Sneak preview Flow Magazine issue 2 by Flow Magazine

Issue 2

106

128

Free flowers

Janine Vangool

Tipsy for typewriters

Marit Tรถrnqvist

Delicious dessert

Jacqueline Overtoom

In a Parisian atelier

Stop fighting

Love from Verona

CONTENTS Pages 19 to 52

Feel connected COVER DESIGN ANNELINDE TEMPELMAN BASED ON ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY NICOLAES DE BRUYN VIA THE RIJKSSTUDIO (SEE PAGE 90)

PRODUCTS & IDEAS

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? We check in with a few of our favorite creative entrepreneurs to find out about their recent projects: Janine Vangool, Tif Fussell, and Jacqueline Overtoom.

NEVER FIGHT AGAIN Four great insights from Canadian couples’-counseling guru Sue Johnson can help you navigate those little quarrels that eat away at the foundation of your relationship.

INTERVIEW WITH MARIT TÖRNQVIST The children’s book illustrator talks about her past, present, and future.

MEANWHILE, IN VERONA People all over the world write lovelorn letters to the mythical Juliet of Romeo and Juliet fame. These letters are answered, one-by-one, by a dedicated group of volunteers in Verona known as “The Juliets.” We spoke with four of the volunteers about all the love stories they have read.

Pages 53 to 78

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PRODUCTS & IDEAS

IN PRAISE OF THE PENCIL It may be the digital age, but there’s no shortage of love for that old-fashioned writing implement, the pencil. Authors, bloggers, and expert pencil sharpeners talk about their love of lead.

RESEARCH Good news for female intuition: a new study out of Columbia Business School in New York finds that people who follow their instincts are better at predicting the future.

PRESERVING Is your spring garden overflowing? Do as the squirrels do: stock up for winter with some unexpected canning recipes.

ZEITGEIST “Psychology of living” specialist Ernst Bohlmeijer talks about how you can actively create a sense of well-being in your life. It’s not all about “positive thinking.”

WHAT DO YOU GIVE TO YOURSELF? After reading about the top five regrets of the dying, Roos Ouwehand asks how can we feel content with the time we have.

Pages 11 to 18

INSPIRING LIVES 11

THE SURREAL LIFE AND TIMES OF LEONORA CARRINGTON Born to an aristocratic British family, she ran off to Paris, became Max Ernst’s lover, Pablo Picasso’s friend, and a famous Surrealist artist in her own right. Later, she settled in Mexico, where, like her contemporary Frida Kahlo, she became a national hero. A personal history.

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"Carrington’s life was just as exCiting and mysterious as her work"

“Ayusco 2 am,” 1987

When the charismatic painter, sculptor, and writer Leonora Carrington died on May 25, 2011 in Mexico City at 94 years old, the tree she’d planted in her courtyard had grown so tall that its branches tapped the window over her attic studio. That’s how long she'd lived and worked there: more than half a century. Born in England, Carrington was the last of the great living Surrealists. Her name may not be instantly recognizable, but in art circles people mention her in the same breath as such icons as Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, and Max Ernst. She earned her place among them with paintings that look like figments of dreams populated by wondrous creatures such as unicorns, miniature horses, and bird people. They’re spooky yet magical, and done in the most beautiful of colors. Her painting style can perhaps best be described as a cross between Dalí and Hieronymus Bosch. Less stylized than Dalí and less sinister than Bosch, they have an alienating quality that gives you the feeling you could look at them forever and always discover something new. What the compositions actually mean is a secret that Carrington took with her to the grave.

turns. As a girl growing up in a grand English country estate, little Leonora was already a rebellious dreamer who loved to lose herself in the Irish myths and sagas told to her by her Irish nanny. She was captivated by imaginary worlds, such as Alice in Wonderland, and when she was twelve and still madly attached to her rocking horse, her furious father had it thrown out of the house. This hurt Carrington deeply, but it did not curb her unbridled imagination. Her father had no time for her artistic aspirations, though. He had planned for her a life in the English aristocracy, to which she would have been perfectly suited: she was recognized by everyone as a ravishing beauty and heir to the family fortune, destined to marry a wealthy nobleman and continue the Carrington dynasty in grand fashion. She had something quite different in mind. She loathed the circuit of horseracing, and debutante balls and banquets. She was far too wild for them, and longed for freedom. The unruly teenager was expelled twice from convent schools because of her “mental deficiencies and antisocial behavior.” dancing in the Moonlight

Rich, Ravishing, and Rebellious

It’s tempting to see her works as semi-autobiographical, because her life was full of intrigue and unusual

With great reluctance, Carrington’s father gave permission for her to attend art school, first in Florence and later in London. That would keep her off

the street, at least. But ironically, that’s how he lost her once and for all. The moment she started art school, Carrington lost her heart to the arts. And since she always followed her heart, she decided that she would always follow the arts. Unwittingly her mother stoked her passion by giving her the book Surrealism edited by art critic Herbert Read, which had on its front cover the painting Deux enfants sont menaces par un rossignol (Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale) by Max Ernst, one of the most famous artists of the time. “You have no idea what a wonderful present you have given me,” Carrington said to her mother. "One day I will see the world as Ernst painted it.” Not long after that, she had the opportunity to meet Ernst, when he visited London for an exhibition. The forty-six-year-old married painter fell instantly in love with the nineteen-year-old beauty, as she did with him. A day later, they journeyed with some other famous artists – Man Ray, Lee Miller, Paul and Nusch Eluard – to a cottage in Cornwall. They painted. They talked about art. They danced naked in the garden by the light of the moon. Let’s say these were nights that you and I would only ever see in the movies. Carrington found a freedom that she would never give up.

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1. Thrift store finds and quirky images are a constant source of inspiration for Tif, and she displays them all over her Mossy Shed 2. An Airstream trailer packed with eclectic goodness awaits passing customers looking for handmade vintage treasures 3. Embroidery and crochet wares are a main ingredient of Tif's first Dottie Angel collection coming this autumn on her website 4. Tif Fussell or her crafting alter-ego, Dottie Angel?

4C@ &OMM?FF Outside of Seattle, Washington ✖ 44 years old AKA Dottie Angel, a blogger, designer, mother of four ☛ Author of Dottie Angel, The Peachy Crafty World of Tif Fussell (Uppercase, 2011) and co-author of Granny Chic (Kyle Books, 2012) www.dottieangel.blogspot.com What are you up to? I’m working on seasonal “online looky books” for Granny Chic with Rachelle Blondel of Ted & Agnes (www.tedandagnes.co.uk). These will be filled with recipes, inspiration, and happy thoughts for crafty souls. What are “online looky books?" It’s our name for our seasonal online magazine, which we launch in spring 2013. We call them “granny chic looky books,” which follows on from our published book, Granny Chic, which came out in October 2012.

So you’re mixing high-tech with old-fashioned values. Yes, I’m just finishing up a fabby new website. It’s one of the things I have wanted to have for the longest time. I’m making it with the help of two of my children, my daughter Meg (21), who is an illustrator, and my son Levi (17), who is a programmer and designer. I am totally delighted to have a website made with the help of my clan; it warms my mothering, crafty heart. Sounds like you’re running on all cylinders. That’s true. But I am also planning a “gap month,” hopefully in spring. Turning 45 this year has me thinking it would be grand to take a bit of time out and travel for inspiration. I was hoping for a whole “gap year” but this was not very likely so my man offered up a “gap month” and I leapt at the chance.

Live mindfully Experience the conscious life

Peculiar Snapshots

Great for a moment of total absorption in something completely different: a series of vintage photos collected by Brit photographer Mark Wilkinson. It includes shots of intriguing compositions (what’s that hovering, a head?), ill-timed poses (why is that woman on a table?), and random bizarre effects. Click on “Peculiar snapshots.” www.flickr.com/photos/peopleofplatt

Little Books of Wisdom

Perfect Mood Music Perfectly simple: tune into Stereomood for online radio and do ab-so-lute-ly nothing more than click on the word that best describes your mood. “Summer,” “studying,” “melancholy,” “cooking time,” “just woke up,” and so on. This site has hundreds of songs for every playlist to suit your mood. Click and listen, that’s it. www.stereomood.com

Embroidery Hour Embroidery is wonderfully meditative, and on this website you’ll find an almost inexhaustible source of great patterns. www.theflossbox.com

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Surprisingly clear insights packed into six little books. The series is published by School of Life, a British organization that offers programs in ways of thinking about all aspects of life. One of the founders is the famous philosopher and writer Alain de Botton. ✻ How to Find Fulfilling Work by Roman Krznaric ✻ How to Change the World by John-Paul Flintoff ✻ How to Think More About Sex by Alain de Botton ✻ How to Stay Sane by Philippa Perry ✻ How to Worry Less About Money by John Armstrong ✻ How to Thrive in the Digital Age by Tom Chatfield ✻ The School of Life series (Pan MacMillan), EBooks £5.99. www.panmacmillan.com/ authortheschooloflife

Go Mexico Two English sisters in love with all things Mexican set up a business that imports authentic Mexican handicrafts to Europe. They maintain close contact with the artisans who receive a fair price for their work. Besides traditional embroidery, these wooden, hand-painted bangles are a nice surprise. £12. www.chidobueno.co.uk/bangles

Books to Linger Over The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes It’s not for nothing that novelist Julian Barnes (Flaubert’s Parrot) received a great number of awards for his latest book, including the 2011 Man Booker Prize. This splendid novel about a man taking leave of his youthful ideals is so beautifully written that you will want to take it very, very slowly to make the pleasure last. The beautiful sentences will remain with you a long time after. The Sense of an Ending (Vintage UK/Vintage International US) US$8.65, €17.89, £3.98 www.amazon.com

TEXT DORINE VERHEUL, NINA SIEGAL

Online Pattern Maker

Quilting was originally an Irish and later an American tradition that brought women together to work on a patchwork bedspread. While they were busy, the older women taught the younger ones what they knew, not just about sewing techniques, but also about life. On the Victoria and Albert Museum website, there’s lots to admire about quilting, including a pattern maker that lets you transform your image into a quilt pattern. You choose how complex you want to make it and which to use. www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/quilts/ patchwork

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer Like many new parents, Jonathan Safran Foer (author of Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) started to re-examine his values when his child was born, and he gave his dietary choices a thorough going-over. Although he had always wavered between being a vegetarian and an omnivore, he began a quest to become more mindful about eating meat, by visiting factory farms, dissecting the ingredients of his own childhood meals, and probing some of his moral instincts. The result is a thoughtful, funny nonfiction book that is part science, part memoir, and part literature. Eating Animals (Little, Brown) US$10.19, €7, £6.89 www.amazon.com What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander It’s not often that a book comes recommended so highly by fellow writers. Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Safran Foer, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Franzen, and many others are wildly enthusiastic about Englander’s stories about the great questions of life. Written with care and humor, there is not one wasted word in What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank £8.96, €10 (paperback), US$13.98 (hardcover) www.amazon.com

Open Your Mind Anyone who has tried to take up a sport, keep up with the laundry, or spend less money already knows this: telling yourself off doesn’t work. Now it seems that scientific research backs up this idea. Psychologist Ibrahim Senay of the University of Illinois studied two groups of people solving a set of anagrams. At the outset, the first group was told to fix the statement “I will...” in their minds. The second group was told to ask themselves “Will I...?” The second group solved far more anagrams. Senay tested this method again on people who wanted to work out. It seems that people with an open questioning mindset are more motivated to persist. Source: www.scientificamerican.com

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9H 8H 7H 6H very hard 58 _

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5H 4H 3H hard

2H HF HB B medium

2B 3B 4B soft

5B 6B 7B 8B 9B very soft

Creativity

In Praise of the

It’s been around for more than two hundred years and it’s still popular today: the pencil. Grey lead or colored, thick line or thin line – it’s all equally good. And the very best bit: a super sharp point. What makes the pencil still so irresistible?

t may be a bit hard to imagine why a wooden tube with a graphite and clay filling would have quite such an international following. But listen to its fans and it starts to become clearer. Even in the digital age, there’s no shortage of pencil-lovers around, judging by the many websites and blogs talking about all sorts of pencils in great detail, with fans offering tips on which pencil writes or draws the best and – because this is an indelible aspect of the pencil – which eraser rubs out the best and which sharpener creates the best point. Or which knife? New York artisan David Rees has been sharpening pencils professionally for years, with a knife. Send your pencil to Rees, and he’ll return it hand-sharpened and enclosed in a plastic tube that also includes the souvenir shavings. In his witty book, How to Sharpen Pencils (Melville House, 2012), Rees explains his techniques with an endearing deadpan humor. There are also plenty of pencil-philic videos – for example, of pointy pencils zapping past like racecars, children’s hands scratching paper to a soundtrack of scratch music, and a clip by the Australian folk band Hudson, whose colored pencils dance a complex choreography. Bart Moeyaert, a Flemish artist, poet, and children’s book author, is an avid pencil enthusiast with a more or less random collection of six hundred pencils, including a beautiful one that was hand-painted by illustrator Marit Törnqvist. Moeyart writes about his love of the pencil in his little book, 56 Kilometer, (available in Dutch only): “It’s an attractive, friendly invention. With a pencil I always have a choice. Shall I write, or

draw? Do I want a hard or soft line, with a sharp or blunt point, so that you can tell my mood? Will I do it hesitantly, eraser at the ready, or is that line meant to stay there forever? Every day I take the time to decide. Did you know the average pencil is good for drawing a line 56 kilometers (35 miles) long?” NEVER LETS YOU DOWN

What makes a pencil so irresistible? Perhaps part of it is that nearly everyone learns to write with one. You probably remember your very first HB No. 2 pencil, and sharpening it on the electric sharpener on the teacher’s desk, and then going carefully back to your desk. Dropping a pencil was (and is) not a good idea, because it can break the lead. Nothing is as frustrating as a freshly sharpened point that snaps the first time you use it. The pencil is widely praised for its simplicity, affordability (even special vintage pencils are available at a decent price), and scent (cedar wood and graphite – does anything smell

“Ernest Hemingway claimed a writing day was only successful when he used up seven pencils”

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Your Own Harvest

Sometimes it’s just not possible to eat everything you harvest from your own garden. The age-old solution: preserve and save for winter. Illustrator Elisandra has fallen under the spell of her grandmother’s canning recipes. Now we have, too.

hese recipes come from Elisandra’s grandmother. Her favorite is the rum pot, an earthenware crock filled with layers of fruit soaked in rum. “In the 1970s every German family had a rumpotf, or rum pot,” Elisandra says. “Now everyone is getting those old pots out of the basement. The things we make ourselves always have a special value. It’s not just any old jar of 64 _

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pickles that you bought at random, but the jar of pickles you preserved all by yourself, and that makes every bite more delicious. Ordinary, everyday things gain meaning in this way. I grew up in a house with a big garden and I have great childhood memories of preserving fruit and vegetables. Now, I like to give these old traditions a new spin, even if I don’t have my own vegetable garden in Berlin and simply use fruit and vegetables from the market.”

Preserving BUYING A RUM POT The rum pot is kind of like the fondue pot, in the sense that in the 1970s, everyone had one in the kitchen cupboard. Now you can find them for sale all over the internet, for example through eBay and Amazon from about US$20 to about US$200, depending on the design.

The rum pot consists of layers of seasonal fruits preserved in alcohol and sugar. In the first (bottom) layer, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to use as much sugar as fruit. Each month you will add another layer of fruit, but you will need less and less sugar with each layer, because there will be enough already in the previous layers (about 50 g of sugar per 100 g fruit). It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter what fruit you use. You can also add vanilla or cinnamon sticks or lemon or orange zest to the layers. If you start your rum pot in May or June, strawberries are a good choice for the first layer. Wash and dry the fruit carefully. Cut the fruit in halves or quarters, place them in a bowl, and stir in an equal amount of sugar. Let stand for an hour. Before using your rum pot for the first time, sterilize it in boiling

water. Dry it well. Put in the first layer of fruit. Carefully pour in the rum to one or two inches above the fruit. Close the pot with cling film under the lid. Store the pot in a cool, dry place (a cellar or basement is ideal; do not store in a refrigerator) until you are ready to add a new layer of fruit. Check weekly if the fruit is completely covered in rum, and stir gently. If needed, pour more rum in or weigh down the fruit with a heavy, thoroughly clean saucer. In October or November, after adding the final layer of fruit, seal the pot and leave it to mature for at least six weeks. Traditionally the rum pot is opened for the end-of-year festivities, and is eaten throughout the winter. Enjoy your rum-soaked fruit with ice cream as a dessert, as a garnish in a champagne cocktail, or as a filling in cakes and pancakes. Always use a clean spoon to remove fruit from your rum pot.

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Zeitgeist

In each issue of Flow, we like to ask an innovative thinker to share his or her view of the zeitgeist. This time around, it’s Professor Ernst Bohlmeijer, head of Mental Health Promotion at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. His field is the psychology of living. WHAT IS THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LIVING?

It focuses on well-being, on how you can lead a meaningful life despite the suffering that is an inevitable part of life. It’s less about healing psychological distress and more about promoting mental health. Of course, you should not withhold treatment that has been shown convincingly to work, but in our eagerness to prove the effectiveness of such treatments, we tend to overlook a long-forgotten part of the story – namely, that there is such a thing as positive mental health. WHAT IS THAT?

It is our ability to create a meaningful life. To accept and tolerate that a certain degree of psychological distress – such as uncertainty, fear, and doubt – is a part of life. It’s also important that you can develop and engage as a human being. Having a good connection with your environment and society is indispensable for feeling that you are living a meaningful life. SO IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT POSITIVE FEELINGS?

Certainly not, although positive feelings may come as a side effect of having a sense of positive well-being and in-

volvement in life. One of the things central to our vision is the idea that feeling gloomy or anxious is okay at times; it’s natural, and trying to avoid those kinds of feelings is counterproductive. That’s backed up by scientific research. Changing your attitude toward negative emotions contributes in the long term to your well-being. Life is about finding the balance between what you can make of it and acceptance of what is. It’s a way of life in which you can take action and address whatever is your responsibility and yet, on the other hand, not make yourself crazy about the things that are impossible to change. Once you stop doing that, then you free up the space and energy to do things.

“Ultimately, it’s all about what kind of person you want to be”

ARE WE TOO HUNG UP ON THE IDEA THAT LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT?

Yes, but that’s quite logical, because rational and analytical thinking has brought about a lot of progress. We’ve conquered certain life-threatening diseases, we’ve increased our life expectancy enormously, and we’ve enhanced our ability to develop ourselves. But all this has created the expectation that we must constantly create our own happiness, that you can make your own life and leave anything unpleasant out it. Having both good health and happiness have become the norm. DOESN’T LIVING UP TO THAT NORM PUT US UNDER EXTRA PRESSURE?

According to researchers like Trudy Dehue, the social expectation is that you have to be successful. You are responsible for your own happiness and

making your own success in the world. Hard work, being productive, and taking on a lot is the standard practice. The downside is that you’ll quickly feel sad if you fail. The requirements in our society are greatly overblown. Sociologists describe the course of modern life as “choice biography.” In former eras, the course of one’s life was more or less fixed. You were born in a village, you had a certain job that usually you took over from your father or mother, and church rituals set down what was expected of you and how you should live. In the last fifty years, we’ve had far more freedom, and now you can go off in any direction.

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Reflection

What Do You Give Yourself? In an era when we have so much, when we give and receive so much, there are still things that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get enough of. Time, for example. And we often have far too many regrets. Roos Ouwehand explores the big question: what do we really give ourselves?

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WEB shopping Crafty inspiration from the internet

www.etsy.com/shop/handpaintedloveboxes Cake topper â&#x153;ą â&#x201A;Ź90

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Love

www.dotcomgiftshop.com Cake form ✱ €5

www.etsy.com/shop/isewpose Embroidery ✱ €20

www.fluffyco.com Heart bag ✱ €50

www.supermarkethq.com Tiny heart ring ✱ €10

www.etsy.com/shop/ designittogether Card ✱ €4

www.asos.com Bracelet ✱ €9

www.shopcookware.ie Le Creuset deep heart dish and lid Cerise ✱ €110

www.suck.uk.com Stamp ✱ €14.95

www.ettinger.co.uk Leather photo frame ✱ €70

www.etsy.com/shop/ glamglassgifts Ring ✱ €6

www.etsy.com/shop/ chocolatesays Chocolate bonbons ✱ €11

www.etsy.com/shop/ braggingbags Cake toppers ✱ €23

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“Bouquet,” 1778, Cornelis Ploos van Amstel

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Creativity

Steal That Masterpiece You’re allowed to do it. In fact, that’s the whole idea. The world’s leading museum of Dutch Golden Age masterpieces, the Rijksmuseum, is letting you download works from its collection to make them your own. So that’s exactly what we did with these flower paintings.

“Flowers, Butterfly and a Bird,” 1594, Nicolaes de Bruyn

Check out our stationery series featuring these designs (see page 98)

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Inspiration

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I THINK WITH MY HANDSâ&#x20AC;?

The Wondrous World of Lyndie Dourthe The Parisian atelier of jewelry designer Lyndie Dourthe looks like a mini natural history museum. Everywhere there are glass bell jars and boxes holding her beautiful, meticulously hand-made flowers, birds, and insects. It's a true cabinet of wonders.

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SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE It need not be so complicated

Asked and Answered Notes & Queries is a section of a British newspaper, The Guardian, in which “readers answer other readers’ questions, on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts.” The comments are interesting and often very funny, especially because they allow for the most hilarious of answers. Check it out — it might get you thinking up fanciful or serious questions yourself, such as “how come people know when they’re being looked at?”

Manage Your Mailbox

Who hasn’t come back to an overcrowded inbox after time away from the office? Half the messages will no longer be relevant by the time you get to reading them: someone left their car lights on, or you’ve been invited to share a birthday cake. If you’re sending group email with Microsoft Outlook, do the recipients a big favor: in the email you’re composing, click Options/ Message options/Deliver options. Then tick the box for “Expires after” and select a date. This ensures that people will not receive your message if they open their inbox after the expiry date. Source: Efficiënt e-mailen by Denise Hulst (Spectrum; available in Dutch only).

Gooaaal! Now, this is handy: the goal posts on this wall decal are always ready and waiting, so kids can play a bit of football before bedtime. €38 www.ferm-living.com

Tidy Toys Years ago, Sarah Kirk’s grandmother gave Sarah’s brother a homemade bag for storing his Lego® blocks. Thirty years later, Sarah’s mother sewed a similar bag for her own grandson’s Lego® collection. Today, Sarah has taken her grandmother’s and mother’s idea and turned it into a thriving business. She designed SWOOP, a tough, sturdy canvas bag with a strong nylon cord. Put the bag on the floor, sweep in whatever toys happen to be lying around (not just Lego® blocks), pull the cord tight, and that’s it: you’re done tidying up. SWOOPs come in many bright colors. www.swoopbags.com.

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Pretty Towels Taking time to do the washing up, that’s an exercise in mindfulness. A pretty towel makes the chore far more fun. Danish tea towels, made from 100% organic cotton, €11 www.ferm-living.com.

American Ad

It’s not what you say to get people to respond to a call to action, but how you say it. In the 1960s, American advertisers realized that the public was tired of the same old simple sales pitch. The typical ad – the American dream family sitting around the breakfast table with the American dream car in the driveway – just didn’t do it anymore. Following the leadership of keen young marketers who had studied commercial art — like Don Draper from the hit TV series Mad Men — ads became smarter and more resourceful. This companion set of two books shows hundreds of American advertisements from the 1950s and 1960s, in chronological order, so you can track the development. Mid Century Ads: Advertising from the Mad Men Era (Taschen). €39.95 (£25 or US$66 on Amazon). Hardback.

TEXT ALICE VAN ESSEN, NINA SEIEGAL

Doodle Doily Great fun: a cotton tablecloth with a big, old-fashioned grid, complete with red margins, on which you (or your child) can doodle. Comes with wash-out color pens. Doodle, for example: 1. seating place names 2. the menu 3. games to play between courses. 148x250 cm. Includes eight color markers, €55 www.opkop.com/accessoires/64/.

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Inspiration

A NEW KIND OF

PIN-UP ART “Pinning” has nothing to do with wrestling or old-fashioned bulletin boards, but with the social media site phenomenon, Pinterest, which allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. “You can only stalk your friends on Facebook for so long, but there is always new stuff on Pinterest.” That’s a quote a certain Reina Ravago pinned on one of her pinboards – virtual bulletin boards – on Pinterest, a social media phenomenon. Now Reina has some 37 pinboards, containing well over 5,000 pins, and admits cheerfully that she is addicted. She’s certainly not the only Pinterest addict. If you’ve never heard of Pinterest, or just had an inkling about it, think first if you have enough spare time for a new online hobby. Because once you open that Pinterest account, it won’t be at all surprising if you turn into a Pinterest addict as fast as Reina and millions of other Pinterest fans have. ONE BIG FEAST The idea behind the site is ridiculously simple. An account gives you access to your own Pinterest page, where you can create as many pinboards as you want. You can post images you find anywhere on the web onto your pinboards with the special Pin It button that you easily drag to your bookmarks bar. And that’s all there is to it. Too simple for words. The easiest way to organize your pins is by topic. Rotterdam illustrator Lisa Manuels has 24 pinboards, including Being Crafty & Creative and Vintage Delights. Paper Designer Jurianne Matter keeps her titles simpler, such as Jewelry, Textiles, Clothes, and Lighting. But, for example, some people arrange their pins by color. One owner has compiled a visual guide to Barcelona in a pinboard, and someone else has filled one just with pictures of women in planetology.

Via the Pin It button in your taskbar, you keep on adding from the web to your various pinboards, neatly filing away everything you come across until you are ready to try on that new pendant, or want to attempt that new recipe for chocolate cake. Or perhaps you want to decorate your garden shed, or you’re looking for tips on hand-out treats or a new artwork for the dining room wall.

Jays Mandalas

Jurianne Matter

Eveline Kasikov

Textiles pins by Jurianne Matter

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Super pretty

#FLUFFY CLOUDS

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Simplify your life

Reflection

It is so common these days: every event is photographed or put into words and shared with the rest of the world via social media. Meanwhile, we forget to enjoy the event with our own senses. It was a simple concept: lie back in the grass and stare at the passing clouds — calm fluffy clouds, wind-driven clouds, dark clouds that warn of a storm. In 2004, Englishman Gavin PretorPinney, who studied physics, psychology, and philosophy, founded the Cloud Appreciation Society. Today, the movement has almost 30,000 members worldwide. In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, PretorPinney describes the cloud movement as a tribute to the art of doing nothing. Today, he feels, doing nothing is more important than ever. But even this advocate of cloudspotting as a way of doing nothing has to admit that when he catches sight of an unusual cloud he often thinks: hey, I should photograph it and post it on Facebook. “That’s wrong, don’t you think?” he said in the interview. It is something to think about, indeed, because these days, almost everyone has that exact reflex. If we see something beautiful or if something remarkable happens, we all tend to think, quick, take a photo, so that we can remember it later, and also to show others, post on social media, whatever. A sunny day at the beach, an unexpected encounter with a deer in the forest, your child’s first steps – all of it must be recorded and broadcast to the world. A dead battery in the smart phone or a broken camera will spoil the opportunity and ruin the moment. Yet this doesn’t make sense, Pretor-Pinney says in the interview. “I don’t want to run around looking for clouds, always grabbing for my camera. The most interesting bit, of course, is the moment of seeing the cloud, enjoying that moment for itself, and then letting it go.” DIGITAL FOOTPRINT Why can’t we do that anymore? Perhaps it’s because, as human beings, we have a real need to share the things that give us pleasure, to show we’re having fun, and social media makes that instinct even

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Tikkety-tikkety-tik-tik

DING!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It works anywhere, unplugged. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need a printer. Its hard disk will never crash. In the digital age, the good old-fashioned typewriter is experiencing a revival.

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Simplify your life

Crafting

Have you bought the new iPhone 5 yet? Or are you going for the new Android instead? For anyone who thinks they’re lagging hopelessly behind the latest in-thing, here’s a thought to put it all into perspective: 140 years ago, people were overwhelmed by a similar torrent of updates, innovations, and improvements. It was impossible to keep up. The only difference is that back then all the hype was about typewriters. In the beginning, people considered these contraptions the pinnacle of ingenuity. But, before the “ordinary” manual typewriter, as we know it today, was commonplace, many other complicated models were designed: huge, monstrous machines that were supposed to type a given text fully automatically. Where we now have the Mac versus the PC, then the battle was between electrical and mechanical. People were cautious about the so-called incredible capacity. As in films like The Matrix and I, Robot, where evil computers ultimately rule humans, people were even somewhat scared of the typewriter, which seemed to be leading a life of its own. ROLL, STRIKE, GLIDE In short, in a hundred years’ time, that phone you can’t live without will be just like the typewriter, a relic of a bygone era. With one big difference: by that time, the phone will be useless, whereas a well-preserved typewriter will still be able to produce a letter. That’s exactly what a group of young Americans has recently discovered and come to appreciate. As a result, the typewriter is experiencing a comeback. In the hip New York borough of Brooklyn, typewriting hipsters can be found at type-ins. Young people who grew up firmly in the digital age come together to use typewriters to see how many words they can type a minute or to produce beautiful typewritten texts. Anyone who has ever wrestled with Tipp-Ex to fix typos or has cursed at a sheet of badly aligned paper may find this renewed love for ancient contraptions hard to understand. But in the online era, where all you type is ephemeral, and it’s so easy to delete or revise text, new fans are full of praise for the very permanence of the typewriter. Unlike the hidden workings of a computer, typewriter technology is a spectacle performed right before your eyes. The passionate clatter of metal on paper, the cheerful bell at the end of a line — no matter how the hipsters explain it, they all fell in love with the typewriter for the same reason: tangibility.

It takes only twelve moving parts to make a simple typewriter. Every typewriter follows the same logical, mechanical principles of roll (insert/ align paper), shift (set upper or lower case), press (keys), lift (type bars), strike (print letters on page), and glide (carriage left and right). COZY CLATTER London-based illustrator Helen Entwistle began her love affair with the typewriter when she was seventeen. She was rummaging around in her granny’s garage and found an old turquoise Smith Corona that her granny had once used for letters. Now this Corsair model, especially in turquoise, is extremely popular and you often find it featured on design blogs. Helen finds all the pretty colors and designs of typewriters charming. “The compact portable is my favorite,” she says. “My typewriters are lined up in my studio, put neatly away in their own carry cases. I use them too, for letters to friends, and some serve as decorations in my home. I bring them to creative courses I teach. And of course, I use them in my illustrations. I’ve drawn a few and sell the drawings as limited editions. I enjoy the cozy clatter of letters striking the paper and how some individual letters can be a bit odd.” Now, Entwistle has five typewriters in her collection. She used to have more, but because she lacked space, she sold some and gave a few away to friends. Her current trove includes two Smith Corona Corsairs, in turquoise and brown, a beautiful Olivetti Lettera 32 in turquoise, an Adler Junior E in soft gray, and a navy-blue Triumph Gabriele 35.

Origins of the Typewriter

------------------UNSURPRISINGLY, A LOT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE TYPEWRITER. THE FIRST VERIFIABLE FACT IS THAT IN 1714, BRITISH ENGINEER HENRY MILL APPLIED FOR A PATENT FOR AN APPARATUS THAT PRINTED LETTERS ON PAPER. THEN CAME MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY OF TINKERING. REMINGTON IN NEW YORK IS CREDITED AS CREATOR OF THE FIRST TYPEWRITER 1874. IT DIDN’T WORK THAT WELL, AND ONLY 5,000 WERE SOLD, BUT THE SECOND MODEL THAT CAME OUT TEN YEARS LATER WAS A HUGE HIT AND SET THE GLOBAL INDUSTRY IN MOTION.

Flow Editorial has bought three beautiful typewriters to avoid computer viruses

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Simplify your life

Do It Yourself

PUT YOUR OWN STAMP ON IT Amsterdam-based children’s book illustrator Gertie Jaquet has always had a love of stamp making. Her favorite kinds are simple eraser prints that remind her of something inspiring. HOW MANY CHILDREN’S BOOKS DO YOU HAVE TO YOUR NAME NOW? More than 150, I think. It sounds like a lot, but I’ve been doing it since 1983. IT STILL SOUNDS LIKE A LOT. HOW MANY OF THOSE DID YOU WRITE AND ILLUSTRATE? I wrote the text of four books myself, but the other books were illustrations of other people’s texts. I’ve done more than 25 books with one particular writer, Annemarie Bon, and we made a whole series about a hare called Haas (which is “hare” in Dutch). I’m working on the fourteenth book in that series now. I just love the character. HOW DID YOU FIND EACH OTHER? We met a long time ago. She was working for a Dutch children’s magazine and I was doing illustrations for it. We met at a New Year’s cocktail party, and I said I liked the stories very much. She told me she liked my pictures, and that was the start of a very long collaboration. That was twenty years ago. YOU DRAW THE ILLUSTRATIONS BY HAND, BUT YOU ALSO USE STAMPS IN THE IMAGES. Yes, I combine things; I make the illustrations with pen or brush and soft pastels and I use stamps for some elements. For example, if I do an underwater scene, I make the background with plants or fishes from stamps and I combine those with drawings. Not in every illustration, but I like to use stamps especially for plants. WHY PLANTS? When you stamp them, it looks as if they’re growing. It becomes very natural. The image made by a stamp is a bit transparent and

inexact. For example, when I’m drawing with a pen I choose the exact spot to draw. But when I use a stamp it can be a little more organic looking. Sometimes it’s a thick stamp and sometimes it’s thinner and more transparent. That’s how plants look when they grow. HAVE YOU ALWAYS USED STAMPS IN ADDITION TO ILLUSTRATION FOR YOUR BOOKS? No, I started using them about five years ago. I was making a textbook about mathematics – accounting for young children – and I had to make a repetition of images, just simple ones. I thought that if I used a stamp it would make sense. I always have erasers lying around my desk, everywhere, so thought I’d try to cut one out of an eraser. It worked well. HOW DID YOU COME TO HAVE AN INTEREST IN STAMPS? I always loved stamps when I was small. I used to play post office with my sisters and I just loved to stamp with ready-made stamps or simple forms. I think what appealed to me was the repetition, the gesture of doing it, stamping. When I make the stamps myself, what I especially like is that the lines are not the same as when I draw with a pen or a pencil. They surprise me. It’s as if someone else did them, and you don’t have power over it all. The stamp has a will of its own, and that’s what I like. I can’t control everything; it’s more of a surprise, and that’s what makes me happy. Also, cutting a stamp is very relaxing. I like to do it when I have finished a drawing for a commission, just to relax. IT SOUNDS SORT OF MEDITATIVE. Yeah, it is. You can become addicted. I am.

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