Designer and artist Kim Parker will extend her relationship with Lifetime Brands at the New York Tabletop Market by debuting new home designs for the company’s Gourmet Basics by Mikasa brand.

Her signature modern floral artwork will not only be featured on new dinnerware, but also on flatware, bone china French presses, pepper mills, paper towel holders, fruit baskets and pantryware.

David Mackrell, president/housewares tabletop, Lifetime Brands, noted that, “Kim Parker’s designs bring a fresh new look for florals that is fun and approachable. Her designs give consumers a fun and exciting way to set a table.”

Mackrell added, “The retail reaction to the Kim Parker dinnerware collections has been fantastic. Kim Parker's designs look amazing on a retail floor. They draw customers into the dinnerware department. The packaging is fun, the product is fresh and the retails are right.”

NOUVEAU® sat down with Parker to talk about her design inspiration.

NOUVEAU: Your artwork seems to draw inspiration from flowers. What do you feel has drawn you to painting them?

KIM PARKER: When I am painting flowers, I am essentially creating a garden community with a desire for harmony expressed through my love for rich color and through the movement of flower stems and leaves. Flowers have a kind of innocence that draws me to them. They all have faces with expressions.

N: Is there an aesthetic that the Kim Parker brand stands for?

KP: My signature style has been described as “exuberant, modern, floral design.” I hope that my designs bring rich, healing color into the home. I believe in abundance and bringing the garden indoors. Whether designer rugs, or wallpaper, bedding, bath, fabric or dinnerware, my aesthetic is simply to bring that joy of springtime into the home, all year round.

N: What excites you about designing products for the table?

KP: I really enjoy designing my dinnerware collections for Mikasa because I envision how they will look when the whole table is set beautifully and guests are coming. I love the look of layering plates in rich patterns because I think it brings visual excitement to the table.

N: What is the inspiration behind the new patterns?

KP: The new patterns feature all kinds of flowers but we are also introducing a bird pattern, and another pattern with butterflies. When asked to design a bird pattern, I painted a design with a love for American folk art in mind. Another new addition is a collection called “Sunflowers and Currants.” I adore sunflower fields in France and this was a kind of homage to that landscape, in rich gold and plum hues.

For more on Kim Parker and coverage of the New York Tabletop Market, see the spring edition of NOUVEAU in the April 11, 2016, issue of HOMEWORLD BUSINESS®.