Wiinblad

Some of you might know that I collect the monthly plaques by Bjørn Wiinblad for Nymølle, designed in the 60s. I so love his whimsical figures and the black on white. They also come in red, but I think the pattern stands out more on these. My heart skipped a beat when I found a stack of ten plaques yesterday, lying on a shelf behind a pile of junk in a local thrift store. August and December were not there, but hopefully they will appear somewhere when I least expect it, it's often like that, right? I had January, February and March already, but bought them all anyway. You wanna guess the price? 20 kroner a piece!!!! That's 2,70 in Euros or 3,60 in US dollars!!! 

The plaques show a beautiful love story, month by month, from the first time the couple see eachother until they have a baby in december. They're so full of symbolism, like the rain on the April plaque "Konflikt" (conflict), and I never tire of looking at the beautiful faces of the two lovers. I'm amazed by Wiinblad's great attention to detail, that's why I posted so many pictures, including pictures of the reverse sides. Do you have a favorite? I think mine are january and October... The next time you see them will be in my new kitchen, I know exactly where!

A few thrifts

After taking that walk among the buildings at the university campus yesterday, I hit a couple of charity stores and found a few things. The piece that really made me gasp at the sight of it standing there on a dusty shelf, is this glass plate by Arne Jon Jutrem for Hadeland. It's the exact same shape as his Greenland- series, and has the same bubbles inside the glass, only it's in smoky grey instead of green. I'm wondering if it has the same name, does anyone know? It's not as big as the one I have in green (look here), it has a diameter of 20 cm. I'll be on the lookout for a bigger brother!

I found a stack of six more dessert bowls in the Stavangerflint brunette series that I collect (I have several previous posts about that pattern, I now have twelve of them. I never seem to find any dinnerplates. I have only one, and they have such a great shape that I really want to replace the ones I use daily. Hopefully, they'll turn up soon, I'll keep looking wherever I go.

The next ing I found is this butter cup from Figgjo in the Folklore pattern by Turi Gramstad Oliver. I have a set of these that was my grandmother's, and I really love them. Sadly, the lid is missing, as is very common with these. That was also the case with the one I found in the august pattern. But the two of them look great together, and I'll use them as little planters for some cacti or succulents.

Then, look what turned up!! Just as I ordered a Stavanger- plate on Etsy... But this one is bigger and they don't have the same shape or pattern, so they'll look great on the wall as a duo. They're both souvenir plates by Stavangerflint, they made them for a number of norwegian cities, as well as the other scandinavian capitals. The triangular shape of this one is so great, and so is all the detailing! In the second image is the medieval stone cathedral I got married in, and the building to it's right is my old school! In the third image you can see the sculpture of norwegian poet Alexander Kielland with his characteristic top hat and cape, gazing out over the marketplace and the harbour. He wrote some great novels from Stavanger in the fishery and canning era.

Finally, a bright 70s Emsa set of six coasters in a lidded container. As I'm sure you can see from my blog, I love the 60s and 70s, but mainly go for muted colors. I don't think I've ever owned anything as colorful as this, not even as a child! But being so delightfully flowerpower- ish, I couldn't leave it behind, I'll have to wait and see if it grows on me:-)

 

Ps. Pippa over at Ouch Flower awarded me a Liebster, I'm so thrilled!!! I have a hard time picking out 11 of all the great blogs out there, but I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can!

More great norwegian modernism

Yesterday, the weather was so great here, I went for a walk around a nearby university campus that has a great park with a pond (now frozen!) and a nice mixture of buildings from different periods. The one that always catches my eye is this one, the Auditorium Maximum, by architect Leif Olav Moen. It was the winner of a competition for a new auditorium and assembly hall. Construction started in 1969 and it opened officially in 1970. I find it a typical example of late modernism, there's a bit of brutalism as well as structuralism going on. One of the things I love about it is that although it seems uncompromising at first glance, great conciderations has been taken to the shape and character of the landscape. There's a strong connection between the two. I love architecture that showcases the structural elements like this, in that way great expression is achieved without excess elements. I guess this is why my all time favorite is Mies van der Rohe, he turned construction into poetry.

In front of the building is a great piece of art by norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who represents the experimental modernist tradition. He has achieved great fame internationally for his collaborations with Picasso. The duo worked together both in Spain and in Norway, and as a result, we have a few great sculptures here. This one, however, Nesjar did on his own. he had a strong technical interest, and experimented with freezing and cooling techniques that would make his steel sculptures change with the seasons. This sculpture originally sprayed water, gas and mist. I've never seen it "in action", it might not be working anymore. I've seen photos of it all covered in ice, it's quite spectacular.