I recently came across an inspiring story about a photographic project and book by the Scandinavian artists Riita Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth called Eyes as Big as Plates. It's about an ongoing project that pays tribute to Norwegian folklore. The photographs conjure up so many questions and forces one to say, "tell me more". The concept is that you can provide as many answers as you wish.
This photograph of a woman with a millinery made of branches is a favorite of mine. The woman who resembles a wind goddess turns out to be a Norwegian in her 90s called Agnes, who made her first parachute jump at the age of 85 (her second was a 90th birthday present). “Floating through the air was pure joy,” she told the artists, so they all decided she’d dress as the “fabled north wind”. (BBC)
This inspires me to give new meaning to foraging and how it connects to design because an interior designer is truly a forager of provisions for a well-designed room. A wanderer, explorer. And a room that pays tribute to nature is a celebration of pure form.
One way to bring our foraging basket to the design plan is with branches, whether in its natural form right from the tree itself in a vase bursting with buds or showcasing its beautiful rawness after blooms or artfully duplicated with other materials.
The beauty of branches is a pure definition of hygge. Though stately in its stature it still remains content in its simplicity.
As in any design element, restraint is important. More is just more. I am often reminded of Coco Chanel when I review a final design plan, "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory."
Chinoiserie is another great way to introduce branches into a design plan, it's timeless incorporation of branches and nature into this artistic tradition pays honor to the ever renewing of nature. I love the upward and outward reach that the branches create in Chinoiserie design adding the feeling of wanderlust and exploration into a space.
I'm drawn to branches in design - it causes me to pause and drink it in. It belongs and doesn't apologize for that fact.
This also reminds me of a recent event that I hosted at a small business during an art and wine walk. I decided to feature sparkling wines for the tasting at our stop and and in the kitchen created some tasty accompaniments to serve. We invited a local artist to be our guest for the day and she brought a blank canvas with a photograph of a tree that was over 100 year old as inspiration for a fresh painting. As she was painting she shared her tree inspiration to our guests who couldn't help stay just a bit longer than at most stops (the wine was flowing and the strawberry jalapeno salsa and other appetizers were pairing quite well).
The 100-year old tree was a tree she saw in California on a golf course and she herself had laid under it and looked up at a starry night. Proposals happened under this tree, weddings happened under this tree, and many other stories one may never know. She painted the tree without its leaves and its branches stretched out every which way but down. Its branches reached towards what I interpret as hope, future, the beauty above and around it. Inspiration is everywhere. Even in a photograph that inspires one to share and paint its story.
Whether you pay tribute to branches by forcing blooms in a vase during early Spring or celebrate the bare branches in other art forms year round, welcome to foraging in design.
Sources: BBC, Neiman Marcus, House & Home, Domaine, Atlanta Homes Magazine, Bennett Leifer Interiors, Apartment 34, David Wiseman, Eyes as Big as Plates, Zoffany, Pinterest, Flower Magazine
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