Monthly reflections for thoughtful creatives from author Samantha Garner, a creative advisor for introverted or ND creatives. Learn more here.
I grew up with Marimekko, the classic Finnish textiles, clothing, and home décor brand. I don’t mean that as a flex - I wasn’t some precocious child with a keen eye for Nordic design. I was just a kid with a Finnish mother. In particular, one who worked at Marimekko in Helsinki and, later, at a Finnish design store in Toronto. She has loads of vividly-designed Marimekko fabric. Some were made into shirts by my mummu, others became curtains and wall hangings that were used for years, in the background of photos and my entire life. Others became tablecloths unfurled for dinners and family picnics, warmed by the sun, ketchup and tea dropped on them.
When I moved across the country at 21 I brought some of these fabrics with me, and I’ve met some people who were shocked that I’d wanted to turn some of them into curtains or wall hangings. In their eyes I would mar these classic fabrics with scissors or thumbtacks. But isn’t that what fabric is for? To be worn through with time and use, loved? My mummu, who’d spent countless hours weaving rag rugs and knitting socks in Finland to send to us, would have scolded me in a language I didn’t understand if she’d caught wind of me resisting the function of a thing.
I admire how unique Marimekko designs are, but more than anything they feel personal. Like my childhood home, like the cozy quotidian. To me that’s the power of creativity. It exists in the thing created, sure, but it’s also alive in our responses to the world around us. Perception is the ultimate creative act!
Your turn to get curious
Reflection: What creative expressions feel uniquely personal to you, or ground you in your history and your home?
Happy creating,
-Samantha.