Flow.com

SATURDAY MARKET (76): STUDIO DE WINKEL

Flowmagazine — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:11:17 +0000

Sandra de Bekker works with art and design on a daily basis, as an interior designer and, together with her sister, as the owner of a web shop filled with ‘opinionated items by appealing artists and designers’.

Who is behind Studiodewinkel.nl (‘studio the shop’), can you tell us a little more about yourself?

“After I graduated from architectural design at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (art academy of Utrecht), I started as an interior designer with different agencies. Four years ago I started my own interior design consultancy and two years ago I also started this web shop with my sister. We really wanted to bring special design and art to a larger audience. I have always been into art and I simply love going to museums and exhibitions. Apart from that I am cohabitating and I have two adorable daughters, a six year-old and a nine year-old. I enjoy taking them to museums as well, it’s refreshing to see how children view art!”

Isn’t it very difficult to sell art online?

“The great thing is that we’re often live at events and fairs and a lot of people get to see the works for real. There is also the option to get more detailed pictures of a work of art or even to get it on a trial basis. As an interior design consultant I often advise clients on art, so it goes very well together.”

The shop has been put together with a lot of care, you say on the site. How does that work?

“We trail the country for distinctive designs. Lots of works are unique or made in tiny editions by the designers and artists themselves. The most important thing is for the piece to touch us in a certain way, that there’s a story behind it that appeals to us.”

Any special plans for the future?

“We want to generate more publicity for affordable art by young designers and artists so more people will know about it and we are definitely expanding our art department.”

www.studiodewinkel.nl

Shed worker

Flowmagazine — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:08:03 +0000

A wonderful word: shed worker. It’s someone who has turned their garden shed into their workspace. And I’ve actually been dreaming of that for a while myself. A little house all my own, at the back of the yard, with a kettle, a laptop, a wood burner and that’s it. Fun to browse: www.shedworking.co.uk. Some great authors and people like Bob Dylon are among the shed working many.

Posted by: Astrid

Pretty in green

Flowmagazine — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:05:20 +0000

Today’s one of those days when you look outside and suddenly think: “Boy, nature has gotten colorful and pretty.’ Trees covered in blossom, green stretches of grass in the park; sometimes you suddenly notice stuff you’ve been passing blindly every day. In the current Flow there’s a fun piece on nature and the renewed interest for greenery and the outdoors. “More and more people realize how incredibly happy being surrounded by nature makes them.” Professor Frank Berendse (who also wrote the book Natuur in Nederland, ‘Nature in The Netherlands’) states in the article. So true. Funny to see how a formerly dowdy organization such as Staatsbosbeheer (the Dutch forestry department) has responded to this new situation. On their facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/Staatsbosbeheer) you can find all kinds of fun stuff these days, such as a picnic map that you can add to yourself. Another great nature tip, for whoever hasn’t got it yet: in the current Flow there’s a Spring note pad by illustrator Annemoon van Steen. So you can enjoy nature even when you’re stuck inside.

Posted by: Irene

Holiday-writing-book

Flowmagazine — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:04:11 +0000

It’s finished, on its way to the printers’ and available in shops as of the 22^nd of May: the Flow holiday writing book. This is a snapshot from the proof sheet that we get to run a final check. So that’s why there are all these loose pages. We are thrilled, by all the illustrations, the extras and the great stories. And it’s been supersized this time: no fewer than 246 pages. Apart from lots of beauty to look at and to read, the holiday writing book is intended as a scrap-, drawing-, writing- and collecting-book for your holidays. It’s choc-a-block with inspiration: for scrapbooking, 30-day-project-ideas, writing and collecting tips. Plus lots of extras such as stickers, a poster, cards, and a special section for collecting. You can pre-order via www.abonnement.flowmagazine.nl and get your mitts on it before the 22^nd of May. It costs € 12,95, Flow subscribers get a 3-euro discount.

Posted by: Jocelyn

SATURDAY MARKET (75): B IS FOR BIRD

Flowmagazine — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:38:01 +0000

From now on the colorful skirts and shawls that make up Indra and Sarah’s label B is for Bird will be available via their first web shop as well as on craft markets.

How did you end up working together?

“When we first met on the Fashion Academy in Gent we immediately got on as friends and we shared a preference for colorful fabrics and cheerful fashion. In the summer of 2007 we decided to do something with all those stacks and stacks of fabric we’d both been collecting. So we sowed up our first stand. The response was very positive, but we were way too busy with other life stuff. In 2009 we decided to get back to it and ever since then we are slowly but surely growing into that which we like to do best: being creative with fabrics in complete freedom.”

Why do you combine skirts and shawls?

“That kinda grew through the years as well. We learned a lot by trial and error. Our skirts and scarves turned out to be the most popular, so we focused on those. When we set up on markets we also have other designs, such as bags, hand-printed textile buttons and cards. In future we hope to sell those online as well.”

What other plans do you have for the future?

“Because we sow everything ourselves, we often don’t have the time to design new models. We would love to go into production, but we’re still looking for the perfect way to do that. Sometimes we dream of connecting the production of our line with a social project abroad, but we need to get our production in Belgium optimized first. The first step was opening a web shop and launching a new website. This season we’ll be kept very busy with all the summer markets but in the mean time we are pondering the most far fetched plans. But most of all ‘B is for Bird’ should remain an honest and original alternative to all the mass production that’s out there these days. Bonny and fresh, because that is what will make our clients happy as well, and there’s nothing better than that.”

www.etsy.com/shop/BisforBirdShop

GREAT INITIATIVE

Flowmagazine — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:32:21 +0000

Prompted by a piece in the Volkskrant (Dutch national newspaper) this morning I spent a bit of time browsing the site of www.1001-vrouwen.nl (‘1001 women’) and www.vrouwenlexicon.nl (‘women’s lexicon’). Wow, what a great plan: putting the digital women’s lexicon with biographies of famous, infamous, remarkable, beloved, evil, controversial and influential women into print. They need money though, so you can ‘adopt’ women from the book. Please do, and we’ll all get to enjoy a robust reference book and an exhibition. We’ll start thinking up a great piece on those women in Flow.

Posted by: Irene

QUEEN’S DAY

Flowmagazine — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:30:08 +0000

When you go to the vrijmarkt (huge flea market all over The Netherlands on Queen’s Day, April 30^th, the day that the Dutch celebrate their queen’s birthday) with the intention of selling tons of your old junk, and you end up coming home with three times that amount, you know you went terribly wrong somewhere. This is a picture of the end of the day. It turned out I wasn’t the only one who had this problem, colleagues Joyce and Frouke also ended up with a car boot filled with Queen’s day treasure. Next year we’ll have to go about it differently. I have 365 days to figure out how exactly. Maybe just avoid the vrijmarkt completely, and go to the beach, like Irene did. As of right now we go back to the wonderful simplifying principle of ‘1 in, 2 out’ when it comes to our house. (Speaking of ‘out’ maybe we can start with that creepy doll my two year-old son suddenly showed up with).

Posted by: Jocelyn

SATURDAY MARKET (74): TWINKLEBIRD

Flowmagazine — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:26:24 +0000

Christine Kallen-de Boer makes fresh, refined, minimalistic jewelry for her label Twinklebird. She’d like for her pieces to end up in a special little box, rather than the fruit bowl.

Can you tell us about yourself?

“After graduating from the art academy, I trained as a teacher and I spent ten fun years teaching art in secondary school. Once our daughter Alex was born I felt it was time for a change, I wanted to get back to making stuff myself. I took a course as a goldsmith and in 2011 I started Twinklebird. I love working in my workshop and I cherish the time I have to design and create new things. Apart from that I spend a lot of time with our daughter Alex, with being together the three of us and with travel. And I enjoy life here. The Betuwe (rural part of The Netherlands with lots of orchards) is beautiful, along the river Lek and the floodplains are so many wonderful spots to have a picnic, so I am out there a lot.”

What do you try to add to your jewelry?

“I think I try to add a feeling to my work, without making it too obvious: attention to detail… I like that. From that might spring a necklace with a maple seed or a small branch. The small, every day things in life that carry their own special brand of poetry. That way reality is prettier, more interesting. They often come back in a design, a ring with a small cloud, the constellation Big Dipper… And then there are the little ideas or concepts that simply thrill me. With the confetti rings the idea is that out of the entire mountain of confetti you actually only need the one to remind you of a party or a great night.”

Why jewelry?

“I used to make jewelry as a ten year-old, I’d even pin the jewelry to a board, and take it with me on holiday in Drenthe (a rural part of The Netherlands, known for its cycling routes), so I could sell them on the campsite. I like to stick to that small plane. Working small, but with lots and lots of options.”

http://www.twinklebird.nl/

Flow Post

Flowmagazine — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:11:01 +0000

We have changed some small things about Flow and we are well pleased about them ourselves. For the next while every issue will have its own theme. The current issue, in shops now, has the theme: old and cocky. Which made us think of the incredible pictures and videos by Ari Seth Cohen, who portrays gorgeous elderly ladies from New York on his website. The video above is by him as well. Want more? www.advancedstyle.blogspot.com

MELANIE MIKECZ

Flowmagazine — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:07:03 +0000

We simply love the current Flow cover. It’s by American illustrator

Melanie Mikecz and she does much more of these wonderful illustrations in soft colors. She studied at the Washington University School of Art in St. Louis and worked as an illustrator and a designer in Boston and London. She’s been living on the American West coast for a while now, with husband Steve and dog Peanut. More of her designs on her website (there’s a shop as well).

Posted by: Jocelyn