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Sandy, Dutch Design Week and Poppies

Sandy, Dutch Design Week and Poppies

November 9, 2012 By 1 Comment
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The past couple of weeks have had me struggling with another bout of homesickness. Strangely, the images of tragedy striking New York City (again) made me feel like I should be there … I’ve missed my New England roots many times over the last 5.5 years, but I haven’t missed New York like I have these past weeks, seeing my old neighborhood (Tribeca) in pitch darkness, my old Subway stops under water … Ah. Sandy’s winds are pulling on my heart strings …

But then last week I found some comfort in this beautiful letter from Emmy McCarthy, an expat to Amsterdam who founded the Amsterdam Mamas. As she says, as an expat, your definition of home shifts. Basically, it’s wherever your kids are!

It’s true, there’s no force of nature bigger or stronger, when it comes to my heart strings, than Ruby and Juliette. And, this is their home. So, I continue to do my best to grow my own roots here, roots that don’t give in to hurricane gusts of homesickness.

And, it’s working, slowly but surely.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, but I really failed at taking good photos. I just didn’t have the time or the right state of mind to enjoy it and to go to the two places I really wanted to go: the Graduate Projects Exhibition at the Design Academy Eindhoven and the studio/store/restaurant/city-unto-itself of Piet Hein Eek. Oh well … Next year.

 

 

I did snap this photo of a billboard featuring the legendary Mr. Eek that I took from the train platform, overlooking the Strijp-S location at DDW (an old Philips plant which has now been converted into studio/office space for lots of creative businesses, a skateboard park, restaurants, cafés and event locations, a Farmer’s Market, etc.) I think its footprint is as large, if not larger, than the entire downtown area of Eindhoven, and the city is subsidizing it in some pretty exciting ways.

What do you think of the quote on the billboard? It should have started with a “He …”, but other than that, is this true for you? Is your environment your studio, your neighborhood, your town, your city, your world?

 

Map courtesy of www.brabant.nl

 

Well, as environments go, I think mine is a pretty good one. For almost exactly 4 years now, I’ve lived between Eindhoven and ‘s Hertogenbosch, two of the major cities that comprise the Province of Brabant (seen on the map above) in the South of the Netherlands. Brabant is a candidate for European Capital of Culture 2018. From the always trustworthy Wikipedia:

“The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension. Preparing a European Capital of Culture can be an opportunity for the city to generate considerable cultural, social and economic benefits and it can help foster urban regeneration, change the city’s image and raise its visibility and profile on an international scale.”

I read through the application while at DDW and I was truly impressed, both by its content and presentation. It is really amazing to think about all the things going on here, between Eindhoven being ‘Brainport’ (the city with the highest average IQ and largest number of patents per capita) and home to the world-renowned Design Academy, Philips and ASML Headquarters, the Textile Museum in Tilburg, Vlisco in Helmond, history and beauty and charm in ‘s Hertogenbosch … And I know I’m forgetting a lot of things. I could have picked a worse place to expatriate to, that’s for sure.

One thing I did accomplish at Dutch Design Week is that I met with an interior designer who is developing a product line comprised of different ranges: rugs, tablecloths, tableware, vases, wallpaper, etc. We may become partners in producing a line of wallpaper! Last week I spent about two hours learning about licensing contracts for artists, as ours would be a relationship where I would be paid royalties on net sales. It’s all described very clearly in a handy reference I can recommend: Licensing Art & Design by Caryn R. Leland.

 

 

After just two hours, I felt like I went to law school, at least on this subject. Some other great references on art licensing are Maria Brophy’s blog and the Art Licensing blog by Tara Reed. These two experts on the subject have recently collaborated on this book, which has also gotten a lot of positive reviews.

I’m also working on a commission for a private home (my first one!) and learning that this is my favorite way of working with clients: visiting their spaces, hearing about their inspirations, their stories, looking at their furniture and coming up with a unique solution for their walls. Then wallpaper becomes much more that just decoration; It becomes a truly personal and unique reflection of the spaces and their inhabitants. It becomes and experience and a story in and of itself, as all things in our homes should be …

Over the last month or so, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my natural focus and how I want to approach this massive market of surface design in a unique and authentic way, and it’s all beginning to take shape. Now I’m toying with the idea of (one day) finding a little shopfront in the village of Vught here and turning it into my studio/gallery/shop, where customers can walk in and have a consultation, request a commission, see past projects on display, etc. How’s that for putting down some roots?! I think the ‘seed was planted’ (so to speak) when I read this post about bloggers opening brick and mortar shops (a new trend, apparently). But then last week I was biking by some of the charming village shops in Vught after dropping Juliette off at daycare, and I suddenly saw myself moving in (someday) …

 

View of Vught as you approach from ‘s Hertogenbosch. The church whose steeple you see here is currently being renovated to house the public library, the Vught Historical Museum, a café, etc.

The ice cream shop in town where we always treat ourselves on Queens Day (April 30).

Vught is home to one of the best patisseries in Europe: de Rouw. A very classy place that makes me feel a bit like I’m in Paris.

 

What do you think? Pretty charming, right?

These past weeks I’ve been so busy that design work has progressed slowly, but here’s a peak at the poppies I’ve been pondering …

 

 

Or, perhaps you prefer a more dramatic, dark and mysterious palette?

 

 

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Talking Politics

Talking Politics

November 5, 2012 By 1 Comment
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Maybe these are topics we tend to avoid. We all know and like people who have different political views than we do. But on the eve of Election Day in the US, I was moved to create this illustration and forward it to the Obama Campaign to do with it as they see fit.

These last few weeks have been the first in my life where I’ve felt truly angered by politics. I think this is because I feel there’s a lot on the line for the two little people I love most in the world.

I really admire people in public service. There are some standouts: Eleanor Roosevelt and yes, Obama among them. I think Obama is a dogged, devoted, determined worker who is so busy keeping his nose to the ground, so busy with the substance of his work, that he sometimes forgets – or spends less time on – the surface of it. What I mean is: for all he’s accomplished, we’ve only recently heard him tell us about it. It’s this humility, a quality which costs him as a politician (in the first debate, for example) which I personally particularly admire in him. This spinning, this ‘marketing’ is what he dislikes most about his job. He believes that if his work is good, it will be recognized as such, that he will not have to tie it up and present it to us in pretty packages …

He respects people enough to make their own judgments, while people seem increasingly desperate to piggyback on the judgments of others (think: big media, big brands, celebrities …)

BTW, speaking of celebrities, did anyone else nearly die laughing when Obama’s opening line at the Al Smith Dinner was: “Please, please, take your seats. Please … otherwise Clint Eastwood will start yelling at them!”

Anyway, back to this idea of substance and surface. I think we all go back and forth in our work (and in our lives?), between the actual doing of it on the one hand and the describing of it on the other. Some of us enjoy one aspect more than the other. Sometimes, it seems that those who focus on the latter get ahead with cheap shots and simplifications.

But for those of us who love the work itself, the rest can feel like an afterthought. We want to do the work, not talk about it. As Ryan Miller sings lamentingly in my new favorite song Big Machine: “People push a lot of air around … but don’t say much of anything.”

For me, humility is a quality I was taught to esteem in the highest. When I was studying for my MFA at NYU and had to write a long paper about teaching philosophy, I consulted my Dad, who has almost 40 years experience in this most noble of professions. His cornerstone has always been ‘humility for the subject’ (or substance, I guess you could say). That has stuck with me ever since.

This also comes into play in the creative process, where our end of the deal is just to show up, to hope that we will have the opportunity, at that sitting, to be the channel of some greater power or inspiration. If you do not recognize your humility in that process, then you are simply not open to it.

And if public service can be seen as a creative activity, don’t you want leaders who are humble and open, facilitating but not forceful?

(I’m sorry. I do have to say I love alliteration and may have gone overboard in this post :) )

To that I would also add conviction, a word that has meant a lot to me lately. Whatever your work is, whatever your substance is, do it with conviction. Make a commitment to it. When it’s not going your way, when you’re questioning its worth or value, commit to it all the more. It will prove itself to you. Maybe not always in the short term, but certainly in the long term.

That is why Michelle Obama says that the role of President hasn’t changed who Barack is, it has revealed who he is. Because his conviction, his commitment to his values, ethics and moral code have been constant, as you can see here.

So, besides a better world for our daughters, I think these values are on the line tomorrow. Americans have, in my eyes, a choice between substance and surface, between humility and hubris, between conviction/consistency and … hmmm … confusion/inconsistency (??? … keeping with my alliterative theme).

As a US citizen living abroad in Europe, I can attest that at least this continent is watching closely, to see where America will lead the world next.

 

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What I’ve learned from living in the Netherlands: Part I

What I’ve learned from living in the Netherlands: Part I

October 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Last week I read an article on the Huffington Post entitled “10 Things Americans Can Learn from Amsterdammers” by Erin Farber, travel writer. In a nutshell, her list consisted of:

1. Don’t spend more than you have. (Credit cards are basically non-existent here.)

2. Travel to places where no one speaks your language. (Just over 25 million people speak Dutch worldwide, compared to 1.5 billion who speak English. Not mastering at least one foreign language isn’t really an option for Dutchies, who generally start learning English between the ages of 10 and 12.)

3. Realize less choice is often more. (Dutch grocery stores are roughly 1/14th the size of their American counterparts).

4. Always offer guests coffee or tea.

5. Eat fried food. (In moderation).

6. Integrate exercise into your everyday routine. (Bike everywhere).

7. Take time for lunch, even if it’s just 20 minutes.

8. Appreciate the little luxuries in life.

9. Tell it like it is (politely). (The Dutch are … stereotypically … rather blunt. At least, by American standards. They don’t beat around the bush or sugarcoat criticisms the way we tend to).

10. Ice skate every chance you get. (Whenever it’s cold enough for the country’s canals to freeze, the whole of the Netherlands gets all up in a tizzy about whether an 11 city skating course called the Elfstedentocht, will take place. It hasn’t happened since 1997 and has only happened a total of 15 times since its inception in 1909, but that doesn’t stop one from hoping …)

 

Beautiful canal house in Amsterdam.

 

I recognize all the items on this list as being true, to some degree, but the most important thing that I personally have learned from living in the Netherlands didn’t even make the list. Do you want to know what it is?

OK, I hope so, because I’m going to tell you in an upcoming series of posts. Starting now.

 

Outdoor market in Amsterdam.

 

Actually, I spoke about this last summer at a Rotary dinner in ‘s Hertogenbosch. A 10-minute speech, all in Dutch … quite the test for my nerves. But I did survive to tell about it and, to translate it into English (something I told my parents I’d do months ago). So, here goes …

First, some context. As some of you know, I met my Dutch husband very coincidentally in 2004. At the time, I was living in New York, studying for my MFA in Studio Art at New York University. I had a horrid, horrid critique one raw November morning and decided, while standing on the corner of 59th and 2nd (waiting for a walk signal just long enough to become the target of a defecating pigeon), that I needed to GET OUT of New York as fast as possible. In what was arguably the most spontaneous act of my life, I convinced one of my best girlfriends to fly with me to Expedia’s deal-of-the-month destination (Houston, TX). I’d never been there before. I figured the weather would be warmer, the scenery different. And, an extra bonus was that my football team, the New England Patriots, were playing the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium during our stay. I’d never seen them play in nearby Foxboro, MA, but I figured they needed fans on the road too …

Oh yes, you didn’t know that I was a rabid football fan? More on that another time …

Airplane (and football) tickets were purchased before I’d really thought this through. When we arrived, we realized we had no plan, no idea what we were going to do for four days in Houston. But, we started asking around for ideas, and kept asking around until – you guessed it – we happened upon a group of Dutch people: exported, expatriated employees at Shell and Heerema Marine Contractors, 2 big Dutch companies with a sizable presence in the Gulf of Mexico. This friendly-looking group was having some drinks at the Mercury Bar (seems like every city has a bar by this name) on a (what turned out to be not-so-) typical Friday night.

Robert, my future husband, offended me immediately (see #9 on Erin Farber’s list) and I was ready to leave the Mercury Bar. But, somehow, he wrangled his way into being our tour guide that weekend, showing us what there was to see of Houston – the Rothko Chapel, jazz bars, driving ranges, malls, movie theaters – and even driving us to and picking us up from Reliant Stadium (where the Pats won in overtime). A few weeks later he came to visit me in New York, and for the year that followed we traveled back and forth between the US and Europe, in essence going on our honeymoon before we got married instead of after (as most normal people do). In 2005 he moved to New York. We lived there together for 2.5 years before relocating to Amsterdam in February of 2007.

Robert didn’t have to work too hard to convince me that we should come and live here. He wanted to work for his family business, which was and is very much tied to this area. As an artist, I felt I could live and work anywhere. Plus, I’d lived in New York for 7 years. I was tired of the grind. I didn’t want to spend a total of 1.5 hours underground on the Subway everyday, just to get to and from my work. I wanted to commute in the fresh air of Amsterdam (ha!), on my bike.

This, even though my first biking experience in Amsterdam ended (after about 90 seconds) in a rather loud and embarrassing clanging and scraping of metal on cobblestone. I hadn’t thought much of it at first, but I was on a bike with pedal brakes (which were totally new to me at the time) and no helmet (they are reserved for toddlers here). As soon as cars started passing me at a distance of no more than 6 inches, I heard one of my Dad’s favorite mantras (which he’d employed anytime I’d refused to wear a bike helmet as a child) echoing between my ears: “Ellie, do you want to be pretty and dead … or ugly and alive?” Years later, as a 26-year-old cycling down the Brouwersgracht, I recognized the wisdom of his words (and my desire to live, no matter the cost!) and decided I needed to eject myself from this biking situation immediately. Since I didn’t know how to brake, the logical solution was of course to jump from the bike in the middle of a busy intersection. Great entertainment for all the diners sitting out on the nearby terraces. No harm done though, except to my ego. Robert doubled me on the back of his bike for the rest of our ride to the Rijksmuseum, while I cursed at myself and felt certain he’d break up with me after seeing this pathetic display of (non)-athleticism…

 

Robert doubling me on his bike in our neighborhood of the Jordaan.

 

Anyway, he didn’t, and we later lived in Amsterdam from February 2007 until November 2008, in order to make the transition from American/big city life to Dutch/suburban life a little less shocking.

It was in Amsterdam that we got married. It was in Amsterdam that our first child, Ruby, was born.

 

Seeing each other for the first time on our wedding day. (Yes, before the walk down the aisle.) It's Dutch tradition that the groom picks up his bride at her parents' house. Since our situation was a bit unconventional and my parents did not have a Dutch residence, Robert picked me up at our apartment in the Jordaan. This was the only sunny Saturday of the summer of 2008, so all of Amsterdam was out to enjoy it. Half of the onlookers you see here were just passersby.

 

Now you want to know what struck me immediately about my new European life? You want to know what I have learned from the Dutch? Living here has helped me recover a sense of safety and security.

This was a feeling I suppose I lost the moment looked up at the television screen in my Upper East Side gym on the morning of September 11, 2001, and saw the first footage of the planes hitting the Twin Towers. I didn’t lose any loved ones in the attacks, but I did lose, as I think all Americans did that day, a sense of security, and (for my generation) a sense of innocence. That morning I walked about 9 miles from that Upper East Side gym (which was in my office building) to my apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, all the while watching copy paper with singed edges rain out of the sky. The next day, Wednesday, my roommates and I alternated between sitting in our living room, watching the coverage on CNN, and sitting on our roof, watching the plume of smoke still rising above lower Manhattan, billowing up into the sky and catching the winds heading toward us over the East River.

 

View from the roof of our Park Slope, Brooklyn apartment on September 12, 2001

 

On Thursday, to my utter shock, it was back to work. Offices were open again. But my heart got stuck in my throat as my D/Q train crossed the Manhattan Bridge. It seemed the perfect moment for that lurking terrorist – the one in the corner with his hat down over his eyes – to detonate his bomb. And a few months later, American soldiers appeared in the Union Square 4/5/6 station with machine guns. The media adjusted the alert levels from red to orange, and back to red again. I made plans with my parents about where I would go, how I would communicate if there was another attack.

On the one hand, going about life as usual was the best therapy there was. Every day that passed uneventfully was a reason to feel safe again, wasn’t it? But, for me at least, that feeling of safety was one I never reclaimed in the subsequent years that I lived in New York.

It was when I arrived in Amsterdam (by comparison a village of only 700,000 inhabitants) that I suddenly felt the weight of that constant fear was lifted. But it was more than just going from a city that had once been targeted by terrorists to a city that was much less likely to be.

Over the next few weeks, in a series of posts, I want to try to describe what I’ve perceived to be the major difference in mentality between the Americans and the Dutch (without making too many dangerous generalizations). It’s just that, when I lived in America, you might have called me a bit fearful. Now that I live in the Netherlands, I am gradually becoming more faithful. I don’t mean that in the religious sense. I just mean that in my American life, I worried about things a lot more – from terrorist attacks to epidemics of disease to deadly bacteria to whatever was getting the media its best ratings … In my European life, I feel comfortable, cared for, and I have increasing faith in a positive outcome to any given situation.

 

Me and Robert at my naturalization ceremony in December of 2011. I'm now both an American and a Dutch citizen!

 

Again, I don’t want to make generalizations about entire populations of people, so I will just attempt to tell you about some of my personal observations and experiences over the past 5 years. Check back if you are curious to know more about how these themes of fearfulness vs. faithfulness have applied themselves to the major events in my life since I have lived here, including pregnancy/childbirth and parenting.


 

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Finding A Natural Focus

Finding A Natural Focus

October 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Last week I received a link in my inbox to an inspiring blog post by Michelle Fifis over at Pattern Observer. The post was titled “Filling the Void in Today’s Textile Design Marketplace” and if you, like me, are trying to find your way in this surface design world, I highly recommend reading it, if you haven’t already.

Michelle shares that the competition in this industry has grown exponentially in the past 10 years. So, if you want to stand out, you have to step it up. You can earn your place in the industry by being a designer who creates great artwork and runs a professional business. She defines a professional business as one that has focus, authenticity, consistency and an understanding of how to communicate with clients.

One thing many designers struggle with is a lack of focus, according to Michelle. I can attest to that! There are truly so many directions you can take in this field. You could choose to design for wrapping paper, quilting fabrics, greeting cards, lamps, wallpaper, tabletop, fashion fabrics, you name it! Thanks to digital technology, just about every product can be printed and personalized these days.

Then there’s the way you work: You can choose to work for a company, or you can choose to work freelance. As a freelancer, you can choose to work with clients, an agent or represent yourself at trade shows (or some combination of the three). You can also manufacture your own product line. Blog. Teach. Etc.

You can see examples and be inspired by just about everything around you, because surface designs are, in fact, all around us, all the time!

It’s truly a bit overwhelming and I must admit I feel I’ve spent a lot of the past few years feeling a bit lost, or worse, schizophrenic. I just want to do everything I see around me. A bit unrealistic, I know …

But I’m hoping those days are behind me. Last night I quickly wrote out 5 pages about my past, present and future as an artist/designer, so that it would be there in black and white, and I’d no longer lose it in a sea of influence and inspiration. It’s taped up on my studio wall now, and it was a great support to me today as I started working in a whole new way (a way that I’m really excited about!) Stay tuned for more on that.

I think it’s incredibly important for all of us to take this precious moment to think about our natural focus. I know I’m always so eager to get down to the designing, but wait … Stop. Breathe. Make yourself a cup of tea and answer the following questions first:

What types of products/industry do you most want to design for? Why? What is your history/feeling/experience with this type of product/this industry?

What kinds of designs do you want to create? What are the 7 most important adjectives to describe them?

What is your process/style? What is unique about it?

What are your strengths as an artist/designer and how will you work to them?

How do you want people to feel when they interact with your work?

Anyway, Michelle’s advice is to identify your natural focus, then “run like the wind!” Learn everything you can about it. Become an expert in it. Specialize. Market yourself specifically to that industry. You know the old saying: “Jack of all trades, master of none?” That’s not what we’re going for. Having lots of choices isn’t always a good thing, at least not until you’ve made them. So, dig deep, look inside, and make those choices. I think you’ll feel relieved. I do!

A few posts back, I announced that my wallpaper obsession was taking hold. I’m still in the throes of it. So, I think I’ve identified my natural focus.

In the spirit of specializing, I spent part of my Saturday afternoon leafing through wallpaper books at Otto Van Iersel Paint & Wallpaper here in Vught. They were very nice and directed me to the latest florals from Eijffinger (NL), BoråsTapeter (Sweden), Origin (NL), Arte (BE), Esta (NL), Cole & Son (UK), Designers Guild (UK), Osborne & Little (UK), etc. Are these same brands in your local wallpaper store? If not, what brands are popular where you live?

Here are some highlights from my browsing session. As you can see, the middle images of papers by Eijffinger have a texture to them, and even in some cases a metallic background color. I liked that. These designs all seemed to share pretty simple patterns. A plain ground with one or two motifs, and you’re done. At least, traditionally.

But look at what Louise Tiler is doing with wallpaper:

Louise Tiler Wallpaper

Louise Tiler Wallpaper

 

Do you see anything you like? Would you consider any of these for your home? Why or why not?

Oh wait, here are some more choices from a company in the UK called Sanderson … What was I saying about too much choice not being a good thing??

So, so far I’ve bombarded you with flowers, because that’s what I love. But I have to admit I was surprised how much I fell for this new Brooklyn Tins wallpaper from NLXL/Merci and Piet Hein Eek, a product/furniture designer in Eindhoven known for his use of scrap wood/scrap materials in general.

 

Brooklyn Tins Wallpaper image courtesy of kleurinspiratie.nl

 

 

Is it because it reminds me of my glory days in Park Slope in 2001-2005? I don’t know. I think it’s just cool. Really cool.

Have you seen any interesting wallpapers lately, or do you know of any good places to study up? I want to know all about it!

P.S. Michelle Fifis is offering a new class called Building Your Textile Design Business, starting October 29. To find out more about it, click here. It’s sure to be great!

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Feeling stuck, but hopeful.

Feeling stuck, but hopeful.

October 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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This week I’ve been doing what feels like banging my head against a wall, trying to complete a new design series. Does this ever happen to you? I know this is just part of the creative process, but it really is just how Julia Cameron describes it in The Artist’s Way. I have this horrible little voice in my head that’s constantly asking me: “And? You think that’s special?” “Is this whole pursuit even worthwhile?” “This is what you take time away from your kids for!?”

When I’m in a state like this, I don’t know whether to dig in and just keep forging ahead, or take a break. But so far I’ve just been stubbornly digging in, hoping for that breakthrough, that epiphany, that will restore my hope and faith – in myself, in this path I’ve chosen … you know? I’m really hoping that will happen tonight or tomorrow. Please God. If not, I guess I’ll be forced to take a break this weekend.

One of the feelings I’ve really been struggling with this week is one that I think is familiar to all mothers: guilt. Am I right? I feel bad about sending my kids to daycare 2 days a week so that I can work.

I just feel such a strong sense of responsibility towards them, and if they express an iota of displeasure about being in daycare, a (crazy) part of me has the urge to yank them out and keep them home with me ALL the time, barricade the door, home school them and never release them back into the real world … But they are 4.5 and 2.5 (old enough to enjoy and benefit from playing with other kids). My husband, who actually picks them up from daycare, says that when he does, they are usually so blissfully transported by whatever they’re doing that they ignore him and play on.

Ruby LOVES her school but sometimes complains about Friday’s after school program. Juliette always expresses reluctance about daycare (since we returned from summer holidays in August) and repeatedly tells me stories about a classmate who pushes and grabs things from her. These stories are, granted, largely unintelligible, and what I don’t understand I probably fill in with my guilty conscience. When we mentioned Juliette’s alleged victimization to one of her teachers, who is gold, gold, GOLD (!) she kind of politely said (in so many words) that if Juliette can dish it out, she can certainly take it. I’m sure she’s dishing out her fair share, as she is rather feisty, even for a 2-year old.

 

 

(Looks pretty sweet there though, doesn’t she?)

You see, when both of my daughters were born, it was immediately clear to me that they trumped anything else I ever have or ever will create – a gajillion (sp?) times over.

So, for me to take time away from them, it has to be for a worthwhile pursuit. On the other hand, I am a whole person, not just a mother. Just because I am a mother, I don’t have to let the rest of me slowly atrophy and die, do I? I need to be creating; I know this about myself. Plus, I know I am a better mother when I’m not a mother ALL the time. There are just so many things like this, where I guess you have to trust your internal feelings about what is right for you, because it’s different than what’s right for the next person. And even when you trust those feelings, there will be days, weeks – hopefully not much longer than that – when you doubt them.

 

Illustration I did of Ruby and Juliette reading (er, playing on the iPad) together.

 

I wanted to write about a children’s book this week, because last week a friend asked me for a recommendation and I totally blanked. But when I thought about it more and my brain finally booted up, I remembered a book I had as a child and that I just translated (unofficially, and with the kind help of my mother-in-law) into Dutch a few months ago, so that I could give it as a gift at Ruby’s school.

Do you have any favorite children’s books to recommend?

Well, this book I want to write about today kind of ties in with the idea I briefly mentioned above, of releasing your kids into the world – a world in which they might not be happy, a world in which they might not feel safe, all the time. It’s actually two books in a series: If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow, and If You’re Afraid of the Dark, Add One More Star to the Night, by Seattle-based Cooper Edens.

I had the first book as a kid and I remember being scared of it. Maybe there should be a subtitle or an instruction manual that says: If You’re Afraid of This Book, Read It When You’re 30. It’s kind of a children’s book for adults. But with a few more years and (some painful) experiences under my belt, I can really appreciate its poetic beauty, its heartbreaking/heartwarming faith and optimism in the human spirit and its ability to find a silver lining in any situation.

Here are some excerpts (in no particular order) and some of the magical illustrations that accompany them:

“If you’re afraid of the dark … add one more star to the night.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Add One More Star to the Night

 

“If tomorrow morning the sky falls … have clouds for breakfast.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow

 

“If you have butterflies in your stomach … ask them into your heart.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow

 

“If you become lost … make wherever you are look like home.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Add One More Star to the Night

 

“If you’re afraid of the dark … remember the night rainbow.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Remember the Night Rainbow

 

“If one day you must leave home … draw stars on the bottom of your shoes to light your way back.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Add One More Star to the Night

 

“If you’re at the end of your rope … untie the knot in your heart.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Add One More Star to the Night

 

“If your world has come undone … fasten it securely to the horizon.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Add One More Star to the Night

 

“If you must cry … plant your tears as seeds.”

© Cooper Edens, If You're Afraid of the Dark, Add One More Star to the Night

 

So … it’s maybe not hard to imagine that all this talk of pain and loss and suffering kind of put me off as a child (and I have to admit that Ruby and Juliette never request this book either). But reading it as an adult, I really appreciate its unconventionality. I appreciate the message that although we cannot always control what happens to us, we can control how we deal with what happens to us, how we fashion it into our lives, our personal histories, dreams and so on. Because it really is just on the other side of those fears/tears, that the most beautiful things can happen.

I feel this way about my kids, as I (sometimes guiltily) release them into the world. As a mother, of course you want to protect them from even the slightest twinge of discomfort. (As if you could). But on the other hand, you know if they never squared off against this inherent part of being human – pain – they would be the most boring, most unaccomplished human beings to walk the Earth! The question is not if they will experience pain (because you know they will) – at the hands of the pushing/grabbing classmate, or worse – but how they will experience it. As a mother, you cannot influence the if. But the how, yes, that’s where you come in. That’s where we all come in.

And I guess it’s the same with the creative process. We should remind ourselves, when we are in these snake pits of doubt, that it is in fact these low points that signal new, more magnificent vistas ahead. We just have to show up every day, as Elizabeth Gilbert says in her amazing TEDTalk about her creative process and philosophy.

And as the Great Julia Cameron reminds us on page 7 of The Artist’s Way:

“We must allow the bolt of pain to strike us. Remember, this is useful pain; lightning illuminates.”

 

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The Artist’s Way and a Dutch Sunday Fair

The Artist’s Way and a Dutch Sunday Fair

October 7, 2012 By 2 Comments
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A few weeks ago I purchased a book called The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. If you don’t know it, you can read more about it at juliacameronlive. I’ve been taking my time to get through the introduction, because let’s face it I just don’t have time to read more than 3-4 pages a day these days … But anyway, it’s really starting to get good. I don’t know how this book avoided my radar screen for 35 years, but I’m glad to have it in my possession now. Basically, the book leads you on a 12-week course, divided into the following chapters: Safety, Identity, Power, Integrity, Possibility, Abundance, Connection, Strength, Compassion, Self-Protection, Autonomy and Faith. Each of these chapters is aimed at discovering and recovering your creative self.

Today I wrote my first ‘morning pages’. These are one of the two essential artist’s tools that Cameron explains in the introductory chapters. The idea is that you write 3 pages of stream of consciousness every morning. These pages are meant to be stuffed in an envelope and never looked at, read, or evaluated again. Their purpose is to get your silly, negative, critical thoughts (which originate in your logical/left/Censor brain) out (of the way) in order to unblock the creative thoughts which are struggling to make it out of your right/creative brain. Cameron’s claim is that you cannot maintain a daily practice of morning pages for an extended period of time without “coming into contact with an unexpected inner power.”

This sounds promising. Do you know of our have any thoughts on/experience with this book?

In the yoga class I took last year, we were asked to imagine a drain in the middle of the room, in which we were to direct our negative thoughts, the thoughts that don’t belong to us but that need to pass through us. It’s so important to recognize what is really part of you, versus what’s just passing through, and to be able to focus your energies on the former rather than the latter.

Well I found the morning pages really fun and I ended up writing 7 instead of 3 … I better reign myself in tomorrow, or I might crash and burn (out). Now seems like as good a moment as any to follow this program and hope it has some added value, at the moment when I need it most (preparing for Surtex 2013, my first trade show ever).

I will keep you posted as to my progress with The Artist’s Way here, on the blog.

Today we went to a “Lifestyle Fair” here in Vught (a village just outside ‘s Hertogenbosch). ‘s Hertogenbosh (or Den Bosch) is a city of about 100,000 in the south of the Netherlands (about an hour south of Amsterdam). We’ve lived here for just shy of 4 years now (my how the time flies!) I definitely would have lost consciousness if you told me I’d be living here 10 years ago, when I was in my mid-twenties and living in New York City, but as I tell myself repeatedly, it suits my lifestyle at this stage (i.e with kids). OK, if you happen to be out past 10 pm in Vught you won’t see another living soul on the street and may not even see a single light on (in other words, Vught is a bit boring) but it’s not like I have much of a night life anymore anyway (other than sitting at my computer cranking out designs …) My husband once told me that he observed, coming home from a rare night out, that the entire street was black, except for the skylight above my studio …

When we were looking to buy our first house (which we did approximately 30 days before the market officially crashed here in the Netherlands, but that’s beside the point …) we looked here and in Den Bosch (where my husband works). But I loved how green it was here. My husband grew up in Den Bosch, so Vught (8 km from Den Bosch) was by comparison ‘new territory’ for him. He was also for it. The great thing about Vught is that we have beautiful lakes and wooded areas that we run, cycle and walk around, but it’s also a 10- minute bike ride into the city, where there’s shopping and culture to be had. The best of both worlds, then.

This Lifestyle Fair we went to today was at the ‘Ijzeren Man’ (the Iron Man), one of the nicest lakes in the area and an 8-minute bike ride from our house.

It was a gorgeous fall day so we decided it was worth the €9,50 p.p. to be by the water and find out what a Lifestyle Fair is. (At least, I decided it was worth it. In hindsight, my husband would be totally justified in saying ‘I told you so’, but he would never do that, because he is a very nice guy.)

Highlight: the girls enjoyed petting these geese, who were trained to be nice (and were remarkably soft and thus well worth petting!)

Unfortunately, not all of the animals at the fair made it there alive :(

Well, I can at least say we all got a workout.

That unguided missile in pink is our youngest, Juliette (2).

And I love this photo of our oldest, Ruby (4) in action while the kid behind her heads for the end zone with a giant plastic banana!

Poor Ruby clearly got my love of prints. How about the deer shirt with the polka-dot skirt, polka-dot sweater and mismatched socks (when she has them on)? And this is pretty subtle, as her outfits go …

The girls get their fearlessness and athleticism from their Dad … There’s Ruby heading up to pluck some more plastic bananas …

After all that jumping, running and climbing it was of course time to refuel, in true Dutch style, at the cheese tent.

Juliette couldn’t keep her hands to herself. Cheese is one of the few foods she eats.

Just in case it wasn’t Dutch enough for you yet, here are some clogs for good measure.

Well, there were very few people at the fair, even though it was such a beautiful day. We agreed there was kind of a weird atmosphere, like the fair was geared to a certain (wealthy) segment of the population in a way that just made you (us) feel kind of uncomfortable and gross.

I try to avoid that kind of ‘scene’ as much as I can. But I did stay behind to take some more photos while Robert and the girls headed home to make lunch (that’s them in the background above; on the left you see Robert in a blue jacket).

Unfortunately, Robert inadvertently took my coat (which had my bike key in it) and I ended up having to walk home.

That annoyed me for about 30 seconds, until I realized that that wasn’t really a punishment, on such a perfect fall day.

This is the forested path between the Ijzeren Man and our house, a place I often go running.

Today, everyone else was out running, along one of the most beautiful streets in Vught (the Loonsebaan), on an organized 5/10/15K.

Isn’t that a great thatched roof? Drool.

The Loonsebaan also has its own restaurant, across from the Vughtse Heide (the Vught Heather), a nature preserve and favorite spot for (dog) walkers. Walking or biking, followed by sitting out on a terrace drinking coffee are typical Sunday activities here in the Netherlands, where just about everything (with the exception of – some – restaurants) is closed on Sunday.

Here’s another great house. At this point I was almost home, and totally content to be walking, having some time to myself for a change. Meanwhile, my husband was trying to fish Juliette out of a ditch, which she’d thrown herself into during a temper tantrum over the fact that I hadn’t come with them. At least one of us was feeling peaceful and grounded …

Here I am, nearing home. This is our street. Notice the bike paths on each side of the road. Bikes rule here. We live up where that tiny red car is, on the left.

Here’s our house, in the middle, with the grey door. You can’t really see it because my husband has been meaning to cut back those trees since we got back from our summer vacation at the beginning of August. Anyway, you can see the skylight I sit under when I’m designing and writing The Wonder in Us. This is a typical 1930′s row house, built before the war with a lot of original details inside, like the granite floors in the hall and the stained glass sliding doors separating the living and dining rooms. It charmed us immediately when we first saw it, and it’s been a great house, which has gotten cozier and cozier (or one could say smaller and smaller) as we’ve gone from living here with an 8-month-old to living here with a 4- and 2-year old.

When I walked in, Robert and Ruby and Juliette (with burrs in the back of her sweater, from the aforementioned ditch/temper tantrum) were waiting with fresh olive bread and walnut cheese from the Lifestyle Fair.

And that sums up our lifestyle anyway. These are very happy days.

Plus, I was able to give our tickets to a friend who went to the fair later, so I didn’t feel like quite as big of a sucker for spending the €9.50.

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Registered for Surtex

Registered for Surtex

October 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Yesterday I officially registered for next year’s Surtex, which will take place May 19-21, 2013 at the Javits Center in NYC!

Provided my application is accepted, which I of course can’t take for granted, this will be the fire under my * to create designs at lightning speed over the coming months.

In addition to design production, I’m already starting to think about presentation ideas (as I feel these are just as important). I’ve just trolled around the web for some inspiring shots of booth displays, of which I’ll share a few here. My favorites are of Amy Butler‘s … I know her budget and name are, like, exponentially bigger than mine, but I love the way she uses actual product samples and product photography to create, as she does, a world unto itself …

She ties everything together so well, and her spaces are so inviting. I love how, in the middle image, she keeps the desk area tucked in a back corner, so that the front of the booth is open and inviting, with only a low table defining the space.

One of my interior designer friends once told me that lighting is SO important. I HAS to be good, or nothing else will be. If I look at these photos, I see spotlights and small lamps that accentuate the work and make the space feel warm and intimate.

Again, I’ll have to puzzle a bit about how I can achieve a fraction of this effect, given that my booth will be a fraction of this size …

I thought Jane Bridges and Louise Tiler (above), winners of the designnext competition in 2011 did a nice job at their first Surtex show. I like the relatively spare look of their booths and the variety in scale of the pieces on the walls. It looks like Louise had at least one image of her work in context, and whoever’s idea it was to let the rolls of paper roll at the bottom instead of fastening them flat – genius!

Khristian A Howell‘s booth (above) is fuller, but I like the way she presents named collections of work in an organized way. She also uses a variety of shapes, sizes and scales to make the display that much more interesting and eye-catching.

It looks like she might have set her designs up in a book (maybe she made it with iPhoto?) instead of creating a binder with plastic sleeves. What would the advantage of that be? I think it looks great. Maybe it would be good to have both though. This seems like something potential clients could flip through themselves, while the binder with the plastic sleeves seems like the ‘official’ book that you could look through with them …

Have you come across any nice trade show/craft show stands lately? What are some original ideas that caught your eye?

 

 

 

 

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A breakthrough piece

A breakthrough piece

June 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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I just finished a new flower, and I feel like it’s a breakthrough piece. Not that it’s perfect, but that it was a huge learning experience.

I actually used the same photograph for reference as I did in the ‘cotton candy floral’ print modeled on Ruby in my June 4 post. Something about that print bothered me.

So I was a lot looser here, less concerned about representing reality and thus more successful, I think, in capturing atmosphere and movement and energy, which is what I’m going for. This is the new and improved ‘cotton candy floral’ (below).

 

 

I worry that it loses a bit of its atmospheric quality and sponteneity when I put it in repeat (sample below). But I don’t know that there’s any way to get around this, as the flowers need an equal dose of rest surrounding them if they’re going to repeat on wallpaper or fabric …

 

 

I think this is also a result of the ‘cluster’ composition, because I had less of a struggle with this, I feel, when putting these flowers into repeat:

 

 

 

Anyway, these are among a series of my flowers that my Dutch agent will be showing to a wallpaper manufacturer today. Yes, I’ve decided to go the agent route for a while. I still dream of representing myself, building my own brand someday, but for the time being, with such a busy home life, this seems to be the right choice. Luckily my Dutch agent is really supportive of my flowers, which is what I feel really comes from my heart and soul. I hope we’ll make a good team, with me being able to focus on the design work I love so much, and the agent doing the business of getting my work in front of his network of clients, which he’s built over a couple of decades.

I’ll be busy making a collection of these flowers in preparation for the Indigo Brussels trade show in September, so if you have any feedback or advice, I’d love to hear it!

 

 

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ready, set …

January 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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just a couple more days, and i’ll have some fun stuff to post on the blog, including some of my new patterns (modeled by Ruby and Juliette) and a home dec project (inspired by an idea from Decor8) the whole family’s been working on … stay tuned for some great photos of our fun!

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