March 17, 2009
(design.inspiration) marika jarv
Marika Jarv is someone that I've been admiring for some time now. She first came to my attention when real living featured her gorgeous home in the July 06 issue and ever since she's worked on a steady stream of projects that have impressed me. I love her relaxed style with its hits of fashion and retro-cool.
Which five words best describe you? Busy, hard-working, creative, honest, happy.
What was your first job and what path have you taken since then? My first "real" job was a huge influence. Straight after graduating from uni, I was lucky enough to land a position with the highly regarded architectural firm Stutchbury&Pape. Pete (Stutchbury) taught me incredible attention to detail and to think inventively. After seven years I took the daunting plunge, went out by myself, and now run my own solo design practice Marika Järv Design from home. Then one and a half years later (as if I wasn't busy enough!) my friend, Alice Flynn and I, decided to start the design label PrintDolls.
What’s your proudest achievement? Having the courage to start PrintDolls, with not only no money (we had to beg/borrow our start-up costs), but with no experience in either screen printing or sales. What we did have was faith in ourselves and our idea - and it's been so worth taking the risk.
Who inspires you? My friend Jacqui Lewis. We just love sharing together all things artistic - be it music, food, art or fashion. Our funnest pastime is iPod playlist wars at parties. And we fritter away hours emailing each other at ridiculous hours of the night with our latest "finds" discovered on the net - music clips, soup recipes, Vivienne Westwood shoes, french cushion covers... At least now she's put our "squandered" hours to good use, by recently launching a new online chronicle, Distillate - it doesn't make me feel as guilty!
What are you passionate about? All the fun things in life - music, food, wine, friends, fashion, art.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt? That I need to slow down. Forked out way too many dollars at the physio lately, all due to the ridiculous amount of hours I spend hunched over my computer - must learn to sit up straight, and take breaks!
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Rosalie Gascoigne. Not only do I love her artwork, but the fact she did it all with no formal art training - truly inspiring.
What’s next? A holiday - off to Bali & Sumba for a month, and I cannot wait.
What are you reading? I have two on the go and never enough time to finish them.
Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela's autobiography.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - by Dan Ariely
What was your first job and what path have you taken since then? My first "real" job was a huge influence. Straight after graduating from uni, I was lucky enough to land a position with the highly regarded architectural firm Stutchbury&Pape. Pete (Stutchbury) taught me incredible attention to detail and to think inventively. After seven years I took the daunting plunge, went out by myself, and now run my own solo design practice Marika Järv Design from home. Then one and a half years later (as if I wasn't busy enough!) my friend, Alice Flynn and I, decided to start the design label PrintDolls.
What’s your proudest achievement? Having the courage to start PrintDolls, with not only no money (we had to beg/borrow our start-up costs), but with no experience in either screen printing or sales. What we did have was faith in ourselves and our idea - and it's been so worth taking the risk.
Who inspires you? My friend Jacqui Lewis. We just love sharing together all things artistic - be it music, food, art or fashion. Our funnest pastime is iPod playlist wars at parties. And we fritter away hours emailing each other at ridiculous hours of the night with our latest "finds" discovered on the net - music clips, soup recipes, Vivienne Westwood shoes, french cushion covers... At least now she's put our "squandered" hours to good use, by recently launching a new online chronicle, Distillate - it doesn't make me feel as guilty!
What are you passionate about? All the fun things in life - music, food, wine, friends, fashion, art.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt? That I need to slow down. Forked out way too many dollars at the physio lately, all due to the ridiculous amount of hours I spend hunched over my computer - must learn to sit up straight, and take breaks!
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Rosalie Gascoigne. Not only do I love her artwork, but the fact she did it all with no formal art training - truly inspiring.
What’s next? A holiday - off to Bali & Sumba for a month, and I cannot wait.
What are you reading? I have two on the go and never enough time to finish them.
Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela's autobiography.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - by Dan Ariely
Images courtesy of PrintDolls