I'm so happy with our new laser cut colours. We've added Ultramarine which is a very vibrant blue and Bright Pink which is..well..a bright pink!
Produced, as ever, by our wonderful laser cut artists in Scotland from our original designs.
Hope you like them. If you'd like to see more images (close ups etc) you can see them on our site by clicking here.
We found Copenhagen to have a very positive outlook and with everyone seemingly cycling or running around the place it just feels really really healthy!
The Danish are very committed to living sustainably and, while visiting the stunning Danish Architectural Centre, we discovered just how progressive and environmentally aware this society is - particularly the sensitivity in terms of developing their built-up environment.Even little things like checking our train times, the website gave us an indication of your CO2 emissions versus a car journey! It feels good. Oh, and apparently the water in the harbour is clean enough to swim in, although it was a bit cold for me to test this!
Copenhagen is a very stylish city. Shops, cafés and bakeries are all beautifully presented, and they feel fresh and exciting. One of my favourite shops was Hay (which I've mentioned before on this blog):
We visited the fantastic Laundromat Café pictured here above. It's a very lively café, with, as the name promises, the opportunity to do a quick clothes wash whilst sipping your latte.
We enjoyed a lovely lunch with our friends from Mimis Circus at the Royal Café. The food was traditional Danish open sandwiches which were heavenly.
Many people had recommended that we visit Tivoli Gardens. At first I have to say that we were a little reluctant. We're not huge fans of the usual mayhem and lemming-like experience of a theme park....but Tivoli was very different. First, we arrived outside the front gate - right in the middle of the city - by bike. Getting in took about 2 mins and the cost of entry, a pretty reasonable 10€ and free for kids. We avoided the high rides (we're all chickens) and just took the kids around the bits for them. They had great fun playing for a few hours - we got lunch at Wagamama!
We're spending a few days in Copenhagen. Partly for work and entirely for pleasure!
I'll do a couple of posts over the next few days to share a little of what we have seen. This is my first trip to Denmark (Simon has been for work a few times). My first impressions are really very positive, despite the slightly gloomy weather which greeted us!
The airport is very close to the centre of the city, so it took very little time at all for us to arrive at our home for the duration - a house that we've rented right in the middle of the city. We're staying in a terraced workers cottage located between The Lakes and the National Gallery of Denmark. The road is very charming, with many bikes and children's tricycles and toys scattered randomly. Every evening the children here play in this very calm road. It seems a wonderful community.
Ahh the bicycles….we're big fans of cycling. Actually, we're big fans of coffee and cycling - and this city is overrun by cafes and bike shops! Cycle lanes run everywhere and it is a pure joy to cycle around this city. Locals are a little aggressive on the bikes, so you need to have your wits about you as they zoom on past. We've borrowed a great Christiania Bike, which has the box at the front for the children to sit in. It's very practical and the kids love it!
First morning was a little wet so we visited the Botanical Gardens right next to where we're staying. The buildings are beautiful late 19th Century greenhouses, although the history of the garden dates back to 1600! An elegant spiral staircase takes you to a balcony surrounding the building's dome with a fantastic view of the plants and outside across the gardens.
Cycling in to town the children were treated to an unexpected display of Danish pageantry as a troop of finely dressed soldiers passed us on their way to the palace. Ophelia is a little obsessed with Royalty (she's already invested all of her holiday money in 3 postcards of the Queen and Princess of Denmark) so we made a detour on our bikes to visit the Palace and see some more guards.
The beautiful harbour at Nyhavn is perhaps the most famous view of Copenhagen, but nevertheless well worth a visit. The architecture is wonderful - beautiful old buildings with a luscious spread of colour. It feels so obviously Scandinavian, so clean and precise.
8m x 6m wall art by Matt W. Moore. The Portland based artist did this mural as part of his Cristal and Lasers show at Since Utopian gallery in Paris in 2010. He is now back at the gallery until mid June to present his new work Gravity.
Seen on Unurth Street Art.
By Irish textile designer Claire-Anne O'Brien.
Somehow every time we go for a walk in the forest our son Lucien comes back home with his arms full of sticks and branches. Instead of hiding the branches at the back of the garden I decided to make a good use out of it. It was a good team work: Ophelia and Lucien happily painted numerous sheets of paper in green and turquoise while I was cutting them into pretty leaves. The result is hanging on top of our bed.
A chaque retour de promenade en forêt, notre fils Lucien revient les bras remplis de branches et de bâtons. Cette fois ci j'ai décidé d'en garder une pour la décorer. Les enfants se sont bien amusés à peindre des feuilles de papier d'un joli vert et turquoise pendant que je découpais des formes de feuilles. Voila le résultat au dessus de notre lit.
Yesterday, 1st May was a bank holiday here in France. While thousands of people were marching the streets of Paris (Sarkozy was in the Trocadero, Le Pen at the Place de l'Opéra and the left unions were marching on the Boulevard Saint Michel), we decided to have a quite day at the Château de Breteuil. The Château is located in the Parc de la Chevreuse (just 40mn drive from the centre of Paris heading South West). We had the whole ground for ourselves and the children had an amazing time cycling around the beautiful gardens.
Daniera ter Haar and Christoph Brach are the designers behind the design studio Raw Color based in Eindhoven (Netherlands). They are both graduates from the Design Academy. The work of Raw Color reflects a sophisticated treatment of material and colour by mixing the fields of graphic design and photography. This is embodied through research and experiments, building their visual language. This is a selection of their work:
Flow.
Raw Color 3. Examination on the visual structure of the vegetables.
Talking of bright colours, I received this morning a pack of luminous envelops and a card by Australian letterpress design company The Hungry Workshop. As soon as I spotted them on Oh Joy, I had to place an order! I LOVE letterpress printing. Oh yes.
The Aerograms envelops colours are so vibrant, they are printed on a heavy 330gsm paper stock and available as a pack of 3 or sold individually.
The Urban Lumberjack Flanno Card is also one of my favourite. I was thinking of framing it ...
Work in progress paper cut garlands.
Kaleido trays by Hay.
Hand dyed fringes necklaces made by my sister Coralie.
My sister's necklace hanging from a pig's head in my bedroom.
Seen on By Fry.
Birds from the Animalerie Quai de la Mégisserie, Paris.
Ducks from the village fête in Cahors (South West of France).
Studio on Fire is a letterpress printing agency based in Minneapolis, USA. The quality of impression and the colours are so stunning...
When Ophelia comes back from school she often comes to my studio and ask to do stuff with me (like drawing and making things). I had a dozen of Posca (water based paint markers. They are very easy to clean with window cleaner product) on my desk in front of me, and don't ask me why but I thought it would be fun to draw on the windows in the kitchen while Lucien was eating his goûter (4 o'clock snack). Ophelia was of course very excited as we usually never draw on the windows. We had a nice time making web shaped stars and leaves and other random drawings...
On saturday we will be at the airport to welcome Simon's brother and his 2 daughters who are coming all the way from Blenheim in New Zealand to visit us for few weeks. We haven't seen the girls since we went to New Zealand in 2008! Ophelia is super excited to see her cousins. The rest of the weekend will be enjoying eating chocolate! Enjoy your break.
The bunny was hand cut for the occasion. We went to the woods next to our home with my son Lucien to pick up sticks and we painted each one with different colours. Our son is loving bringing back home lots of wooden sticks at the moment so I thought it would be a nice thing to decorate them!
Last week we had the visit from our dear friends Coco and Hisashi from Edition Paumes. They very kindly offered us a selection their latest books: Lovely Tea Time in Paris, Finland Children's room and Tokyo Home Ateliers. From now on I have decided to carry in my handbag the Lovely Tea Time book every time I am in Paris. I no longer want to have a coffee in a random café. It should be served with a delicious cake like in La Pâtisserie des Rêves
Finland Children's room
Lovely Tea Time in Paris
Tokyo Home Ateliers
Few shots details of our home after a big Spring clear up last week...
Nous avons fait un grand rangement de Printemps la semaine dernière et avec ce beau soleil la maison est resplendissante de couleurs....
Ophelia (our daughter who is 5 and a half - very important the half) has been asking me to make her a dollhouse for a while. So when my mum moved house, she gave Ophelia this little wooden cabinet for her bedroom. We decided to transform it into her own dollhouse. It is now inhabited by Playmobil little people. Ophelia made some artworks for the walls and has kindly included her brother's name on one of her drawing but he is so not allowed to get near the house for now said Ophelia - he is 2 and a half and loves to trash anything his sister owns!
Oh yes! and it has been a pretty good one last week as well. I am very much enjoying working with a couple of creative people who are doing a project on Famille Summerbelle. Can't say much for now, but I will keep you informed before the Summer.
This is a photo of the mood board in my studio. I am really into bright colours at the moment. It must be thanks to the sun shinning outside.
Jim Hodges at the Gladstone Gallery in 2011. I know it's a way back but I had to share this with you. I love his work.
I hope you have a nice and sunny week. This morning I'm off to London for a couple of days to work, see an exhibition or two (I hope) to get some inspiration, go to Berwick Street to buy some fabric and tonight we will be celebrating my cousin birthday in a pub somewhere West. I'm looking forward to my short trip :-)
Chatou is a place to the west of Paris where the Impressionists used to come and paint on the charming banks of the river Seine. Twice a year (March and September) a huge flea market La Foire à La Brocante et aux Jambons is set on the Ile des Impressionnistes. I recommend to have lunch at the nearby Maison Fournaise (where Renoir painted the famous painting Déjeuner des Canotiers). Sellers comes from all over France with exquisite (and often rather expensive) antique treasures. Mix with all the happy odds and ends you can have a little break at the many stands selling smoked hams and a selection of wine. As Chatou is very near to where we live I always try to go as I love flea markets and this one is quite exceptional. Unfortunately I often leave empty handed as it is so expensive but I feel so happy to have seen so many nice and inspiring things!
Have a nice weekend...
Detail from a large embroidery map of France.
