Pictures from Sweden

Tio-Gruppen bags. I am really considering purchasing one. They are so funky!

This is a Josef Frank (SvensktTenn) print on a couch and pillows...isn't it amazing!?!?!?

Another Josef Frank print(SvensktTenn). I am so obsessed. They are so beautiful

I was clearly made to model for the Swedish phone booths.

Gamel Stan, the old city of Stockholm on a cloudy day.

The best thing I have ever seen in a print. This one is part of a design from Jobs Handtryck.

 

One of my favorite designs from Jobs Handtryck.

The entrance to the hand printing studio. Isn't it cute? I feel like that is the only word that can describe this door.

A really fun mural we saw while running around Stockholm trying to find fun designs to sketch.

My future rug. I might be in love ... it even has a great texture when you walk on it.

The Zinkensdamm station had an obsession with radish patterns.

SWEDEN

Remember the Swedish chef from Sesame Street? If you have no idea what I am talking about, look it up on youtube, if you do know what I am talking about, SWEDISH ACTUALLY SOUNDS LIKE THAT!

Thursday July 9^th, I woke up at 5:30am to catch a 7am train. We all made it on time and were oh so groggy. We got on the first train that goes from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden and even if it was only a 45 minute train ride, we all managed to fall asleep.In Malmo we switched to the train to Stockholm. It took us 5 hours to get there and of course we slept for the majority of the ride. Once we got off the train, we walked through the most beautiful metro station and took the subway to the Zinkensdamm Hostel. 

I was in a room with Katie R. and Natalie so we got up to our room and dropped our stuff, came back to the lobby of the hostel and we all went to our first activity. One would think a study trip would be somewhat academic based…this study trip started off amazingly. Our first stop was at a store that sold products by the designers Tio-Gruppen. They were a group of 10 designers who got together to make a more modern/graphic look to textiles. It was fascinating to hear about them and see their bold patterns all over the shop. We were given a break for lunch and then headed to the center of Stockholm to go to SvensktTenn, where the designs of Josef Frank are sold. Josef Frank was a half-Jewish textile designer furniture designer and architect from Vienna in the 1920s and was found by a Swedish woman who owned an artistic pewter shop and interior design company. 

Josef moved to Sweden and worked for her until he had to move to the US because of WWII. But the most important thing about Josef Frank are that his designs are magnificent! They are so colorful and bold, beautiful and delicate and I am obsessed with them. After taking pictures of everything in the store, we walked to Gamla Stan, the old city of Stockholm. Natalie wanted to see the palace and get a peak at the royals but all we saw were the guards and their funny shaped helmets. That night our group ate dinner at a delicious vegetarian restaurant and walked back to our hostel.

The next day we got up very early because we had to take a 3 hour bus ride to Leksand (northern Sweden). We all managed to catch up on the sleep we all needed and woke up to find ourselves in rainy weather and at Jobs Handtryck, a place where they produce the textile designs of the Jobs family by hand printing at their own facility. 

It was amazing to see how large designs are silk screened in bulk for merchandise and not at the University of Michigan, School of Art & Design. After that we headed back onto the bus and got lost for another hour and a half until we reached Sundborn. Most people ate a hearty traditional Swedish meal filled with cheese and red meat while I ate lots of salad. After that we walked around the restaurant and ended up at Carl Larsson’s house. Carl Larsson was a famous Danish painter who had an amazingly quirky and modern look to interior design. His house had hand painted murals on the walls and ceilings, portrait of his family in different walls over the house and his wife had an amazing eye for modern needle point, weaving and embroidery. Our guide was hilarious and made so many funny English jokes while giving the tour. Finally we spent 3 more hours driving back to Stockholm and of course we slept. Because we had basically slept for most of the day, we were all pretty wired up and ready to do something that night. Katie C, Katie R, Natalie, Sarah and I headed to find what we had been craving all day, Indian food, and we had found it! It was a small restaurant with beautiful mosaics and delicious food. I wish Kavita were there to witness how spicy the chicken vindaloo was and that I survived eating it…and it was amazing! After dinner we went searching for a bar and ended up in an American bar where the red socks were playing on the TVs. If only another bar was open that night…oh well. We drank and had a great time then came back to the hostel and went to bed.

The next day is something Sarah, Natalie and I called “America’s Next Top Model” day. If you know the show this will be easy to understand, if not I will explain. First of all I would just like to mention I only watch the show when there is a marathon on and I am home for a long period of time…aka when I come back from school and that is the only thing on. Secondly, there is one episode in every season when the last few models remaining go on something called a go-see (meaning they have a list of designers who they need to see and in a way audition to get a booking for a fashion show). 

On the show, they are told to come back at a certain time, and if they are late they lose the challenge. Our assignment on Saturday was to go to as many of the design stores on the sheet of paper we were given and sketch as much as we can that we find interesting and beautiful in the stores then come back by 1pm for lunch. Sarah, Natalie and I rushed out the door and started on our merry way. On the show, they are in a different country so they need to deal with mode of transportation and language as a crutch. For us, we didn’t know how to pronounce the names of streets so it was very difficult to get around. Two guys came up to us and asked if we were Swedish and when we answered no, they were thrilled because they were Swedish and needed Americans to help them with a bachelor party scavenger hunt so we helped them out (called their friend and told them a clue) and they helped us in return by giving directions. We made it to David Designs, Asplund,  Design Torget, Nordic Gallery and then headed back to the Kulturhuset for lunch. We didn’t make it to all the galleries and showrooms but we made it to most. Lunch was eaten and then we headed to Lilijevalchs Museum where there was an exhibit on Ikea through out the decades (IT WAS SO INTERESTING) and the Nordiska Museum where we sketched old Swedish textiles. That night Sarah, Natalie and I went out for really nice Swedish Pizza (and they made mine without cheese!!!) and we bonded so much, it was very nice.

Sunday was our last day in Sweden and it made me realize how much I loved the city. I can see myself coming back over and over again, maybe even study here for a masters. The design is  beautiful, the city is welcoming and it really just made me happy that we had come to Stockholm. That morning we woke up and checked out of the hostel and headed for the Modern Museum of Stockholm. It was nice but I think we spent too much time there. After that we went to the National Museum of Stockholm where they had THE COOLEST FURNITURE EVER!!! 

I spent all my time there sketching one lamp and two sets of drawers. We finished at the museum and rushed over to get our luggage and headed to the port to get onto our overnight ferry, the “Viking Line”, that was taking us to Helsinki. Brittany, Amanda, Natalie and I were in a room together and it was the smallest room ever! We all met on the top deck to wave goodbye to Sweden. I was a bit sad because I really did love Sweden (and I think they have the best color combination of the Scandinavian flags) and I can’t wait to possibly go back. Natalie, Sarah and I are planning to go to Malmo this weekend.

Off to Sweden and Finland!

Hello fellow readers, I am off to Sweden and Finland. This may mean that I do not post for a week. I am not bringing my laptop but was told I have internet access in the hostel and hotel so we will see if that is true. If I do, great and I will write mini posts about the days and add a picture post in  the end but if not I will write one blog entry for Sweden and one for Finland and include pictures! Now I must leave for the central bus station or else I will miss my train!!!

P is for Pattern

This morning was cinnamon roll special at the bakery, the place where I buy nothing for myself but watch everyone indulge in flakey, buttery goodness. I did buy one, but it wasn't for me. This one is Josh's birthday present. I promised him a Danish danish for his birthday but Denmark doesn't do danish like America does. Katie, who went to pastry school told me that cinnamon rolls are part of the danish family and that is good enough for me. I placed it in a plastic food bag and headed up to class. You may be wondering why I am mentioning Josh's present in my blog. I know very well that he doesn't have any time with him being a head counselor at camp and training for the Chicago marathon. So if he even reads this I will be surprised. And if he does, this is a heads up for a piece of mail! We have been working on our prints that started with flowers. My shapes have become way more abstract so I see it more like a bird or something. We tried different styles using only black and white and I like it enough not to tear it apart and start over. The next pattern was an exercise on using color overlay to your advantage in making a pattern with many dimensions. Lunch came around and my mission was to find the post office. After looking for 10 minutes on the street I finally found it behind a large construction site, walked in, set up my package with the letter and headed to the woman at the desk. She even gave me a free envelope. 

The second portion of class was to keep working on our patterns and then we discussed our study trip that starts tomorrow morning. We are leaving for Stockholm on a 7:20am train, spending 3 nights in Stockholm, taking an overnight ferry to Helsinki, spending 3 nights there and then flying back home to Copenhagen. Our itinerary is amazing! We are going to so many show rooms, factories and studios that I don't think I can control myself! Katie and I came back to Hvidovre and packed then I came back down to the inner city to meet up with Nathalie Mahler. We went to a delicious Thai place and had a wonderful conversation. There is something about talking to a person who kind of knows who you are but really doesn't know you that well. I love finding out new things about people I have heard or just met and want to strengthen the bond. Anyways, after dinner we walked to the harbor and the Royal Theater. It was the first time I had been in the area on land and it looked beautiful with all the lights on in the dark. 

Oh My Lox

Woke up this morning and headed to DIS with Katie and made it to class on time. Once we got there a woman called Anne Louise Bang was there to give us a lecture on her work. She is a weaver and one of the three who are involved in a group called Textile Illusions. They create these textile weavings that interact with video either about the weaving structure or patterns found in weavings. It was really nice to see how modern textile work becomes an art form outside what they are known for. Right after Anne gave her lecture, a woman called Courtney came in to talk to us about journals. I always thought it was a way to just sketch and boy was I wrong. It was as if keeping a sketchbook/journal was a religion! This woman had all sorts of rules and challenges for us to use different types of paper and mediums, to have an entire bag devoted to a sketchbook...it was a bit over the top. The main problem with her lecture was that it was geared towards architects because it was all about sketching space, whereas we were there to get shapes and color. The two main things that were really helpful was that we should tape or glue a piece of sandpaper into the back of our sketchbooks so that we can sharpen our pencils faster, and the second this was that we could mark our sketches not only by date but also the time so that we can understand the lighting of the piece. Last night I looked in my area of the kitchen and realized I have enough food for two more lunches, so I decided that today I would by a lox sandwich (which I have been craving) and that I would pack lunch tomorrow and for Thursday while I am on my train to Sweden (this way I wouldn't buy food and have it spoil while I am gone). So off I went with a group of girls from class to my favorite Sandwich shop called "Vandkunsten Sandwich"(the D is silent in Danish unless its at the beginning of a word). It is a little sandwich shop that is a bit of a) a hole in the wall and b) underground. They ran out of the small sandwiches so I had to get the largest one and was so excited about it. After we all got our orders, we went to the stairs in the square near DIS and I opened up my sandwich and took a bit of the delicious lox that I had been wanting for days! Apparently I wasn't the only one who wanted my sandwichA bee kept landing on my lox and I screamed and tried to get rid of it by running away, but it kept following me. I was so frustrated because it wasn't following the rest of the group, just me. I kept thinking that if I was eating this gigantic sandwich, this bee is a blessing in disguise because I ran the entire 20 minutes we sat there for lunch. If anything I burned a few calories. We came back to class and talked a little about our study trip to Sweden and Finland.  I won't bore you with details of what we are doing until tomorrow's post, but it sounds amazing! Next we worked on a few more patterns and called it a day. One of the things on our packing list is a raincoat and I own nothing for rain. Why I didn't even think about it is beyond me. So I went on a mission to find a raincoat. Of course being textile designers we found ourselves in marimekko (Mari Mekko is one of the top textile designers and is based out of Finland). They were having an outlet sale and I found a great orange and pink design raincoat! I was so happy and was on a little shopping buzz so we went to a cute little shop and I found a dress with lots of pockets that is a nock off of a marimekko design called "the Finish wedding dress". Apparently, traditional Finish wedding dresses up in the countryside, had many pockets all around the dress and those who would come for the wedding would put a little gift in the pockets for the bride. So this is a modern twist on an old traditional piece and I love it. The other thing I found was an embroidered headband which I also fell in love with. Natalie's comment was "I knew you were going to get that!" because of the embroidered stitch work. Anyways, after the random shopping excursion, Katie and I headed back to Hvidore and I am in the process of doing my laundry, writing this blog entry, finishing packing tonight so that I can enjoy my dinner plans with Nathalie tomorrow instead and eventually I will meet Katie in the cafe downstairs for a beer (or cider). 

Picnic in the park!

This morning I woke up, made my sandwich in the kitchen and heard a knock on my door (next door) so I rushed out to see what was going on. Two old men wearing worn out clothing were standing at my door looked over at me and said in broken English "broken bathroom light?" I got so excited! I was finally going to be able to come home to LIGHTS IN MY BATHROOM! So I let them in, told them that the light in the main room needs to be fixed as well and I packed my bags as fast as possible so they can get right to work. Katie and I got to class at 9am and had Joy again. She gave us a lecture on color theory and how it is applied to pattern. I am planning to take a color class this fall so this was an eye opening look into what is in my not to distant future. Anyways, we spent the rest of the morning scanning our patterns into the computer and creating a color scheme for it. Lunch came around and I had a few things to do. The first was to go to the DIS housing office to ask them if they can reimburse me for my bus ticket that was stolen since they claimed everything that isn't cash is insured. Apparently I needed to make a copy of it or kept the receipt...so I went on my merry way to the metro office to get yet another bus pass. Once I got there I felt like an idiot cause I didn't have a photo of me and had to head back to DIS and see if the booklet with all the participants pictures was in my drawer. It was not but a random girl in the computer lab let me cut my picture out of her book so I was thrilled (I told her she wouldn't miss it). So I ran back to the metro office and this time (unlike the last time) I was able to pronounce the city I live in and tell her I want a 3 zone pass till August 17th... but they don't take credit cards. The lady said she would make my metro pass while I go run to find an ATM. I went and came back, got my pass and then I headed back to DIS for the afternoon lesson. The computers had not saved our work from this morning so we had to start all over again. After class Brittany, Natalie, Katie, Katie (the other one) and I headed to the Royal Gardens for a small picnic but on our way we saw the coolest piece of furniture ever. We were joined by Amanda, Abby and Taylor and ate strawberries, dried apricots and drank wine while listening to the Jazz festival. It was a little rainy but it was nice just the same. After the picnic, Katie and I came back to Hvidorve and I FOUND OUT THAT I HAVE LIGHTS THAT WORK!!! I decided to celebrate by going for a jog and then SHOWERING WHERE I CAN SEE EVERYTHING IN THE BATHROOM! 

Lox, Jazz and Mice!

The first day of class began on Thursday. Katie and I got into the inner city of Copenhagen at 9am but since we thought class started at 9:30am we decided to get some breakfast before. So technically we were not late…but in fact we were. Surprisingly, we were not the only ones late. The other Katie came in 2 hours late and Sarah came in a little after that. So we seemed on time compared to them. The morning lecture was with Joy, our chemical engineer professor who “isn’t a designer”.

She spoke about the different elements of patterns, how the eye sees patterns and how the brain reacts to different shapes, symmetryand design elements. It was really interesting but I would have loved it if it wasn’t so humid and if maybe a window were opened. After Joy’s lecture, Natalie, Emma, Brittany, Katie, Sarah and I went to an amazing little sandwich shop on the corner of my favorite street in Copenhagen (thus far). I have never been a huge fan of lox because I see it being eaten in a Jewish setting with cream cheese and bagels. Alas, it was the only option that I, little miss dietary restrictions child, could eat…and THANK GOD because it was an amazing sandwich. Lox, avocado, greens (something in the lettuce family) and a tomato on a delicious roll was what I ate for lunch. The six of us sat on the side of Magstræde (my favorite street) eating our sandwiches before heading back to class. Our second half of the day was with Gundhil, who teaches us drawing. She brought flowers that apparently were being thrown out, and we were to draw them. I ended up drawing them for about an hour until I decided to tear them up a bit and my sketches became more abstract. The second assignment was to trace one sketch we liked in different ways. So basically I traced and drew flowers for 2 hours! I was so glad when class was over and Katie and I walked around Copenhagen getting bus passes and going to the art supply store to get some last minute things. On the way back to Hvildorve, Katie and I stopped off at Netto (the simple grocery store) to get some food so that we can make lunches instead of going out every day. I came home and made a hummus, greens and red pesto sandwich on dense European bread (so delicious) for lunch the next day. I also went jogging for the first time since I left the US (I ran around 1.3 miles). After I showered I made my way over to the café in our kollegium that sells 10 Krone beer ($2). Most of the people from the DIS program were there and we sat around drinking cheap Carlsberg and talking about what we had already done and what we are looking forward to.

The next day, Katie and I made it to class on time…9am sharp. Gundhil was there and our assignment was to keep tracing the shape we chose. First it was the outline, then it was the shape as a solid, then as if the shape had a shadow. I was honestly going a bit insane. Not only were we drawing the same thing over and over, but we were in a dark room so we wouldn’t overheat, with the windows open and the fans on so all our papers were flying all over the place! I think poor Brittany had it the worst. She sat right underneath the fan and her papers were flying everywhere. Finally lunch arrived and a few of us walked around together to the bakery where Natalie got her chocolate croissant because Katie is so in love with pastries (she went to culinary school and has a love for pastries…I live vicariously through her mouth!). We love the St. Peter Bakery because it is on St. Peter street, right across from St.Peter’s church (what a coincidence?) Anyways, on the way there a found a beautiful shop that sells Mexican things, including hand embroidered dresses. I fell in love and after the bakery, went directly to the story and bought a dress! It is amazing and it will be shown via pictures soon.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who loves the dress because Brittany saw it when I came back from lunch and said that she saw it a few days ago and was debating whether or not to get it for herself. In the end the whole class joked about how we should all get matching dresses since it would be appropriate for our program. After lunch, class began and guess what we did? MORE TRACING!!! I felt like I was going blind! My back hurt from being hunched over, my eyes were not focusing and my brain was hitting an ADD wall. We made compositions using the shapes we chose and then Gundhil stopped class early to give us maps and pamphlets of things going on in Copenhagen and we all got a chance to hear her give us useful information on where to go, what to eat, what areas are better, where the beaches are…etc. We also got to ask her questions about what we are specifically interested in. We all agree that we love Gundhil and want her to go out clubbing with us just because she gave us that information too! Nathalie Mahler (not to be confused with Natalie from the DIS program), my roommate Yonit’s best friend from Nativ (another version of Year Course) is from and lives in Copenhagen. She was in my neck of the woods so we met up. We walked around, showed me a little square with a great vibe and where to get contact solution (who knew you would need to go to the eye glasses store to get contact solution?) We caught up on life and made plans for dinner next week. At 6pm we were invited to the DIS welcome BBQ where we got one free Danish hot dog or veggie burger (which was amazing!) and a free alcoholic beverage. Of course everyone showed up and we ate and drank, met some new people and in the end Katie and I were invited out with so many people but we were just so exhausted and ended up coming back to Hvidorve and going to our café willed with 10 Krone beer.

Saturday, a day known amongst Jews for resting, but instead the students of the textile design students had class yet again at 9am. The streets were empty and nothing was open. It was a little weird but up to class we went. Joy was there and she taught us a lesson on repeating patterns (which was the most eye opening thing I have ever learned!) I was in awe! So for three hours we worked on our pattern repeats. Lunch came and Katie and I walked around hoping into craft stores and thrift shops (they are all over Copenhagen!). We walked to the little square that Nathalie showed us (we call it the secret square cause it feels hidden) sat there and ate our lunch as we watched the little kids play on the giant statue of a cigarette.

We walked back to class and spent three more hours working on our repeats. During the afternoon lesson, Brittany and I began learning new words in Danish. Joy helped us with our pronunciation and I was learning useful phrases and words such as thank you, your welcome, bread, water, I would like and excuse me. Joy even said that at one point I said your welcome (my favorite Danish word thus far) and that she thought a native speaker was in the room for a moment. I WAS ON CLOUD NINE WHEN SHE SAID THAT! What a feeling! Natalie, Katie and I made plans for dinner and so we went back home to change and then return to the inner city. At the bus stop I realized that my bus pass was stolen. I looked everywhere in my bag. The bus driver was so nice and let me on the bus for the ride but all my happiness from the day was drained out of me because of this stupid bus pass. I ended up buying a 10 ride ticket from the kiosk across the street from the kollegium because this could not be the only thing that would ruin my day. I changed and got back on the bus with Katie to meet up with Natalie and go out to dinner.

We went to a Turkish restaurant and I ordered grilled chicken breast served with potatoes, purple cabbage salad and green beans. Sounds healthy right? WRONG! It was all covered in a butter sauce. I was so hungry and we had waited so long that I couldn’t send it back, so I splurged on the cholesterol for one meal and OH MY GOD was it fantastic! I felt guilty with every bite I took. Of course we had to have baklavah for dessert. Afterwards, we met up with Ari and a few people from the furniture design program and went to a really amazingly swanky cocktail bar called “Mice”. I ordered a Mojito (which was wonderful) and we all sat around a long table and raised our drinks and toasted the fourth of July.

Today (Sunday), the textiles people had to go to the Thorvaldsens Museum. Thorvaldsenes was a Danish sculptor who lived and worked in Rome and when he came back to Denmark, he was welcomed back by all the elite and famous (including Hans Christian Andersen). The museum is O.K. but what is amazing about the museum, are the ceilings and floors. All the floors are mosaics and the ceilings have amazing patterns which is why we were required to go there to sketch. Katie and I planned to meet at 9:30am in the main hallway of the kollegium but when I woke up, my phone showed me exactly 9:30am! I leaped out of bed and franticly got dressed and ran out the door. We made it to the museum at 10:30am and left around 1pm. Katie, Natalie, Sarah and I went to eat lunch and a place Nathalie Mahler recommended in the secret square. We were all starving and I hadn’t

even eaten breakfast. I had the most amazing meal of grilled chicken with pineapple and chutney with a bit of mustard sauce. We were all eating as if we hadn’t seen food in days! Afterwards, we walked along a street with lots of open shops. I say open shops because almost everything is closed on Sunday. Katie and I decided that Sundays would be our museum days since that’s practically the only thing that is open. So on this open shop street we went into a few places and then I found a store that made me so happy! A bathing suit and lingerie store for women who have big girls! I began to jump up and down like a giddy schoolgirl as I found a bikini that would actually fit be on top! I purchased it with the biggest smile on my face. Now I am ready for the beach! After my encounter with happiness, Natalie, Sarah and I sat in Frud Platz and listened to the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and then I went home. Since then I have been cleaning my room, talking to Sid and my parents on skype and writing this blog entry.