Friday's Fabulous: Maija Isola

Maija Isola (1927-2001) was a Finnish textile designer responsible for some of Marimekko's most iconic designs including the Unikko floral.  Her vast body of work includes over 500 prints.

I love this anecdote on the marimekko site, "In 1970, Maija Isola wrote to her daughter from Paris:
“Bon soir children. I’m having a wonderful time these days. I’ve started working. Once again, I feel as if I’ll never find the time to do even a fraction of all the things I want to do. – – I had a huge floral still-life of sorts spread out wet on the floor, waiting to be rolled up ... paints in yoghurt pots, and newspaper everywhere, and flowers in vases on the floorboards. I bought those to paint from on Pentecost. Large deep-red roses, small and fragrant, curiously furry pink roses, yellow, orange and white poppies, cowslips in various shades of purple, black tulips and tiny carmine flowers whose name I don’t know.”"

Her bold graphics and use of strong color definitely inspired me and influenced my work and for that I thank her.

Images via hellosinki, maikitten,