This week on 5 things Friday I am writing from the Netherlands so my list is a little skewed based on my recent travels. In this third installment, I’ve been thinking a little bit about how I want this weekly segment to read and what content I want to prioritize. Initially, I had thought I would lean more toward inspiration and interesting things I had seen during the week with an emphasis on other people’s work or shops I found inspiring, but as I am getting into a kind of rhythm with this, I am leaning away from that initial idea. Granted, I am traveling at the moment and seeing many more things in my day to day life that I usually would working at home in my studio and in my routine of work, podcast, and occasionally going to the grocery store. All that to say, this weekly post is still taking shape and I am still in the process of narrowing down what exactly I want to write about each week. So, here are five things that I found exciting, interesting, inspiring, or for which I was thankful this week:
- Really beautiful blue tile on the Ellipson Office Building in Dortmund, Germany
We took a brief trip to Dortmund earlier this week because Adam, my husband, is a fan of the Dortmund soccer (or futbol) team so we went to a game. Before the game, we had the afternoon to explore Dortmund and this building stuck out to me. The tile is a vibrant blue that the pictures really don’t do justice. It was striking to see in contrast with the lighter blue sky. Basically, it was a whole building in this color that @elisejoy just sewed a dress out of. I loved the tidiness of the straight lines and tile in contrast with the curves of the oval. It was such a clean shape sticking out among older looking and less vibrant buildings. It was probably one of my favorite things I saw in Dortmund that day (the soccer was fun too, though!).
- Cheers to working in a fairly portable medium
One of the best things about working primarily in fibers and embroidery is just how portable it is! Through all of the travel, I’ve gotten my scissors and needles through all the different airport security stops and had plenty of down time on planes, trains, and water busses to stitch. As I have mentioned previously, I am working on a small collection of necklaces that will go live in mid November. Some of those necklaces will have been all around the Netherlands thanks to the ease of traveling with embroidery! I have had to put the larger, freeform pieces on hold as those are not so portable, though. I’ve written up a long post about traveling and flying in particular with art supplies, but I have yet to post it as I keep thinking I need to edit it a little further. Maybe next week when I’m stateside again I’ll finally finish up that post and share what my art travel essentials are…
- WAFFLES!
If you read the post from last week, I mentioned how much I was looking forward to waffles when we got to the Netherlands. So far, they have not disappointed! I had a chocolate covered waffle on a stick in Germany and I had a stroopwafel in Rotterdam. They were both delicious! We also had dutch pancakes for breakfast this morning and they were enormous! One thin pancake filled the entire plate and it was amazing! Adam had his with butter and powdered sugar, I had mine with nutella. I anticipate that we will have a few more pancakes before we go home next week and I am very much looking forward to that!
- Art installation in the Rotterdam Train Station
When we arrived in Rotterdam and were leaving the train station, I was immediately mesmerized by this beautiful installation hanging from the ceiling. The lights all blinked in sync and it was enormous. The train station itself was beautiful with tons of natural light and a huge glass ceiling. The outside has a large asymmetrical point as well and fits in with the more modern industrial architecture of Rotterdam. However, this hanging light installation was my favorite thing there by far. I love going into public spaces and seeing some kind of art or installation there. I think it gives such a different feel to a space that could be entirely utilitarian. It invites a moment to pause and get lost in the pulsing rhythm of the lights.
Image via @lucyfreeman_design on Instagram
- Lucy Freeman’s latest embroidery piece
I’ve been admiring Lucy’s work on Instagram for a long time, but this one from a few days ago really resonated with me. I love her use of bold colors and how whenver her work shows up in my feed I instantly know it is hers. She makes the most beautiful leaves and often embroiders on top of fabrics that already have a design on them. The shapes she stitches always seem to fit perfectly with the pattern of the fabric underneath and she makes work in a variety of sizes (including cute little badges!) Point being, she’s been one of my favorites on Instagram for awhile and this piece in particular might just be my favorite so far!
That’s a wrap for this week’s installment of 5 Things Friday! I hope you enjoyed the list this week and we will see how this weekly blog evolves over time! Hopefully there will be more waffles next week!
<3 Amy