Friday, June 28, 2013

The Skinny: Stig Lindberg

Stig Lindberg
Stig Lindberg was a well-known Swedish designer, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s.  After studying painting, he accepted a position with the Gustavsberg pottery studio as a faience artist. In 1949, Lindberg was appointed art director of the company. This allowed him the freedom to experiment with a variety of media, including sculpture, stoneware, tiles, furniture, plastics, and ceramics. He worked with enamels in several ways, even spending time in the studio's bathtub department. Lindberg even did a bit of glass design for the Maleras company. He later opened his own studio in Italy.

We were introduced to Stig when we bought a couple of cute fish dishes. We had no idea who the maker was. We just knew that we liked them. Apparently, someone else does, too, because they sold less than two hours after we listed them. 
Sold!

It was a bittersweet moment, because we love sending junk to good homes, but our romance with the fish was far too short. So, we decided to live vicariously by learning about the designer and his other fabulous pieces.





In addition to housewares, Stig collaborated with Astrid Sampe on a textile collection. Several of these fabrics have been reissued, and are available in upholstery weight for furniture.


Lustgarden (Garden of Eden) fabric, flickr.com

Pottery fabric, Here

He designed a television for the Luma company. It. Is. Cool.
What rhymes with Lindberg? Not sure. But he illustrated Swedish books of rhymes for children, written by Lennart Hellsing. They are adorable!





And, here is our wish list:
Stig Lindberg enamel and wood table, deconet.com

Stig Lindberg "Medusa", deconet.com

Stig Lindberg bull tile; deconet.com

Stig Lindberg plate, Here

Stig Lindberg fat horse!, Here

Stig Lindberg Scottie dog, Etsy

Stig Lindberg vase


Stig Lindberg onion vase, Here



*Information obtained from http://www.scandinaviandesign.com/nationalmuseum/0605/





Wednesday, June 26, 2013

On the Radar -- The Mighty...Acorn?

By now I shouldn't have to remind you -- we love Alexander McQueen.  So in looking at his Pre-Fall 2013 collection, we both fell in love with this particular necklace:


Very simple.  A gold acorn on a long chain.  Classic, easy to wear.  $560.

Yeah.  I'll start saving for that while I look around Etsy.

So, here's the first two...we'll say McQueen inspired...necklaces I found:

Available here from Gwen Delicious on Etsy.
Available here from Pinking Edge Designs on Etsy.

And then I thought, "Are there more acorn things out there right now?"  And the answer -- well take a look:

Yoko Ono's new art book
Acorn Pendant Lights from Maija Puoskari, Milan Design Week 2013
Even fonts can be inspired by acorns!

The answer would be yes, then.  There is something nutty going around.  Ah, the mighty acorn...

Monday, June 24, 2013

Junk Love Monday: Falling Off The Wagon

Ever since we were forced to downsize our studio space, which resulted in a mountainous obstacle course of boxes, totes, and piles of junk at the new place, the Blackbird girls have been trying not to buy new junk. We really need to finish sorting and organizing the stuff that we already have. Whenever something actually sells on Etsy, we spend an hour or so unstacking and digging through totes trying to find it so that we can pack and ship it. This may also involve me crawling beneath or between furniture, getting my hair caught on something in the dark depths, spending five minutes untangling myself, and then having the other Blackbird pull me out by my ankles. Then we end up finding the item wrapped in a shirt that was stuffed into an ice bucket "to keep it safe." So, an unofficial moratorium has been in place on the junk buying.

We've both been feeling it. Withdrawal. The depression. The fatigue. The irritability. This certainly isn't helped by working in an antique store. But we've been pretty good. Until last Thursday.

I ran errands while she was doing shop maintenance on Etsy. I came back, trying to shrug off a bad mood, trying even harder to figure out something to keep me busy for the rest of the day. Two minutes after I walked in the door, she looked at me and said, "Can we go to a thrift store? Please? I think I'm going crazy." I said yes and promptly went back to the car, feeling lighter than I had in days (possibly weeks).

We were just going to the Salvation Army. It's close by, and has great potential for a 49 cent treasure. We started the usual route, and somewhere between the Murder She Wrote board game and the vintage chair and ottoman, we both fell off the wagon. Hard.


As we wrestled the chair into the car, she said, "I feel better. We can go home now, if you want." But, I could tell she didn't mean it. So, I suggested that it would make sense to swing by the Goodwill on the way home. It isn't actually on the way, directionally speaking, but with traffic and all, it made better sense to turn right and drive a mile and a half so that we could turn around in the Goodwill parking lot in order to go home. (It makes sense!)

It would have ended there, if not for the 1960s Pendleton and the silver shoes, both found during our last scan on the way to the register. If not for those, we would have gone home. But when I saw those silver shoes, my heart started pounding. The blood rushed in my ears. Endorphins flooded my system, and I felt good. And so, on the way home, we drove fifteen miles to another town in order to browse another Goodwill. And the buzz continued....

All stores close eventually, so we had to actually go home after that. And we were both in really good moods. The next day, I had an appointment in another city, and casually asked if she wanted to ride with me. You know. To keep me company (because who doesn't like to sit in the car while somebody is conducting other business for an hour?). It is total coincidence that my appointment was fifteen seconds from a Goodwill. Total coincidence. And then, because we had already used the gas to get there, we just had to make the rounds to (*ahem) four more thrift stores.

But who could blame us? We found Veras! Vintage clothes! Linens! A lamp! You can't leave that stuff behind, and you never know what's lurking on that bottom shelf in the next dim thrift store (and thrift stores are getting dimmer and dimmer these days). I feel a rush just thinking about it. My bank account, on the other hand, has taken a hit. And, we have to figure out where to put it all. Maybe in that ice bucket we just recently cleaned out....