Marta’s Kitchen

Written By julie lopez

So as per usual, I took my entry from the latest Spoonflower challenge and developed it into a full collection. Introducing Marta’s Kitchen…

logo from the collection Marta's Kitchen features a copper saucepan and sprigs of parsley on country blue background with a yellow stripe pattern to coordinate.

Inspired by the film "Mostly Martha" and the writer M.F.K. Fisher, this collection is made up of an array of copper pans, herbs, spices, measuring cups, chef’s knives and more.

I’m a pretty big foodie myself, love to cook and spent many years in the restaurant biz so this prompt was close to my heart….I really like how it has turned out and I think it would be so cute on kitchen linens like this potholder (created from a Photoshop mockup)…

oven mitt mockup showcases the hero repeat pattern of pots, pans, baguettes, onions, lemons, fish on a platter

the whole collection is available for licensing and for sale on Spoonflower.com. I’ve already added the paper set to my shop.

a selection of coordinating patterns in a copper and teal blue color palette with dark brown and yellow accents

I’ve taken to starting off with a mood board in the beginning phases of creating a collection…I was very much trying to combine the feeling from the movie “Mostly Martha” and my typical hand-drawn style…

mood board created for inspiration for a pattern that showcases copper professional cookware, the German film Mostly Martha, and vintage hand drawn kitchen motifs

I let those ideas simmer for a bit and this is the result:

a grouping of four coordinating patterns that would be perfect for kitchen or table linens - featuring cookery, olive oil, tomatoes, chef knife and more, yellow pinstripes, abstract polka dots, simple line drawings of cookware
a selection of four patterns that coordinate in a blue and white colour palette and feature cooking motifs

It all started from this sketch…

hand-drawn kitchen motifs with skillets, copper pans, rosemary, bay leaves, sardines, carrots and a ladles.

I mentioned in a previous post how I’ve been using ChatGPT to help me name patterns and even do some descriptions…but now that I’ve been using it, I can recognize when others are using it in their work and I find it diminishes my opinion of their content. So I think using my own less-than-perfect writing style is better, at least for my blog. I’d rather be authentically me than sound like everyone else. I know there has been so much fear around AI taking over the art world and really…I don’t think we should worry. Most people will always value true expressions by real humans. This article on the subject is encouraging.

Enough robot talk…back to my new pattern collection! As I mentioned…it was inspired by one of favorite food movies...so I thought I’d include a list of some great foodie movies:

  1. Mostly Martha — I love this film so much.

  2. The Lunchbox — this is such a feel good movie, perfect for a rainy afternoon

  3. Sandwiches That You Will Like — not fiction but such a fun watch. we actually planned a vacation around one of the places featured :)

  4. The Ramen Girl — this film is so sweet and perfect for a late night with a glass of wine. RIP Brittany Murphy :(

Comment below if you have any great food movie recommendations!

WORDS:

I am more modest now, but I still think that one of the pleasantest of all emotions is to know that I, I with my brain and my hands, have nourished my beloved few, that I have concocted a stew or a story, a rarity or a plain dish, to sustain them truly against the hungers of the world. - M. F. K. Fisher

MUSIC:

A perfect song to play while cooking dinner…Italian or otherwise…

julie lopez
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