Danish designer Lisa Grue launched Scandinavian Diary, a new fabric collection in 2015. Fantastic motifs inspired by Scandinavia forest enchant us. Kokka-fabric digs into the story behind her creative work, characteristic humor, abundant ideas and feminine expression.
I have actually got a bachelor in Textile design from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design. I ended up finishing my education in design with a Master in Graphic Design. But I never forgot my passion for doing pattern in Textile.That was a perfect combination for me.
I love the Scandinavian forest. The danish forest is more romantic like, and you do not find any dangerous animals. But I find it very magic, and I always get many visual ideas when I go for a walk in the forest. Like this evening I saw a rabbit. Things like that activate a visual story in my head. When you go to other Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway you will see another more wild nature. And that is enchanting in another interesting way.
A typical day for me. My dog Master wakes me up in morning at 6.30 am. I go with him for a short walk. When I come back I make breakfast together with my husband Denis and my son Mika. Then I take my son Mika to school, he goes in a fantastic Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf school called the Vidar School. It is located near a little forest and a big beautiful lake. After bringing Mika to school I take our dog for a longer walk in the forest. Then I take the train back to the center of Copenhagen, and go to my studio. My husband work in the same studio as me, and he always makes me a coffee latte when I arrives.
My studio is based in Copenhagen in the old meatpacking district. I love my studio, there is a very warm and relaxed energy. I rent out studio space to other designers and right now we seven different designers. It is inspiring for me to have creative people around me.
From 9.00 am – 12.00 I work on different illustration jobs. At 12.00 I eat lunch together with the other designers at the studio. After lunch I work again on different illustration jobs. At 4.00 pm I go and pick up my son Mika. Then we goes back to our apartment. I make myself a cup of tea and a some afternoon snack for my son. Then I sometimes answer some emails while my son plays in our courtyard with his friends. At 6.30 pm we eat dinner. We always makes organic food. That is important for us. Then I put our son to sleep, and read him a story. And sometimes I also work a little after putting him to bed. Otherwise I talk with my husband or we watch a movie. Then I go to bed around 11.00/12.00 pm. And before I sleep a read some different newspapers.
I just saw a fantastic animated film called “Song of the Sea” – that film really fascinated me. I recently bought the interior book “Fine Little Day” by Elisabeth Dunker, it is a great poetic book about Scandinavian interior. The next restaurant I would like to visit is Noma in Copenhagen.
It is difficult to say. My biggest ambition is to be curious the whole life. Curiosity is an important ingredients in life. It makes you stay young.
I hope the fabric will bring a joy and magic into peoples life. That would make me very happy and extremely proud. I have just designed a large series of post cards, some of the inspired of old Scandinavian folklore pattern. Hopefully they will be sold in Japanese shops by the end of this year.
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Visit artist 017: Ayano Ichiyanagi (Painter / Designer)
file 009 Linda Williams (designer)