Summer is Calling
A few things that have caught my eye recently to help usher in summer
Everyone knows holidays are sacred in France and the French plan accordingly. Although it’s currently springtime as I write, the train or plane tickets and hotel reservations have already been booked for most Parisians for their upcoming summer holidays. I start getting a bit anxious (I’m a planner) if I don’t have our summer plans worked out and reserved by April because if you snooze you lose here in France. So as much as I want to stay present and enjoy the beautiful but fleeting spring season, summer is on my mind. I thought I’d share a few things I’ve been collecting in my back pocket that I have found inspiring and engergizing for the summer vacance that is quickly approaching.
I came across the Danish ceramicst and jeweller, Christina Iversen, and was immediately captivated by her playful yet sophisticated creations inspired by the sea. Growing up on the west coast of Denmark, the beauty and serenity of nature has been a fundamental element in her work. Her cups fashioned with shell handles and delicate bowls ribbed with scallop details elevates the daily routine of coffee or a breakfast of yogurt with fresh berries.
Speaking of Denmark, a Scandanavian summer holiday is on my bucket list - specifically a stay at Helenekilde Badehotel. A former private home built in 1896, it sits along the Kattegat Sea and is a sister property to the Sanders in Copenhagen (another spot on my exhaustive list). I’m drawn to its elegant and understated design and I’ve read their freshly baked pastries are just one shining example of their refined, local menu. A Scandi-girl summer, anyone?
Even if it's not summer yet, my apartment smells like a vegetable garden thanks to a recent discovery. Founded in France, What Matters, offers all natural multi-surface cleaning sprays, shampoo, hand soap, room sprays, and more. Their products are certified organic and eco-friendly and have a “just picked from the garden” scent. I am partial to their Basil and Lemon products and find myself wiping down counters and spraying every room multiple times a day. If you are visiting France it makes a great souvenir.
Seashells are visually synonmous with summer. Once used as currency among the Eygptians and traded as doweries in West Africa, the seashell has been a symbol of strength, resilience, love, fertility, and eternity. They have also found their way into interior design and architecture. Their sculptural, undulating and appeasing porportions can be found as decorative moldings above doorways or fashioned into wall sconces. Although some may find using shells a bit too on the nose in decorating, if you use them in a context outside of a beach home they can be an elegant and playful way to bring in the outdoors in. I found a pair of vintage plaster shell sconces from the 1930s at a shop in Paris that would look divine in a powder bath and an artisanal-style candle sconce created by Mexican artist Alana Burns I could see hanging in a small corridor.
The sea has been a constant muse to artists since antiquity. I stumbled upon the work of artist Jean-Pierre Blanche (1927-2022) a couple months ago while scoping out the antique faire, Foire de Chatou. Born in the south of France, many of his works focused on seascapes having lived near Montpellier and in other areas of the Languedoc region. I was captured by his use of light and color and the texture he brings forth. There is a softness and hazy-summer feel to each of his works.
Thankfully our summer plans are made as we plan to stay local this year in the southwestern part of France thanks to some dear, gracious friends who have offered their home to us. I am looking forward to daily trips to the market and long days by the pool. Where do you plan to head off to this summer? Do tell!
À la prochaine,
Kathryn
Love the way you write!! and so interesting!! 🐚
Love everything you’ve shared here—very inspiring! The shell sconces are divine.