This is Myrte
MYRTE is me and I am Myrte. After drawing a little kingfisher in 2008 I couldn’t stop drawing birds. For MYRTE I can unite my love for textiles and nature with design and home decor. I now draw my birds from my studio. I have lunch with the blackbird, and hear the jackdaws discuss heavy topics on my studio roof. I am very grateful that I can share my love for nature with other people. It is my ode to nature. I only draw the birds and animals that come to me; the ones I meet personally. I dive into their world and lifestyle and write a little story about them.
How to pronounce my name
How to pronounce my name? It is not like Myrtle- I am sorry that would be too easy. The Y is like the i in ‘mitt’. and the TE is like a sigh. Put a feather on the table and try to move it my saying TE to it. Then you have it. The R is another story. It is a french R. But I will accept alternatives as it is pretty difficult. My Last name. Duh, but without Homer Simpson’s surprised twist to it. And then the difficult part ZEEUW. It looks harder than it is: Zay-w. Forget the U. That’s it; Mirtteh Duh Zayw. You got it! My name was derived from a plant. Hence my logo with the little shrub!
How I work
I Â draw as any other artist, but pencil and paper are replaced with wacom tablet and a pen which are connected to my computer. Â On my screen I see what I draw. Feather by feather I colour the digitally sketched birds. Â Each drawing contains thousands of strokes. For the four long-tailed titmouse I made 45.000 and it took me 3 weeks. In these videos you can see how.
Encounters
The birds I  draw have each crossed my path in someway or another. Only then I am going to research and photograph them. For instance the Great Tit, I met him in my mom’s backyard as he was relieving her oak from a caterpillar problem. And the seagull I  met on a deserted beach in Normandy. I am sure you recognise the feeling this gives you.
Philosophy
If you love nature, I think you must make a decision to make products that come as close to a perfect world, and a fair treatment of nature as possible. The printed cotton of the pillowcases is organic cotton. And I am very careful and continue to look for better materials that don’t harm the environment. For instance the journals, they are made of FSC paper. It takes time but it is worth the effort!
Still want to know more? Just ask!
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