Marushka of the day

Marushka of the day

I often like the simple monochrome silhouettes the best, but the vibrant colors on this one are quite appealing.

Marushka with clock?

Mini Golf
Originally uploaded by K. Mikey M.

Textile art on Etsy

I ran across these on Etsy - very much in the spirit of Marushka...

From Etsy seller UmberDove:





I love the mix of silkscreen and embroidery - a striking color palette as well.

Marushka of the day

A fake!

Marushka inspired imitators - here's one imposter:

some tidbits of Marushka trivia

• Founded in 1970 by Richard Sweet and Victor and Mary Krawczyk.
• Based in Grand Haven, Michigan
• Initial projects included silkscreened office partitions
• In Marushka’s heyday in the early 1980s, they had five retail outlets owned by the company, including locations in Michigan and Florida
• In the late 1980s, creator Richard Sweet apparently developed a silkscreen line of framed prints varnished (so they could be wiped clean) (will have to look for these)
  
• Even during Marushka’s prime, prints were all hand-screened
  

handcrafted totes from Marushka prints

One can find examples of Marushka glasses, towels, and aprons on eBay. I personally like the prints the best, but for those who don't, here's an interesting repurposing of Marushka prints in a more functional form - as tote bags.

The seller can be found on Etsy at this location. Blackboard Art's shop is based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan - near the Marushka motherland in Grand Haven (presumably the availability of Marushkas is high there).







The "sold items" section also shows some neat examples - I really like this one!

Marushka Central

when I first became interested in Marushkas, I was surprised to see how little information was available about the prints online. the most informative information I came across via Google was in the comments someone posted to another Marushka fan's blog.

today though I ran across a great photo archive of Marushka - Marushka Central! The site has great photos of Marushka prints, as well as a section of Marushka imposters.



The site also fills in on some of Marushka's history:

they started making these linen silk-screens in 1971. they stopped making them in 1988, and had begun making new designs in 2000 but alas, have been discontinued again!!

I had heard that Marushka was named after the wife of the creator, as Marushka is Polish for Mary. But according to Marushka Central,

as for the name marüshka, it came from the suggestion of a polish butcher and was agreed on for the "artist's" name as an endearment for a little girl.

Marooshka

While the heyday of Marushka is now decades past, you can still buy silkscreen prints under the Marushka name, though now spelled "Marooshka." the prints are similar in spirit to the originals, but interestingly they are easy to distinguish from the vintage prints even with similar themes of shells and plant silhouettes. The colors are a bit more modern and some of the designs are updated from the original style.







It's not clear why Marooshka has a new spelling - though I've heard it might be due to trademark issues they are trying to resolve. From what I can tell, Marooshka prints are affiliated with the Michigan Rag Company, a silkscreen company that was a spin-off of the original Marushka.
Buy Marooshkas here.