Folk Art Inspiration

I have always admired folk art for it`s beauty in simplicity and colors. Not many young people know about their cultures folklore art and even the ones that do know something tend to forget and focus their interest on modern art or kitsch. Fortunately they are small groups of people struggling to keep the traditions of folk art alive. Here is a picture from the internet of a Hungarian matyo embroidery:

" The Matyo area is located in the Northern part of Hungary. The region consists of three settlements, Mezökövesd (the centre) and two villages, Szentistván and Tard.

The word "Matyo" comes from the name "Mátyás" (legend says that King Mátyás gave Mezökövesd the title of "free royal town" in 1464) and was originally used by the population of the surrounding protestant villages to distinguish the catholic Matyo people from themselves.

The Matyo area is united and distinguished from the other settlements of the region by the colourful costumes, famous folklore art and lives tightly interwoven with traditions of the inhabitants. Mezökövesd earned its nationwide reputation based on its unique costumes and free-hand embroidery style. The rich and colourful motives were designed and sketched by so-called "writing" (i.e. drawing) women, who wove the various flowers of their gardens into their clothing." -source-

During my search for folk motifs I also stumbled upon some beautiful polish folk art, which is similar to the Hungarian matyo motifs, but instead of embroidery these ones are cutouts from colored paper:

I found them so inspirational I decided to do something similar from felt and I loved it so much that I think I am going to do a whole collection of accessories based on these wonderful folklore motifs. And just to give you a sneak peak, here is a picture of my first earring:


Keep an eye out for them in the shop!

Have a great week,
Enci