Cool bikes

These were also at the design center. I want one!

It's pouring agian!

We went to the park to walk around and had to take shelter under the trees because there was a downpour. I think I get wet just about everyday. You never know when it's going to rain but you can sure plan on it. Well, if I don't make it to the beach, I guess I'll just run around Copenhagen in my swimsuit.

Danish Design Center

Holly and I went to the DDC today and they had great exhibitions. There was a lot on fashion and identity with fashion. There were also some new bicylce designs that looked futuristic and products that won the new Danish Design Prize. They ranged from an outdoor workout facility to a couch. Very interesting...

"Flowmarket" exhibition at Dansk Design Center

This is from the permanent exhibition that encourages us to think holistically about our impact on the earth and the choices we are making. Visit www.theflowmarket.com for more.

Posing at the design center

This was a popular wall to get a photograph taken. I was not the only one Many people had the same idea. For some reason it's fun to have a photo in front of large bold text.

Christianshavn

On Saturday morning I went to the bakery for a danish pastry and coffee. I sat on a bench by the water and this was my view. I wish I would have taken a picture of the bakery because all those sweet baked items were just as good to look at : )

Fabric Showroom

Another one of my professors, Marlene. She is a textile designer and teacher at Denmarks Designskole where we are studying. All of my professors are extremely knowledgeable and have a way of explaining things clearly and to the point. I am never confused or unclear about what I'm supposed to do, even though much of what I'm learning is a discovery. I feel lucky to have such experts in the field to learn from. We have four professors total, and this gives us many resources.

Fabric showroom

Joy Boutrup, one of my professors who is very knowledgable about textile engineering and chemistry is showing us some wool fabrics in different colors. Joy was at the Surface Design Association Conference that I attended last May and we didn't know each other then. She has helped artists, such as Jason Pollen develop their craft and come up with new ways to use dyes. Joy taught us how to make repeats in different ways by hand. Simple techniques that are fast and efficient.

Mood board

As you can see by the picture my mood board is becoming more specific because I have settled on using my inspiration from my drawing at Rosendals garden in Stockholm. My final piece will look something like you are seeing, only much larger and with better color. So really, it will look very different. I am satisfied with what I'm working with because my design is straight out of Scandinavian soil. I remember the day we went to sketch in the Garden and we had just come out of the museum that was dark. As soon as we arrived I was so happy to be outside in the sunlight with all the plants and flowers reaching up to the prolific sky. Being there was one of my most memorable and happy moments. I didn't plan on picking a design from this experience but it was obviously strong in my mind, and my drawings captured some of the beauty I saw, but they will never match it.

Experiments

This is an atempt to stylize and experiment with color, but I keep staying in the sketching look. I must like it. I want to simplify my design and use more shape and line to create the value. I will be overprinting, which means that the colors will overlap to create a third color to increase both value and demension.

A peice in my process

This is one of my experiments in the studio with colored pencil on blue tracing paper. I wanted to stylize my design more and make it look less like a charcoal drawing which is what is originally is.

My studio space

This is my "mood board" and work space. This is where the cutting, drawing, and coloring happen for my ideas. I walk between here and the copy machine to see how my drawings can turn into pattern. By the end of the week we are supposed to form the idea for our final peice. At this point I have not let my mind settle on anything just yet. I am still absorbing all that I have learned about how patterns come together and it feels great. There are so many possibilities! I can work with reactive dyes, pigment, and chemical burnout. The fabric can be canvas, cotten sateen, linen, cotten, or cotten/poly blend. And there are all the elements of color, scale, distance, and repeat that a pattern designer has to consider and inevitably change. But that is the beauty of it. Going through this learning process is just as fun as seeing the end result, perhaps more rewarding.

A sample of the pattern

Pictured here is the painted pattern sample of my the repeat I worked on. I couldn't resist putting color in.

A repeat

This is one of my half-drop repeats that I worked on today. The original drawing is from my sketchbook from Rosendals garden in Stockholm.

This was one of the many design showrooms we went to in Stockholm. Each place was loaded with so many design ideas. It was an overload of the senses. It's a good thing I don't have a lot of money because I would have been spending it.

Isn't this pretty?

This is in Stockholm. I would also like to mention a good band from Stockholm called Peter Bjorn and John. Check them out.

Back in Copenhagen

I began the week back with my usual morning bike commute to school, leaving around 8:15 ish I head out into the bike traffic of the morning. It's quite different. I never thought I would be in bike traffic. In Copenhagen there are specific lights for bikes and separate roads too. Once at school, I make coffee in a French press and begin the day. Before I left, I was learning how to mix color and use the silk screens. Now that we are back from our study tour, we are taking all that we have seen and learned and are beginning to think in patterns. In our studio spaces we have created what is called a "mood board." We started by making photocopies from our sketchbooks and took our previous printed samples and pinned them to the board to create our atmosphere of creativity. After preparing our studios, we were instructed on how to make a repeat for an all over pattern using a straight repeat and a half-drop. We are learning these processes by hand so that we can have a better understanding of how it comes together. I knew I liked pattern before, but now I can feel an obsession beginning. I can actually make repeats now out of just about anything! I feel like I have some powerful tool. It is really very simple though. Along with learning pattern making techniques, we will be forming ideas for our final peice. By the end of next week, we will be printing samples and doing colorways for our pattern. It is going by fast.

Hello Helsinki

We got off the boat in the morning and checked into the hostel and off we were to begin the day with sketching at Myyrmaki church and observe textiles in space. The architecture of the building was modern and fresh. Next, to the market in the marina to eat lunch. I had salmon paella and ice cream. I didn't sketch this, but I did take a picture of the paella. Nice colors. Then, we went to showrooms the rest of the day such as Vuokko, Nanso, Marimekko, Artek, Ivana Helsinki, and the academic bookstore designed by Finland's most influential architect, Alvar Aalto. In the evening a couple friends and I went to a restaurant that had traditional Finnish food where I had reindeer soup. Delicious. The next day we went to another church that was built into rock. With a domed coper ceiling and walls of rock where water can still trickle down it is unlike any building I've been in. We went to the Kiasma next to do more sketching. I was mainly impressed by the architecture of the building than any thing else. The rest of our visit consisted of visting a monument for the famous composer Sibelius, seeing an exhibit of Finnish photography, exploring Hvittrask (a home built for architects) and swimming in the lake there, touring Alvar Aaltos Finlanda Hall, and lastly the Design Museum. The design museum was one of my favorites because the exhibits were very inspiring. I particularly liked Vuokko's work because she combined printed pattern design with clothing construction in a simple yet striking way. In her time, this kind of fashion was very innovative. I wanted to buy the book but it was only in finnish :( I may have to order it anyway just for the images.

Goodbye Stockholm

This was the ferry. It had restaurants, a casino, disco club, and the Viking Buffet. I was surprised at how big it was. I have never been on ship like this. Our sleeping rooms were very small with fold down beds, and I could feel the boat moving as I fell asleep. It was kind of fun and a little strange. We were below the car deck on the very bottom. When I got off the ferry, I still felt like I was moving!

With my sketchbook at Rosendals Gardens

My Experience in Stockholm

I want to go back. Stockholm was breathtaking. The geography of the city was nice because they have the water and rocky cliffs that give great views and add variation to the architecture. We arrived by bus and so I got to see the Swedish countryside. Stopping at the IKEA headquarters to to learn about the design process and philosophy which is planned and organized very well. We checked in at our hostel and ate dinner at a Mediterranean buffet overlooking the city. The next day was off to Svenskt Tenn to see the legendary designs by Josef Frank. The store has been in the same location for eighty years and is still extremely successful. After that we went to the National Museum of Fine Arts were we focused on 20th century Swedish design. At most places we are sketching as well. We bring our colored pencils or gauche paints and focus on color pallets and form. We visited three design stores after this to see current trends. Saturday was started in the Nordic Museum to focus on Swedish interior design from 1870-2000. It was a mix of woven, embroidered, lace, and knitted textiles, along with a printed wallpaper exhibit. Next , we went to four design showrooms of furniture and interiors. We ended that day at Rosendals Garden were we sketched some more. This was one of my favorite places to see. It was full of all kinds of plants and flowers. The last day was spent at the modern art museum. There was a current exhibit by great painter named Karin Mamma Andersson. She has a unique way of working with time and space with a ghostly feeling. At this point our minds are exhausted by shape, color, form, people, places...and on to the ferry to Helsinki.

Josef Frank at Svenskt Tenn

Josef's designs are very inspiring by the use of careful repeat planning and color combinations. They are so vibrant and full of spirit. "Every human needs a certain degree of sentimentality to feel free," Frank said... "Away with the universal styles, away with the equalization of industry and art."

Stockholm

One thing I will always remember about Stockholm is the expansive sky. It was so large and beautiful. One of the best cloud watching palces I've been.

Stockholm

On my study tour

I leave early Thursday morning for Stockholm and will be there about four days. I heard that we are going to IKEA as soon as we arrive and we will eat Swedish meatballs for lunch. Yum! After Stockholm, we go to Helsinki for four days. I will give more details about what happened when I get back. It should be a blast. I'm looking forward to the overnight ferry ride to Finland because they have a Disco party at night. And the Finish people believe that spas are important to overall health, so I'll be soaking in hot tubs too...life is rough.

Print Room

This is one room that we print in. On the walls we hang our samples to see what we are all doing. This way, we can learn from each other and get new ideas.

Print Tables

This is where we work most of the time. As you can see, we line the tables and pin our sample fabrics to it. In the end we will be using the width of the table to make our large pieces. The length will be about 10 feet.

First Week

This has been an amazing week. I have been in Copenhagen for only a week and I am getting very familiar with the city. After school today I took a walk around my neighborhood area to map it out in my head. I love seeing new things and discovering new environments. I got rained on again, but only shortly. I plan on taking a good ride around the city tomorrow. There are many beautiful parks I would like to play in or rest in. I have made friends with students in class, and met a few other Danish students who live on my floor, but only briefly. I have talked to Danish people when I need to figure something out, like where I am. Other than that I haven't really gotten to have a conversation with a person from Copenhagen. The program told us it would be hard to because Danes are not outgoing and stick to their circles that they are comfortable with. I have noticed that when I approach someone to ask them a question they are very helpful and friendly, never rude or annoyed. I hope to get more immersed in the culture, but I will be in the studio a lot too. I went grocery shopping today at a small market called Netto right next to the Design School and of course there was a big bike rack full of bikes right outside the store. I am so happy about this, but when I go home I will be locking my bike to any random signpost I can find because of the lack of racks : ( Thursday was our first day of class and we got started immediately. I have made six test prints with a combination of three colors each. Everyone else has done this and we are all learning how the color overlaps and works with our design. We all love it and share ideas and learn from each other. My professors are very knowledgeable and are so good to work with. They really love what they do. It's nice to be working with people who are as excited as I am about pattern, design, color, texture, and how it all goes together on fibers. Next week we leave for Stockholm and Helsinki to go to museums and see where textiles are designed and made. After we get back, our sketchbooks are to be filled with inspiration to begin working on the final project. It is to design a print with a maximum of three colors that is 3 meters for interior decoration. I can feel the time passing so quickly. I leave next week, and will be gone for 10 days. When we get back I will have less than a month in Copenhagen. I am enjoying everything so much, except the expensive cost of living. It is worth it though, and grocery shopping is a money saver of course.

Oresundskollegiet, a view from my window