The wooden bike hook covered last year demonstrated perfection in simplicity, precision in design. The best blend of cool and smart, works coming from the studio of Sandra Thomsen are just what we’ve been looking for. This Father’s Day story takes us on a journey from her sketch ideas to the final product peppered with dads love.
Sandra grew up in Hamburg, Germany. Her father, Jens Thomsen, was a straight shooter with a soft spot for a good glass of wine on the terrace. He enjoyed the outdoors and preferred to stay out all day with his hands in the garden until the sun finally went down. He loved his daughter more than she could know, even in the midst of disagreements, it would outlast the final word.
She dangled her legs from the bed as dad paced the room, her brother spread out on the floor chin in his palms. They felt butterflies in their bellies and giggles where hard to hold in. Dad was the best story teller they ever knew, ever. He dreamt up a whole fantastic tale of “Wawuschels” straight out of his imagination. They picked up where they left off from the Sunday morning before…a delight of catching dad still in bed. “These moments were very intense and full of creativity,” says Sandra. “I will never forget them.”
Besides his wild hearted stories, he also worked as a Mechanical Engineer. A man of sure convictions, he was opinionated and strong willed. “I always had to fight for my view on things,” she remembers too well. He put up a good argument when Sandra had made up her mind to pursue art, didn’t see the whole picture so early on. But he loved his daughter more and let her know how proud of her he was that she managed to get accepted with so few spots available at the university.
With her many projects came some undeniable hiccups. Ugh. What to do now? Dad would know. Ding-a-ling on a quick call to dad to see if he’d come give her a hand. Again he loved his daughter more, so he put his opinions in his back pocket and set out to give some project CPR. “Whenever I came to him with a problem I had with some product I was designing, he was more than helpful and happy to help me out with his knowledge of engineering. He always has a solution on technical things and without him, many products would have ended in a dead end. Being a part of my success makes him proud and happy I think.”
