I can’t always commit as much time as I would like to my creative practice.
My favorite story of perseverance has to be the one about manufacturing my first product – the Christmas ornaments – when my little one was a newborn.
While I was still pregnant and preparing for her arrival, I decided that manufacturing the ornaments seemed like a doable task to take on with a newborn.
Little did I know of course..
I still remember breastfeeding her while researching manufacturers, sending emails, looking at samples, negotiating prices, calculating my profit and making orders. I would wait for her to fall asleep so I could rework designs in the half-an-hour window of her little naps.
Other times, I remember looking at her sleeping next to me while I was working and feeling a mixture of guilt for not resting and gratitude for being able to do what I love. The mental toll of being a mom and running a business was beginning to dawn on me, but I did it! The ornaments turned out beautiful and have been a bit hit!
I know I’m still in the thick of it as a mom of a toddler, but motherhood has taught me to focus in a way that I was never able to before. I’m also now acutely aware of my own personal needs and how to make space for them.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Early on in my business journey I was doubting the universal appeal of my work. Initially, I struggled to see how someone without a connection to Greece could relate to my art.
I knew that my designs didn’t need to be understood for their cultural context to be appreciated, but I really wanted their meaning to be shared with the world.
I was finding myself feeling doubtful when sharing those meanings with my non-Greek friends and assumed they would not be interested in them because of their cultural focus.
However, I was very surprised by how fascinated they were and the curiosity they showed to find out more.
It really helped me see how my work was resonating with people of all backgrounds simply because of the universality of art.
If you want to read the interview at the CanvasRebel website please click here.
Want more inspiration? Then join my newsletter today! See you there…