rad lady :: marion

very pleased to introduce a second rad lady : my friend Marion !

not only do we have the same name, but we also share the same love for beautiful things, and a slightly fascination for America !
Marion lives in Paris, and when she travels, she documents her trips around the globe with photos she posts on her travel blog 'earth to marion'. she also collects photos, videos and music on her other blog, shoegazing cat, which is always good to browse.

MARION

What are your favorite spots in Paris ?
- Picasso Museum
- Restaurants : Le Servan, close to Père Lachaise cemetery and Pàssarito with kind owner and wonderful portuguese cuisine.
- L'Hôtel Particulier Montmartre with a great view and a terrasse for a Laura Palmer cocktail, where I sometimes take yoga lessons
- Kaffee bar in the 19th arrondissement and Institut de Bonté café at Canal St Martin
- Villa Vassilieff in the Montparnasse station area
- Olympic Café for indie gigs and african cuisine

What are your favorite books & magazines ?
Books : anything by Richard Brautigan, Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Christian Bobin, Tove Jansson, The Corner by David Simon & Ed Burns, La Vie Materielle by Marguerite Duras, Mona Chollet "Chez Soi" in literature & Adrian Tomine, Juliette by Camille Jourdy, Coucous Bouzon by Anouk Ricard and Marion Fayolle's La Tendresse des Pierres for graphic novels.
And let me add one more : America National Parks guide (with a sweeeet leather cover) that I bought this year in Arizona.

I take pleasure by buying my favorite magazines and discover some others at 0fr bookstore : The Plant, Apartamento, Foam Magazine, The Travel Almanac, National Geographic, Suitcase Magazine, mainly travel and lifestyle magazines. I also love The 1 by Le Monde, a French newspaper with a news coverage by poets, historians, writers and cartoonists focused on one single subject each week.

What are your favorite albums ?
That's the toughest question. The first album I am thinking of is Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours'. It makes me dream everytime I listen to it. Buckingham Nicks & Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac members, are also favorites. I would add Woods 'With Light and With Love', Ride 'Nowhere', Ty Segall 'Sleeper', Joni Mitchell 'Court & Spark', Slowdive 'Pygmalion'.
Currently, I'm obsessed with Terry Riley and Whitney.

Favorite websites ?
Without any doubt : Tumblr. It's my main inspiration source, specially Lucile Demory's one, but also http://blueberrymodern.tumblr.com +http://apeninacoquinete.tumblr.com.

I dig these spanish ladies websites, Miranda Makaroff's, Claire O’Keefe’s, Laura Egea's , and Maria Ramirez’ websites.

Among the music blogs, I check every post of Aquarium Drunkard. It's a goldmine and I have discovered a lot a great bands thanks to it.

Favorite breakfast ?

Coffee. The perfect breakfast would be french bread with salted butter and homemade strawberry jelly.

An ideal dinner ?

The ideal dinner would take place at the beach at sunset with red wine and cheese.

What's your favorite thing to cook up ?

I’m not a good cooker but I make a great eggplant zucchini pie with mozzarella and pine nuts with a green pesto base.

What food could you eat everyday ?

Bread and goat cheese. I’m an addict. Also, I love plane tomatoes and salt.

Favorite piece(s) in your wardrobe ?

A skirt by Paloma Wool and a coat by Sessùn.

Summer essentials ?

Straw hat that protects from sun, with a one piece swimsuit, pastel or black nail polish and my straw oxford shoes that fit with any outfit.

Secret / latest obsessions ?

Monkeys. I truly love them. They make me laugh and cry at the same time. I admire Jane Goodall and I dream that one day I help to protect them.

My latest obessions are Jacques-Henri Lartigue color photographs, Inès Panizzi floating fishes , Alexander Girard design, Georgia O’Keeffe, Blanca Miró (an amazing artist based in Barcelona), and The Night Of, a new HBO TV show with the charismatic Michael K.Williams and John Turturro.

New skill(s) you'd like to learn ?

I don’t produce anything with my hands. I used to work in front of a computer everyday. I would like to learn painting and foraging flowers to make great bouquets.

What do you love to do when you're at home ?

I love wearing my traditional kimono and japanese slippers and reading peacefully.

The most boring thing about yourself ?
Bad hair day everyday.

portrait by clément

photos by marion

thank you Marion for sharing your favorite everything :) 

tartine manufactory by commune

always on the lookout for the new commune's projects

tartine manufactury - their latest work and the new tartine's spot in the mission in SF- embraces all that we love.

taking inspiration from alpine, scandinavian and japanese (let's say minimalist !) design, 

and using raw materials (bonus with the tiles created by heath ceramics specially for the restaurant),

it results a good combination between simplicity and high sense of detail.

+ an interesting inteview of chad robertson (tartine's co-owner) on lucky peach - here 

earth.rope.pot.plant

souvenir from antwerp, from the beautiful bookstore copyright :)

earth.rope.pot.plant is a collective work led by 

sigrid volders and narelle dore

it gathers collaborative works from mieke verbijlen, 

renilde depeuter, OTARK... around the botanical theme

it goes along a CD with music for plants by david edren 

(you can listen to it here - perfect soundtrack)

more about the project ///

get yours here ///

pink in antwerp

rhubarb lemonade at buchbar

'james brown is dead' by jacques andré at M HKA

strange flowers inside the convent

spoon

new addition to the wooden spoon collection ::

the little one up on the left

souvenir from antwerp :)

antwerp

i'm back from a few days in antwerp ♥

it was on my to-go list for so long

rad lady :: hermine van dijck

my blog turned 8 this summer and i wanted something new.

i've decided to share portraits of inspiring and cool ladies through short interviews.

so, i introduce this new section 'rad lady'

and i start today with the talented Hermine Van Dijck.

i discovered Hermine a few years back through her daily blog ‘Journal de Jours’ (a long-time favorite), her blog about Paris 'Journal de Jours in Paris' and her very cool project ‘Words for Strangers’ - before meeting her in “real life” in Paris, Brussels and Antwerp.

Hermine is a textile designer, sharing her life between Brussels, where she lives, and Antwerp, where she works on her weavings. she also knits and makes embroideries.

i love how delicate is her work, and the soft colors she always choose. 

enough talk, here’s our little conversation :)

HERMINE VAN DIJCK
Textile designer

What’s your background ?
I’m born in a small village close to Antwerp. This is where I grew up with my 2 sisters and brother. We had an amazing childhood playing in the forest, and having pancake parties. My parents aren’t artists, but they always stimulated us to follow our dreams. 
When I was 18 I decided to go to art school to follow ‘textile design’. The first year I was really struggling with the art-school-live. But after a while I found what I loved to do: Weaving. Since then I haven’t stopped weaving at all. After graduation I went 6 months to Paris to do an internship for a weaving company. But after this time I decided not to take their job offer, but to go back to Belgium to start my own brand.
Since 2014 I’m trying to do that. It is not easy, because I have a part-time-job in a shop, and next to that I’m often doubting about my work (which I shouldn’t be doing, but that’s part of me I think). So the start-up is going really slow. But sooner or later I will get there, I hope to launch my webshop with my handwoven pieces in October. 

Where does your inspiration come from ? What inspires you ?

My inspirations come from everywhere. From things that I see during walks, images on the internet, just a color can inspire me as well. Inspiration is very open to me; it can be everywhere. I think that ethnic textiles or cultures. And ancient textiles always trigger me in a way. They are often made with too much patients and details.

What are your favorite places in Antwerp ?

“Buchbar” is a coffeebar where I love to go. The books, and space are amazing. A great place to relax.
“September” is a breakfast/lunch/coffee space in the heart of Borgerhout. It’s just one street away from my workspace and I love to drink my gingertea here before starting to weave.

What do you love to do when you’re at home ?

On Sundays I love staying in bed a little longer with one of my knits. That’s really a moment that I adore.

Perfect breakfast / ideal dinner ?

I love taking breakfast  with fresh fruits. From smoothies to yoghurt with fresh fruit, to just a quick banana on the way. 

I love it all. Perfect way to start the day for me.
Ideal dinner is one where you can take the time to eat, while being in company of people you love. I adore the dinnertimes at my parents place. Together with my sisters and brother, being all together.

Favorite thing to cook up ?

I have to admit that I’m not a good cook. In a way a dish never turns into what it has to be. But lately I tried to make sushis for the first time. They turned out a little big, but the flavor was perfect. Let’s say that this is my new favorite dish to cook. 

What food could you eat everyday ?

Sushiiiii

Secret / latest obsessions ?

Secret obsessions … I love running lately. For the past 4 months I try to run 3 times a week. So yes, it starts to be an obsession.

Last book you read ?

It was one about the Bauhaus. I realized that I knew a lot about the visuals of the Bauhaus, but I has no clue how it has started, and where the Bauhaus came from. I haven’t finished the book yet, but have to say that it’s very interesting.

Last movie you saw ?Amélie Poulain. I was sick for several days, and then this movie can bring me a lot of comfort.

Last exhibition you went ?
Last exhibition was during Museum Night in Antwerp. I discovered a secret museum who has the largest collection of the world of old textiles. From the old Egypt till the first Arabic influences. It was really impressive to see how much beauty they could create with little material. It was amazing.

Favorite websites ?
Since a little while I’m active on ‘Ravelry’. It’s kind of a social media website, but for knitters ! It’s such a great idea. You can collect all your knitting information on it, from finished project, till favorite designs. You can follow other knitters, and it’s really inspiring.
I can stay for hours searching beautiful knits, making wishlists, … 

You were documenting your daily life with photos on your blog. Are there other mediums you’d like to work with ?
Taking photos stays a very important way for me to create ‘my world’. It’s a mirror that I’m setting in front of me, and can make me realize what I’m doing. Either it's good or bad. :)
Next to that I love working with textiles, yarns and colors. I love to feel yarns in my hands, and it’s always magical to see how a thread can grow into a fabric. This can be in the form of weaving, knitting, embroidery, …  I always been attracted to textile techniques where a fiber can make the fabric.  I think I will never get enough of this magic !

Are there new skills you’d like to learn ?
I would love to learn how to do ceramics. I think you must be so focused and relaxed at the same time to work with clay. So I would love to learn that. It’s high on my wishlist.
I also would adore to play an instrument. I never had music school when I was young, and I kind of regret it that I never did. So I would love to experience if it’s something for me.

What’s the most boring thing about yourself ?!
That might be that I really don’t like to party or going out in the evening. I prefer being at home, than strolling around on loud parties, or cold cities. And I really don’t like to be tired. I prefer spend my evenings quite at home? I never liked it. So that might be kind of boring.

photos taken from her instagram

*** merci Hermine ***

alissa wagner (dimes's chief)'s home in bk

at alissa wagner (dimes's chef)'s home 

in brooklyn

by brian ferry for sight unseen

more + interview 

onigri emoji

new favorite instagram account :)

onigri emoji - even the name is brilliant !

run by a group of cool ladies, gathering jen vitale, eleonore frank,

alyson fox, jen turner, leigh patterson

claire cottrell, ashley helvey...