Wonderful fabrics designed by Stig Lindberg

Selection of fabrics designed by Stig Lindberg.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that Ljunbergs textiltryck (Ljunberg's Textile Prints) are reissuing their range of fabrics designed by Stig Lindberg!

Stig Lindberg was approached to do the range in the 1940s and the inspiration was his illustrations for children's books as well as his ceramics for Gusatavsbergs.

"From the very start it is Ljungberg´s Textile Prints that has printed Stig Lindberg´s patterns. We are still in possession of the colour samples and printing instructions from 1947 to well into the 1960ies. It has been immensely exciting to search for the old test samples and colours together with the original sketches that we have borrowed from the Design Archive in Pukeberg; also to take out old screens and films from our archive, plus the textile samples borrowed from the Lindberg family. We are very grateful for the cooperation with Stig Lindberg´s children, who so generously have supported us in the recreation of this collection, says Bibbi Nilsson, design coordinator of Ljungberg's collection."

Continue to read more here. Or click here for more info.

The patterns “Bulbous” and “Herbarium” are printed in cooperation with Bemz. If you register with them you can request five swatches for free (including the Stig Lindberg patterns!)

Recycled paper goods

Lovely paper goods by Art School Girl (found via Oh Joy)

"Art School Girl specializes in one-of-a-kind hand made paper goods. Expertly crafted from recycled materials and often sewn or printed by hand, each piece is artisan quality."

The Last Paradise. North Korea.

Continuing the Technicolour theme - but on a more serious note...

The Last Paradise. North Korea. Photographs and text by Nicolas Righetti. Introduction by Orville Schell. Umbrage Editions, New York, 2003. 128 pp., numerous color illustrations, 9¼x7¼".

Publisher's Description
"The Last Paradise offers a rare and tantalizing glimpse into the surreal landscape and psyche of the world's only communist dynasty, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Secretive, paranoid, and unrepentantly militant, North Korea has incubated its own peculiar mix of communist utopianism and personality cult. Nicolas Righetti is one of the few Western artists invited to photograph North Korean society. Righetti's images feature a bright urban landscape dotted with paper flower, curvaceous neo-constructivist architecture, and synchronized folk dancing. The telltale signs of the poverty and repression of the North Korean regime remain embedded in the absurd juxtaposition of details: huge guns hidden in the traditional landscape wall paintings; looming, inescapable portraits of the late Great Leader and his son; empty shelves at the Paradise Food Shop; Big Brother exhortations proclaiming nirvana achievable through 'iron discipline.'"

Spring

The sun persists with being on full shine-mode and the sky is blue, it's almost like even a spring-doubter like myself (it did snow here in Stockholm in May last year - I'm just saying) believes spring has actually arrived.

Makes me want to watch Technicolour films or dress only in bright yellows and greens - but I think I'll start off with this great interior from Kayte's "room to die for" category (originally from Elle).

Plenty and plenty and plenty more inspiration to be found...

Twilight. Photography in the Magic Hour.

Twilight. Photography in the Magic Hour. Text by Martin Barnes and Kate Best. Numerous contributing photographers. Merrell, London / New York, 2006. 160 pp., 80 color and 20 b&w illustrations, 11½x9¾".

Publisher's Description
"Twilight’s otherworldly and alchemical qualities have long attracted artists, but for photographers, who are particularly attuned to the subtleties of light, it is an especially significant time. This book draws together the work of contemporary photographers who have explored the visual and psychological effects of the transition from day to night. It examines their technically ambitious attempts to record or replicate the rapid and transient effects of daylight succumbing to darkness, and analyses the mysterious states of mind and awakened sensibilities these works suggest, at the threshold between the familiar and the unknown. In placing the photographs in their broader historical, literary, meteorological and technical contexts, Twilight reveals the timeless allure of the magic hour."

TEN

Ten. Edited by Gavin Rooke. Numerous contributing photographers. Society of Photographers, Johannesburg, 2006. Unpaged, 5¼x8"

"The book is purposefully designed to mimic a physical photographic exhibition where work is viewed in a continuous series to be appreciated as a whole, as against individual works being isolated on a single page of a book. The book unfolds as a continuous series of approximately 19 meters. 'T E N' will recur on an annual basis."

I really really like this! Will most definitely look out for this edition and the further coming along!

There was sunshine

I'm very under the weather at the moment (suspecting flu) so am a bit sparse with posting, but thought I'd post these great shots taken by my husband a few days ago. Then it was hot, sunny and spring-like outside - yesterday the snowing started again.

Paper as fairytales

Peter Callesen makes fantastic use of paper.

"A common theme in many of [his] works is a reinterpretation of classical fairytales as well as a more general interest in memory in connection to childhood."

This (Danish) artist I found over at Bloesem (who you should of course always check out).

UPDATE: Imagery updated as I didn't feel the original post did justice to his work.

Diamonds for charity

I'm not a big fan of diamonds for the simple reason that a lot of conflict and misery are subjected onto others for the sake of a gem really (and as with fur I have an aversion against "promoting it" - even if vintage and therefore not actually gaining or feeding the industry).

I know there's supposedly conflict-free diamonds, but I'm sorry I just don't buy it.

Anyhow this is the kind of diamond ring I can sign up for (and I do own the silver one!).

No bloodshed - and the entire profit goes to Sound Seekers, a charity that works to help deaf persons living in the developing world.

Diamonds for Sierra Leone by helpless romantic

Anita Elgerot blog

If you speak (read) Swedish you're lucky enough to be able to read this thought-provoking, well-written, personal but at the same time universally moving post on Anita Elgerot's blog (and many more).

If you sadly can't do look at the visuals on the posts (thinking about an exhibition or the first precious sign of spring for example) or visit her paintings at anitaelgerot.com - they will never fail to inspire you.

I like Bantie!

Kokeshi

Korall

Bubbel

Paradis

Palett

Above is some of the colour combinations and pattern styles from the first collection of textiles from Bantie (based in Stockholm, Sweden).

All the textiles are printed in Sweden - and properly treated to be possible to use for upholstery for example.

Besides the exciting and varied fabrics by the metre they also have a collection of cushions, trays, wash bags and other interior.

Currently sold in Sweden, Denmark and Norway (further info here).

Landfall

Landfall. Photographs by Lukas Felzmann. Lars Muller, 2003. 144 pp., 70 black-and-white illustrations, 5x7".

"Flocks of birds have risen and settled throughout time, just like floods have come and gone, but in a different rhythm. Each generation is struggling to grasp its connection to nature within our fragmented lives. We must find an equilibrium between the ruins of civilization and the regenerative power of life, so that we can pass without remorse."—Lukas Felzmann.

"Landfall is part travel diary, part meditation, a guidebook to wanderlust. Felzmann lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area, traveling throughout the West when the mood strikes, working with a 5x7" view camera and a keen sense of intuition. The need to find connection to the natural world, to the land in which one lives, is central to his work, and as such, provides the only structural foundation to this collection of images. Felzmann engages, not in preaching to us, but in pure spiritual quest. Presented with minimal text (found only at the end), Landfall reads like a visual novella."

Home Is Where the Heart Is by Ilse Crawford

Above images from Home Is Where the Heart Is. By Ilse Crawford. Rizzoli International Publications, 2005. 160pp, colour illustrations, 12 x 9.4

The talented Kayte (check out her prop styling for Adorn Magazine!) left a sweet comment on my post about nest magazine and Rebecca Purcell. Of course I went straight away to have a look at the pictures from Rebecca Purcell's home and found so many great, great shots in her "rooms to die for" category!

Imagery from Home Is Where the Heart Is was one of them, and from what I've seen I'll try to get a copy as soon as possible! (most definitely more inspiration from Kayte another time)

FORM Design Magazine

Selection covers FORM Design Magazine

"Svensk Form [the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design] was founded in 1845 as the Swedish Society for Industrial Design to safeguard the quality of Swedish hand-made crafts."

Svensk Form publishes FORM, the design magazine (in Swedish and English), and also holds lectures and exhibitions at Design Forum, which also has a very nice cafe with lots of design magazines as well as a vast library.

Well worth visiting if you're in Stockholm! (or have a look at their website or get the magazine even if you're not)

EXIT magazine

EXIT # 24 - Ruins Nov 2006/Jan 2007 ; EXIT # 16 - Writing Pictures Nov 2004/Jan 2005

EXIT # 3 - Off screen Aug/Oct 2001 ; EXIT # 11 - Ordinary Things Aug/Oct 2003
EXIT # 23 - Readers and Readings Aug /Oct 2006 ; EXIT # 17 - Cities Feb/May 2005

"EXIT, Imagen & Cultura is a quarterly, thematic and bilingual (Spanish/English) magazine. [...] It is devoted to the most characteristic visual arts of the 21st century: photography, video and film. Its contents portray the images of the most contemporary artists - the brief yet complex history of a new and different language - and essays by theorists, specialists and writers who touch on the themes and obsessions of contemporary man."

UPDATE: I've just noticed that some of the back issues that are sold out on EXIT's website seems to be available through photo-eye