Who I am and what I do

The essence is ornamentation. Adornment as decoration and enrichment. It’s not a necessity, but is able to please the heart. The handling of patterns is not cursory, but involved, and nurtures itself from a rich experiential treasure. To work with it is tricky and often leads to a dead-end. There are enough examples of that. Ornamentation originates always in relation to function. In my case, it’s wallpaper, lamps, placemats, patterned paper, boxes, and product ideas, that want to be created.

How I work

To spin tales and invent is pure pleasure. To just begin and let myself go with the flow and see where it takes me is ideal. To risk losing my way or harbor hope of getting stranded at a beautiful place in this great ocean of possibilities. Uncomfortable is self-criticism and perfection. I tend to become very angry and intolerant – not only towards myself. Others help to gain distance and judge a work with more goodwill. A solution for a problem appears. It’s also possible that I can be very happy about an idea. I see it as a coincidence and never as achievement. It is nice when my work makes other people happy.

What inspires me

Over the years I have created an environment that inspires me – and it seems, others as well. I am a collector: books, film, music, objects, postcards. Ideas and stories too. When I’m out looking and finding, I often think of others. It’s a great feeling to give presents and to receive them. What I collect and acquire is too much, but I’m still hardly able to separate myself from something when it comes to cleaning out. Of necessity settled, and yet on the move, that is my natural state. In order to accomplish all the ideas I have, I’d need to live as long as Moses. It helps that I have patience and a kind of stubbornness to get things done. I work hard at attaining satisfaction and serenity. But I don’t always get there.

My design philosophy

No table or a lamp becomes a showpiece. Nothing is ever really finished and everything is in a relation. I don’t like it when something is pre-defined. Everything needs indulgence and variation. I love contrasts and combining things that are at first incongruous. That’s weird but it works. To be considered an artist, bothers me. Craftswoman is more like it. Tinkering, trying out, inventing.