The other day we were lucky to serve Helena Carlberg from The Ode To a cup of coffee. She's one of the founders of the online gallery that helps people to find good art outside of the mass production markets. Rare and limited-run pieces that bring something unique to your home. We had a really nice chat about stiffness in the art world and of course she shared her own favourite piece of art with us.
 

What is The Ode To?
The Ode To is a thoughtfully curated online gallery for handmade art. Think of us as your eyes in the art world, spotting talent and curating a selection of contemporary sculptures, objects, paintings and drawings, made especially for us, by exceptional artists. We want to make it more effortless for people to find art to love and collect, without all the stiffness that has surrounded art in the past.

What makes good art?
This is such a cliché to say, but it’s very much something personal and you should get a gut feeling that love the artwork. Beyond that, we use the following criteria:

1. Aesthetics. There should be a colour, shape or composition that you find beautiful.
2. Great craftsmanship. You should get a sense of wonder that someone was skilled enough to make the artwork and come up with the idea.
3. Something that makes you think. If the artworks evokes an emotion of thought, such as making you nostalgic, impressed or provoked, then you’re on the right track.
 

Your current favorite artist and why?
We love to see that glass sculptures are making their way back in a more contemporary way, so we love the artworks of glass blowers such as Erika Kristofersson Bredberg, Malin Pierre and Kassandra Widmark Utas. We’re also really happy to see that more colourful artworks are making their way into people’s homes, so it’s great to see the pink ceramic sculptures by Fanny Ollas and the sunset coloured sculptures by Danish artist Maria Lenskjold.

Typical client of yours?
It’s quite a mix to be honest, but what most of our customers share is that they want something special that shows their personality. Our homes are becoming an extension of ourselves just as much as what we wear. We also see that restaurants and offices are getting closer to the art scene and incorporate our artworks into their spaces.

Where in Stockholm do you often find yourself?
We have a showroom on Kungstensgatan 27 in Stockholm. It’s our office and creative space. Normally it’s open on Wednesday afternoon, but at the moment we take it week by week.

Your favorite piece of art you take with you on every move?
For Anna it’s a large dip-dyed linen canvas by Scottish artist Hayley McCrirrick that gives a big, but minimalist impression in all spaces. For Helena it’s a silver smiley glass sculpture called Mirror, that begged to be bought by her the minute she saw it.

Visit theodeto.com to discover thoughtfully curated & handmade artworks.