Elke Dunaiski of Bright Owl
Bright Owl Paper Goods - beautiful paper products
This is the story of Elke Dunaiski: “My name is Elke and I started Bright Owl Paper Goods because of a little girl… A few years ago God challenged me to start preparing to adopt a child and one of the things I had to figure out was how to use my design skills in a way that would allow me to be at home with my daughter. A bit of research showed that, while there are many beautiful things for adults, there’s little in the way of well-designed paper products for children in South Africa, and so Bright Owl Paper Goods was born.”
Here are Elke’s answers to our questions:
1. What do you love about your work?
I started Bright Owl Paper Goods so that I’d be able to spend as much time
as possible with my
adopted daughter, so the fact that I have the flexibility of being with her
during the day and working in the evening is amazing! I also love the fact that
I get to be creative, while figuring out things like production, systems and
marketing.
2. Where do you find your ideas?
Hmmm, I guess ‘everywhere’ would be a bit too broad..? I love the daily
creativity and innovation in South Africa and I think my best ideas come when
I’m driving, with a bit of time to think and plenty of inspiration outside. And
of course magazines, blogs, Instagram and Pinterest bring creativity from around
the world to us. (I love the clean lines and beautiful colours of Scandinavian
design!)
3. Who inspires you?
My mother and grandmother have
been my greatest inspiration and best teachers. Both spent hours drawing and
painting with us and through their encouragement and patience established a love
of practical creativity in my sisters and I. I’m also incredibly inspired by my
community - people like Marize from She Is Visual, Tarien from
Kwartels en Manna and photographer Lizelle Lötter. It’s a privilege to
be surrounded by such brave and brilliant people!
4. Your favourite material/s?
Paint and paper! There’s nothing like watching watercolour settle and dry
across a sheet of paper. It’s gentleness is uniquely beautiful.
5. What are your aspirations for the future?
My dream for Bright Owl is that the products will spark imagination and
creativity in little hearts and minds and that the words will show children that
they’re valued and loved. There’s enough in the world that tells them the
opposite. I’ve also got quite a few more product ideas that I’m working on, so
I’d love to see those become reality in the next year or so. (And hopefully the
business side of things will grow enough that at some time in the future I’ll be
able to adopt a brother or sister for my little girl.)
6. What do you expect from the Kamers’ show/s ?
I love meeting people! Whether it’s customers who’ve spotted my products on
social media and are excited to see them in real life or other creatives who
have inspired me along the way. Again and again I’m amazed at the generosity
with which everyone approaches their craft - you’d think people would hold their
skills and knowledge close, but instead they give and share freely.
7. Anything else you want to mention?
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Meet Elke at Kamers in Stellenbosch next week.