Touch the Dutch is the Toronto-based design studio of Canadian Artist Anneke van Bommel. You may recall her work from our June 2009 issue, where we featured her moose antler rings. Her inspiration includes more than just moose, however. As she puts it, she is exploring “the themes of value, irony, memory, home, Canadiana, and the souvenir.” (She must be a cottager, or at least one at heart.)
Anneke sells her one-of-a-kind, limited production designs online through Etsy. (If you’ve never visited Etsy, go there! It has all kind of amazing stuff made by artists across North America.) Here are a few of her pieces:
Silhouette axe brooch, brushed nickel, $60
Silhouette beaver brooch, brushed nickel, $80
More designs this way…
by Michelle on February 5, 2010 in News
I’m sorry that I’ve been so silent these last few days. We are just finishing up our April issue, the first issue of 2010! It’s a good one, and I hope it will get everyone excited about the upcoming spring/summer cottage season. I know I’m ready for it after a week of sub-zero temps here in Hogtown.
One of the stories from the April issue that I’m most excited about is a profile of Canadian artist Charles Pachter. We sent award-winning writer David Macfarlane up to Lake Simcoe to visit Pachter’s cottage/studio. Pachter is a fascinating man, and his cottage space is a beautiful extension of his artistic personality. And it should be: He did a top-to-bottom reno when he bought the place. Stay tuned to the blog over the next few weeks to see some great before-and-after photos that aren’t running in the magazine. (That’s right, it’s an exclusive!)
Okay, back to the grind here. But I’m working on another item that I hope to post later today, so stay tuned for that too.
Here’s one reason why my boyfriend is a killer catch—his charming little collection of old pennants.
My boyfriend clearly has a nostalgic streak.
Pennants are a fantastic cottage accessory; they add so much history and character. And although I love these ones, I’d love to be able to display them in a less clunky way. Sure those push pins stuck through the drywall do the trick, but they’re fairly short on style, aren’t they?
A style solution found me last week when I went to a baby shower that my friend Cait Sainsbury, a passionate Georgian Bay cottager, hosted at her home here in Toronto. The decorations were so cute and hit just the right note for the occasion: [click to continue…]
I love seeing homes that are thoughtfully designed, even ones that aren’t to my personal tastes. But sometimes I look at the subjects of magazine design stories perfectly posed in their beautifully arranged homes and I think Who ARE these people??!? Their homes look so sorted and pristine. Where are the screaming kids? The endless scraps of paper in that pesky corner of the kitchen? The dog that won’t stop lazing on the couch no matter how many times you train it not to do so?
Of course, the images that we see in magazines are of just one moment in time when the kids/dogs/junk are shuttled briefly out of frame. (Ever wonder what it looks like behind the photographer?) And, just because things look good, doesn’t mean that they feel good, as we all know.
I guess that’s why Unhappy Hipsters so tickled my funny bone. Next time you’re feeling inadequate about the state of your home, or just need a laugh, take a look.
The associate art director of the magazine, Vicki Hornsby, went to an auction at her cottage a while back and was the lucky winner of an assortment of quilts. Soon after, she moved, and then I got lucky when she kindly gave me one of the quilts in an effort to declutter during her move. Here it is, on one of the beds in our cottage cabin: See it here
