Drunk on Swede “creative-aid”
Written by my wife Tina (who is a graphic designer/ artist):
I have been thirsty for visual inspiration and have been provided the opportunity to drink the creative juice everyday of our adventure thus far. And boy, does it taste good. Thank goodness Evan has been generous in every situation to allow me the window seats in planes, trains and automobiles and is constantly waiting for me to catch up as I try to freeze frame the goodness with my pocket camera. I think Evan’s been drinking the “creative-aid” too. Just yesterday as the sun was setting I was commenting how nice the light was and before I knew it he had bundled up and headed out the door to “freeze frame” it himself. He returned with several very nice shots with unique angles and perfect light. So, I guess we are both drunk on all the amazing things we have seen.
We have spent the last few days with our family friends Anders and Mia Brantberg in Falsterbo, Sweden (nearly on the tip of southern Sweden). The connection with the Brantberg family goes back to the early 1970’s when Anders ventured to Pocatello, Idaho for an student-exchange and ended up living with my mothers family. Thirty years later, his son Mikael came to live with my family when I was a senior in high school and the relationship between families has remained strong despite the distance in geography ever since. Anders and Mia wined and dined us and took us on adventures along the southern coast of Sweden.They were generous hosts and we feel fortunate to have been able to spend a few days with them.
About a year ago, my friend Molly J. introduced an artist/architect to me by the name of Joseph Frank. What I knew of him was his beautiful fabrics and his Swedish roots. Serendipitously, Joseph Frank was actually from Austria (which I did not know in addition I spent my semester abroad in Austria in college so I have a special connection to that place and it’s artists) and spent much of his time after the 30’s in Falsterbo, Sweden where he also built several homes. Mia is also very found of Joseph Frank and had the most wonderful collection of his pieces from furniture to fabric. Their home was eye candy for someone like myself not only with all the wonderful Frank pieces but lovely design and use of space and color. (MJ you would have loved it.) I began dreaming of a home someday similar to what I had seen. The Scandinavian design sense has made an impression on me for sure. I will be taking a bit of it home with me.