5th March 2009
Mike’s week of favourite things continues! Today I have posted a picture of my favourite sideboard with some favourite objects. Yet again, the snap is a bit dark and taken months ago, but it’s RAINING here in Melbourne, so there’s no point trying for a better one. But I’m not complaining. Rain is my most favourite thing.
When you read articles in interior design magazines the journalist always manages to say “her/his house is decorate with unique mementos collected from overseas journeys through india/bali/asia/etc”. Unfortuantely I am not so well travelled (I’m saving that for my 50s). So my interior design blurb would read more like: “Claire came across her beautiful Tibetan sideboard in a tiny out of the way clearance store on one of her trips out to Chadstone Shopping Centre. The Balinese pinoccio was found in an import store in Camberwell, and her Lane Smith print (top left) was ordered over the internet. Her lovely Vietnamese rabbit was a gift from a good friend who found it in Brunswick Street, and the J Otto Seibold original came jetting across the ocean from Portland, Oregon (via Canada, thanks to the US postal system) after 21 emails to an online store. The quirky framed display of cultured pearls and their oyster shells was a hand-me-down from her grandmother, as is the beautiful jade green vase.”
4th August 2008
**
Finally, I have updated my sidebar (right) with some links for July / August. This time I have decided to list the lovely blogs I visit regularly for inspiration, escapism and fetishism – design blogs.
For those in the know, there’s really nothing new here – all familiar bloggers who do it so well (unfortunately I haven’t had the time to mine for undiscovered gems. Please let me know or leave a comment if you know of any screamingly obvious omissions or personal favourites). I keep coming back to the blogs which I feel most at home in – ones that feature eclectic, personality filled houses. Loads of texture and colour, often with much evidence of kids, often with big saggy sofas covered in cushions.
All these blogs feature gorgeous interiors, and beautiful objects and art created by unique, exquisitely talented and often (sometimes?) affordable designers – so exciting.
Our house is a tragic work in progress, and always will be. But at least with these blogs I can spend a little time visiting that seductive realm of “In an unknown parallel universe, this is how I live”.
** the above image is from Design Sponge‘s Lena Corwin Competition 3rd place winner Meredith Kleinman. Grace’s Design Sponge is probably my very favourite space on the web at the moment. Gorgeous gorgeousness all the time. And WHO isn’t coveting the new Lena Corwin
book! Argh!**
29th May 2008
Gahhh… after this afternoon’s post, I wanted to put something more inspiring up tonight before I went to bed. You must know the work of Carl Larsson? If not, please take some time to look through the beautiful watercolours he painted which capture his gentle family life (8 children? I am not sure if I really mean ‘gentle’) and incredible home.
I was reading through the Larsson family website this evening, having one of those “one day I will visit this place” fantasies, and was moved by the short bio of Carl Larsson’s wife Karin.
Karin was a painter herself but after the birth of the couple’s first child she stopped painting to look after her family. Perhaps inevitably, she found her creativity pouring out in to the design of the home – textiles, flower arrangement, clothing, furniture design and so on, all which play such a huge part in Larsson’s paintings. In 1997 the Victoria and Albert Museum held an exhibition of the Larsson’s work – what an exhibition that would have been! I am guessing this is from the catalogue:
“Karin was Carl Larsson’s muse. So thoughtful and quiet, he portrayed her as his idol, forever young. She was, in fact, hard-working, hard headed and highly creative. Carl relied upon her as a critic of his work. She trained as a painter at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and Paris. After the birth of Suzanne in 1884 she turned her artistry to decorating the home, especially to weaving and embroidery. She also designed furniture and her own and her children’s clothes. Her most creative period was between 1900 and 1910.
Karin’s textiles were absolutely original. Pre-modern in character they introduced a new abstract style in tapestry. Her bold compositions were executed in vibrant colours; her embroidery frequently used stylised plants. In black and white linen she reinterpreted Japanese motifs. Technically adventurous, she explored folk techniques and experimented with others. A good example of her bold weaving is the tapestry ”The Four Elements” that she composed in 1903 to be hung above the new sofa in the dining room.
At Sundborn the Larssons developed an aesthetic partnership. He was effusive, covering the walls with foliage and flowers, she arranged the living flowers, but in her designs austere and often abstract. The colours of the interior seem to have been jointly decided. Their combined contributions created a perfect whole”
– From the official homepage of the artist Carl Larsson.
I highly recommend this book – Amelia and I dip into it all the time and it’s pure escapism.
I just wish there was more photos of Karin’s original work to be seen on the web.
