LIFE
// Milieu Magazine
So. Yesterday morning was pretty awesome. CKD and I shot with Milieu Magazine for their winter issue. I'm really excited to see how everything turns out. Still can't believe this happened.
// Location: NY
No matter how much this city can bring you down, destroy your self-esteem, deplete your bank account - there is no better feeling than walking out of the airport hopping in a cab and driving into the New York City skyline. It feels so good to be back. I feel like I got my stride back. This summer I locked myself in the studio only coming out for fresh air and coffee. I feel like I'm ready to pound some pavement and it feels glorious. I love you more than ever right now new york.
// Pillow talk
I should be packing. Instead I'm laying on my bed listening to Majid Jordan. I just put down my new read Ego Is The Enemy because I turned to page 86 and came across my favourite quote by Ira Glass and then took a picture of it, and then opened my computer, and now I'm here. That taste/talent gap is f'ing real people. I've been stuck in that gap for almost four years now. The gap is the most frustrating place to be as an artist. It's an internal fight that I constantly have with myself that gets exhausting, lonely at times, and frustrating. I feel like I'm Rihanna circa Pon De Replay before Rihanna becomes Ri Ri. Whenever I lose the fight with myself I remind myself the only way to get out of this gap is to work harder. And when I say harder, I mean longer. Like longer hours. Lots of hours. Usually after the 25th hour something comes out half decent.
Then I read the next paragraph down, and Ryan Holiday [the author] said this - "... Or we can face our shortcomings honestly and put the time in. We can let this humble us, see clearly we are talented and where we need to improve, and then put in the work to bridge the gap. And we can set upon positive habits that will last a lifetime". And then I was like, yas. Ok closing computer. x -C
// Collection N 22
Collection N 22 launches tomorrow. Four prints, completely different than anything I've done before. This collection was created while accepting some harsh realities of myself. Lessons: Understanding your thought patterns is everything. Life will unfold itself at the pace of your own self awareness. Practice self awareness. And travel to places like Morocco to remind yourself how incredible the world is.
// Location: Planta, Toronto.
Chase Hospitality group is known for making beautiful restaurants. Please add Planta to that list. Thank you for putting CKD up on your walls Planta. The food is incredible. I highly recommend you throw on your heels and book your date night here this weekend. Oh, and order the Watermelon Poke to start.
// Location: Studio
Top country songs of 2016 is what I type into youtube every morning before I sit down in the studio. I then pour my first cup of coffee, put on my headphones, and turn the volume up as loud as my ears can take to drain out my thoughts. In return I've become a sappy hopeless romantic who wants a man to love me like a country song. Above are pieces from Collection N 22, ckd's newest wallpaper collection which will be launching next week. Inspired by Morocco, this collection is coming out completely different than expected. In a good way. Maybe it's all the country music. Or maybe it's because my life has been shaken up a bit lately and I've learned to turn that energy into my work - use it to my advantage. It's most likely the country music ; ) Alright, back to work, just wanted to say hi. x -C
// Location: Studio
Last Thursday morning you would have found me sitting on the floor of a my supplier's office. I was printing samples for a segment that might air on television. I am my PR team, my sales team, my marketing team, my design team. Thank god for my family and our Sunday morning coffee meetings or else there would be no team or CKD. While sitting cross legged on the concrete floor with my computer on my lap, I thought "What the hell have you gotten yourself into". These past three weeks have tipped my sailboat over - the sailboat that I was sailing gracefully on for the past few months. My boat was tipped over with no life jacket, and my only option was to surrender and float, or sink. My boat has tipped over before - many times, sometimes in deeper waters - yet this time I freaked out, and tried to latch onto everything or anything I could get my hands on to catch my breath. I know better - that's not the way to float. Floating requires you to be still. I was emotional, then scared, then sad, then happy, then scared, then happy. The many feelings associated with taking risks into the world of the unknown. There's a lot of fear associated with this world. Until I started to listen. I usually drive through my fear as if it's not a real feeling. It is a real feeling, and the moment I started to listen to my fear and understand my thought patterns was the moment my boat started to come closer until I was able to climb back on it. I've learned without fear there's no growth. Fear has become my confirmation that I'm on the right path. Because if something doesn't scare the shit out of me I know I'm not dreaming big enough. This adventure keeps on getting more and more interesting. But wouldn't have it any other way.
// Location: Planta
Hi. Just took off my makeup and crawled into bed. For some reason I can't find my reading glasses, the words I'm typing at the moment look a little blurry - so bare with me. It was Planta's opening party tonight. I told my sister and brother in law to leave baby O at home and come with me. Thank you Baba. Planta's print was finalized while sitting on an airplane flying from Paris to Florence. I remember the coffee I was drinking [which I dropped all over my white shirt], the water I asked for after, and the movie I put on for background noise, Pan. Naturally. Standing in that beautiful restaurant surrounded by CKD wallpaper was a pretty incredible feeling. Watching other people enjoy the print was a whole other incredible. One of those moments when life felt like a dream. A dream that didn't require me to be sleeping to be apart of - I mean, that's whole other level of incredible I've never experienced before. K, now to go to sleep to dream bigger. Night. x -C
// Location: Bay & Bloor, Toronto
Planta, the newest restaurant opening at Bay & Bloor. Concept - plant based menu, decor -stunning. Planta asked me to be apart of the team just before I left for Europe. My office looked like this and thankfully my location looked like this. The inspiration behind the print was banana-leaf-Beverly Hills-Hotel-except-cooler. This is what I came up with. Excited to see the space when it's all finished. I'll have more photos from the opening this week! x -C
