Current Obsessions: June Hues
by Remodelista Team
Ahead this weekend: Scandi itineraries, newly opened gardens, and strawberry season in sight. Read on:
Above: Our collective obsession: kitchens by Loose Parts. See more in this week’s Kitchen(s) of the Week: Freestanding Cabinetry by Loose Parts in Upstate NY. Photograph by Jonathan Hökklo.
- When two favorites collaborate: Join “A Shared Table” at King in the West Village location through June 14, with menu specials and custom bar room tables set by TOAST.
- Annie’s heading to 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen next week. On the agenda? Exhibits the city over, a long-table dinner, and breakfast at longtime favorite Atelier September. Keep an eye on the @remodelista Instagram for glimpses.
- Spotted: a look inside the home/studio of artist Adam Pogue (whose work we love—glimpse here).
- Ooh, Ravenhill Studio is offering their sconces in color for the first time; head here to browse.
- This hot springs hotel, just an hour from San Diego, looks great.
- We have to say we’re intrigued by this one-piece loo “with all the mod cons,” as Margot says, from the new Kohler x Studio McGee collection.
- File under Things to Plan a Trip Around: “Aalto Design: Shapes of Wellbeing,” on view this summer at The Architecture & Design Museum Helsinki.
- An underrated use for barstools.
- Add to cart: a very chic beach towel.
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Oooh, new antiques just landed at our favorite new online shop for unique outdoor furniture and accessories, Gallerie Green. (Read Margot’s story about the incredibly curated store here.)
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Introducing the “Meadow Daybed” by Sebstian Cox. (Hat tip: Annie.)
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The Apple House at landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith’s Serge Hill Project just won a RIBA Award! (Read our story on Serge Hill here.)
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Imagine having a real gardener turn your yard into a beautiful flower garden—for free.
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To do this summer: make art outside.
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In the good news department, listen to this short NPR segment about a program in Oklahoma that turns unused land on prisons into pollinator paradises. (Hat tip: Margot.)
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Do you know these 11 iconic mid-century outdoor chair designs?
- P.S. Our summer plans in a nutshell.
Against Cultural Flattening: Creative Retreats as the New Way to Travel
by Alexa Hotz
This past March, The Wall Street Journal‘s “Craft Retreats Are the New Burnout Cure” caught our attention. It’s something we’ve noticed among friends, too: traveling to Sicily to finally take up basketry from a favorite weaver, making cheese and yogurt in the Basque mountains, and so forth. This style of travel is not for the passive vacationer. Not for the beachcomber, and not necessarily for the whole family. These curated retreats are for the fidgety, for those drawn to hands-on learning—the artist residency for the non- or nascent artist.
“I’ve known what it feels like to lack inspiration and feel stagnant,” writes Alice Katter, founder of Out of Office Network, which hosts creative retreats at an agriturismo in Italy. “It’s a response to a cultural flattening,” she continues. “As everything becomes algorithmic, online, optimized, and the same…”
The following immersive, hands-on travel experiences are among the most appealing we’ve uncovered yet.
Above: Anna Tasca Lanza in Sicily, Italy,
Years ago, Anna Tasca Lanza in Sicily hosted a weaving workshop with Studio AMOS, and the school has been on our radar ever since. While its retreats typically center on food—past hosts have included David Tanis, Julia Sherman, and Rachel Roddy—it occasionally ventures into craft, as with the weaving workshop and an upcoming sketching and Drawing retreat with Samantha Dion Baker. Photograph from Anna Tasca Lanza by Chiara Leto and Erika Pino for The Preserve Journal.
Above: Quilting at an Ace Camp Travel retreat.
Ace Camp Travel hosts creative retreats around the world: block printing in Jaipur, India; painting in Andalusia, Spain; basket weaving in the Stockholm Archipelago, Sweden; embroidery in Chiang Mai, Thailand; and many more. The premise is simple: travel centered on hands-on learning, lectures, and demonstrations led by local experts and practitioners.
Above: Out of Office Network creative retreat at Le Cergue, Italy.
Out of Office Network began as a digital platform supporting creative expression, founded by Alice Katter, who later developed a creative residency program at Le Cerque, an agriturismo outside of Rome. Unlike artist residencies, where established artists focus on and present a single project, Out of Office’s offerings might look more like a three-day botanical dye intensive with a textile designer. Katter also coordinates artist-led workshops in Barcelona, including silversmithing with Anna Ruiz Planella, indigo dyeing with Carlota Simó, and furniture restoration with Audrey Pogu.
Above: DescoverArtists at the natural dye retreat.
DescoverArtists is a global community of creatives that offers intimate, shared-home retreats for practicing artists, integrating workshops focused on skill development and exchange. They also host a Natural Dye Retreat on Chios, Greece, with George Petsikopoulos, created for just six selected participants (application required) and equally open to beginners, artists, and designers alike.
Above: Inside the Praktyka Creative Retreat in North Devon.
Praktyka is a creative retreat on the North Devon coast founded by Ania Wawrzkowicz and Henry Trew in collaboration with Niall Maxwell of Rural Office Architects (see our post on A Low-Impact Family Home in Surrey and Norfolk Remodel with Tithe and Piggery). Guests stay in architectural cabins while taking part in art workshops. Unlike many retreats, Praktyka welcomes group stays that include children. It also hosts curated programs that bring together participants from around the world, such as Coastal Walking and Printmaking, and a Mother’s Retreat featuring clay and jewelry making.
Above: Madame Voyage French Retreats in southern France.
Madame Voyage creates what it calls “slow travel French retreats.” Founded by two women from France, the company hosts week-long retreats in Provence, Toulouse, and along the Riviera. The retreats span both culinary and creative, with workshops in ceramics, floral design, watercolor, and more.
For more on residencies see our posts:
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