TauArt

TauArt Welcome to TauDesign, where over three decades of expertise come to life through the artistry of craft unique visual experiences.

I have wanted to return to enamel pins for a very long time.There is a personal reason for that. I grew up around them. ...
09/14/2026

I have wanted to return to enamel pins for a very long time.

There is a personal reason for that. I grew up around them. My mother spent virtually her entire working life making traditional enamel pins — first in Klaipėda, where I was born, and later in Vilnius. As a child, I often went with her to the workshop, so metal, enamel and these small graphic objects have been familiar to me for as long as I can remember.

Decades later, I am returning to them from the other side of the process — as a designer.

This is one of my first completed custom pin projects: a hard enamel pin created for the Lithuanian School Genys in the San Francisco Bay Area, based on the school's original emblem designed by Inga Talmantienė.

My task was to translate the graphic emblem into a small physical object — preserving its character while adapting the shapes, metal outlines, enamel fields, proportions and construction for production.

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of bringing the finished pins to Genys for the opening of the new school year. Seeing them immediately pinned to jackets and shirts was the best possible conclusion to the project.

And also a beginning.

Custom pin design and production is becoming a new direction in my design work—from concept and artwork to a finished edition. If you have an idea for a custom pin, feel free to reach out.

More to come.

09/13/2026

Today, the Lithuanian School Genys in the San Francisco Bay Area opened a new school year. We gathered, sang the Lithuanian national anthem, and watched the children head off to their classrooms.

Today was also the first day for a little Genys of my own—a new enamel pin I designed for the school, based on the original Genys emblem created by Inga Talmantienė, now finally where it belongs: worn by the Genys community.

A new school year begins. And a little Genys begins its journey too.

Have a wonderful school year, Genys!

Some things about September never seem to change.The same soft early-autumn sunlight. A few yellow maple leaves already ...
09/12/2026

Some things about September never seem to change.

The same soft early-autumn sunlight. A few yellow maple leaves already scattered on the pavement. That slightly wistful feeling that summer is leaving and another school year is beginning.

Just as I remember it. Just like in Lithuania.

Today, September 12, the Lithuanian School Genys in the San Francisco Bay Area opened its new school year. We gathered together, sang the Lithuanian national anthem, and then the children disappeared into their classrooms — another year of learning the Lithuanian language, culture, history, and keeping a connection with a country that for many of them is thousands of miles away.

This morning I also had the pleasure of bringing something new to Genys — the enamel pins I recently designed for the school.

Seeing them worn for the first time and seeing the genuine excitement of the teachers and school community made this little design project suddenly feel much bigger than a small piece of metal and enamel.

A small Genys to wear with you. And perhaps another small way of carrying Lithuania with us, wherever we are.

09/11/2026

Ringaudas — Bringing My Illustrated Cards to Life
Some stories begin with a drawing. This one grew into a world of its own.

Ringaudas is my most ambitious short film for The Monarchs of Lithuania so far — bringing together illustration, symbolism, moving images, editing, and a soundtrack that became part of the storytelling itself.

At its heart is a Lithuanian legend: Ringaudas, the father of Mindaugas, defending the land whose future will become a kingdom.

The enemy’s mask, the queen’s key, and the fortress gates each carry a part of that story. Their meaning returns in the illustrated King and Queen of Spades revealed at the end.

I’m proud of how this episode came together. With each film, I’m discovering more ways to let the world of my cards unfold beyond the printed image.

🔊 Give it two minutes — and turn the sound on. Headphones recommended.

The Monarchs of Lithuania: The Legendary Court launches September 23 on Kickstarter.
Click “Notify me on launch” to follow the project:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dausos/the-monarchs-of-lithuania-the-legendary-court

09/07/2026

What happens when a designer lets AI play with his portfolio?

A small weekend experiment: I gave some of my design works to Grok and Midjourney and let them loose for a while. The result is somewhere between a showreel, a visual kaleidoscope, and a rather confident AI hallucination.

Some objects survived remarkably well. Others acquired a life — and occasionally a geometry — of their own.

Consider this a sketch, not a finished showreel. But the experiment revealed something worth developing further.

Kaltenis Design Works — Ideas take many forms.

09/06/2026

They say happy people don’t count the hours.
But the Ambassadors of Druskininkai are not only happy — they are also active, responsible, and always on the move. So time still matters.

This luxury watch was created for Watchmaker Vismantas as an official gift for the Ambassadors of Druskininkai. Its dial turns the city’s name into part of the timekeeping structure itself, while the central motif reflects the identity of the resort.

A representative object, a practical accessory, and a distinctive symbol of connection with Druskininkai.

Design: Tautvydas Kaltenis
Created for: Watchmaker Vismantas
Project Management: Vita Gailiūnaitė

09/04/2026

THE PLACE WAS SACRED.
THE RITE WAS ANCIENT.

In the legend of Šventaragis, an ancient sacred place became the center of a tradition associated with Lithuania’s rulers, memory, and sacred fire.

Šventaragis did not create the ancient rite. In our interpretation, he gave it place, order, and lasting meaning.

Šventaragis — King of Hearts
The Monarchs of Lithuania: The Legendary Court
Launching on Kickstarter September 23: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dausos/the-monarchs-of-lithuania-the-legendary-court

Four kings. Four legends. Four foundations.
Where history fades, legend begins.

09/01/2026

ŠVENTARAGIS — THE SACRED ORDER

In Lithuanian chronicle tradition, Šventaragis was far more than a ruler associated with sacred fire. He is remembered as the founder of a new funerary order: Lithuania’s rulers, princes, and other great men were to be brought to the principal sacred place and committed to the fire there.

According to the legend, this sacred ground stood at the confluence of the Neris and Vilnia, beneath the hill that would later become the heart of Vilnius. After Šventaragis himself was ceremonially cremated there, the valley came to bear his name — Šventaragis Valley.

Centuries later, after Lithuania’s conversion to Christianity, the same area became the religious and political center of the capital. Vilnius Cathedral rose there, while the castles of Lithuania’s rulers developed around the neighboring hill. Rebuilt many times, the Cathedral still stands at the heart of the same landscape formed by the two rivers and Gediminas Hill.

This short film imagines Šventaragis not as the inventor of cremation — a practice far older than the legend — but as the ruler who gave an ancient rite place, hierarchy, and statewide meaning.

Šventaragis — King of Hearts
The Monarchs of Lithuania: The Legendary Court
Launching on Kickstarter September 23.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dausos/the-monarchs-of-lithuania-the-legendary-court

Four kings. Four legends. Four foundations.
Where history fades, legend begins.

Address

1514 Timber Creek Drive
San Jose, CA
95131

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when TauArt posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category