blog backdating

so much to show & tell.. so little time!

MARIMEKKO..

..teams up with Converse and strikes again. Just realised they were founded in 1951 too, no wonder I love the prints so much.

+ photos from my Stockholm trip, taken in a real life Marimekko store. I bought a purse and a little mug as treats. If you ever have a spare weekend/cash visit Sweden, it's such a perfect place.. beautiful design, food and people. I wish I'd grown up there. I could write a separate post on my trip, but this is meant to be a quickie! photos can speak for themselves HERE.

FIFTIES..

Last weekend I spent my Sunday in London. I bought a ticket for 'Designing the Decades: The 1950s'... a day of lectures at the V&A, just £5 for students!

The first lecture, 'The Festival of Britain' was taken by Lily Crowther - researcher for 'British Design 1948-2012', which will be the V&A's headline exhibition for the Olympic season. She spoke about how the festival came about, who was involved and the impact it had on society after the effects of World War 2 - design to boost morale. This year it's the 60th anniversary of the festival and the Southbank is holding a summer of events to commemorate, including exhibitions by Tracy Emin and food by Heston Blumenthal. More HERE. The fourth lecture, 'Robin and Lucienne Day' by Lesley Jackson - Author of Robin and Lucienne Day: Pioneers in Modern Deisgn was joint favourite. Again, I could write for hours about what I learnt. A description of the fifties aesthetic as 'modernity, with warmth' stuck with me, this sums up for me what I love about the decade - quality design without being elitist.

+ I pottered to Portabello market in Notting Hill. I could only squeeze in an hour between lectures which was nowhere near enough but I managed to pick up some lettered stamps I'm going to use to initial my ceramics with from one stall. I only made it half way around and will surely be going back when I have more time on my hands.