#027 ☼ Island Adventures: Kate Bellm
New Poolsuite Mixtape • Curated Furniture • Rick Rubin's Minimalist Heaven
ISSUE 027
Añejo Highball
With tasting notes of island life, the latest on the luxury ice scene, IKEA’s intelligent furniture, a gorgeous industrial renovation, the wild underground scene of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval parties, Rick Rubin’s minimalist heaven in Malibu, curated objects and a beachside convo.
The good life beckons once more!
CURATE WITH US
Our question this week is:
What’s a personal mantra or guiding principle that helps you live a more fulfilling life?
Let us know in the comments 💭
Further down in this issue, we’ll share some cool things members of our community are working on at the moment!
Hot Hyperlinks
☼ An 80s style premium face mist that shields your skin from precious summer rays, even inside the office? Introducing the brand new Vacation® Super Spritz SPF50 by Vacation®
☼ Poolsuite Presents: Mixtape 17, an hour of summer with Moon Boots. The mix includes several tracks from Moon Boots’s new album Ride Away which releases tomorrow, March 17! Follow along here to stream, order vinyl or buy tickets for the album touring live this spring with some special guests
☼ Intelligent Furniture: Oio and SPACE10 envision IKEA furniture that can evolve and adapt to humans’ needs using AI
☼ NoMad is an industrial-building-turned-apartment that conveys the essence of a gallery, designed to encourage wandering and interaction
☼ “Designer ice” is the height of domestic luxury, exploring how Americans’ long love affair with the cold that has spawned a flurry of specialty ice
☼ Discover the community behind the wild underground parties that characterise Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro: “Excess is what sets the tone; an excess of people and of enthusiasm”
☼ Various Objects is a carefully curated selection of furniture, objects, textiles and books curated by creative duo Nadine Göpfert and Till Wiedeck
☼ Rick Rubin’s home is a minimalist zen heaven. It goes hand in hand with Shangri-La, the documentary exploring what exactly it is that makes his recording studio so conducive to creativity and a special place for musicians
☼ Drake and Lil Yachty sit down together beachside for A Moody Conversation™
☼ Artist and photographer Nadia Lee Cohen (featured in Issue #011) dishes on old-school glamour and her admiration for Maximilian Davis as she takes us on a Ferragamo date night in Hollywood
SUMMER-ENHANCING PEOPLE
Island Adventures: Kate Bellm
““I’m just a girl who loves nature, the sea and the mountains, and who lives for and through photography. In nature, I feel free because it gives me enough space to do everything I want to. Now, in Sóller, I can develop my creativity like never before, because here I can feel all the freedom in the world” says British photographer Kate Bellm.
Having grown up in London, studied in Paris and lived in Berlin, Bellm has now settled for more than six years on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Leaving behind the world of commercial and editorial photography (Bellm has shot for the likes of 032c, British Vogue, Gucci and Adidas to name just a few), Bellm takes control of the lens by documenting the whimsical and paradisiacal island life she now leads, intimately connected with nature and the community. Her latest book LA ISLA and the self-proclaimed “lawless” Hotel Corazon she’s opening this summer are a culmination of the sense of freedom that outdoor life can bring and her mission to live more with less.
Highlights
On her crazy first jobs: “My first jobs were actually insane... At 16 years old I assisted shooting the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace for the new 20 dollar note of Canada and then as soon as I left school I went for a 10-day trip to South Carolina with my best friend Margo Stilley to shoot Harley biker gangs there for Esquire... started strong!”
Her current M.O.: “I’ve decided to ONLY follow my creative impulses. I shoot what I love and I don’t do it for any magazine or for anyone but myself and the model, so I feel like my creative moves are all pretty personal at this point in my career as I’ve changed my pattern from shooting for brands to making my own books and selling prints through my online shop which means I have more freedom to shoot what I want.”
On Hotel Corazon, the hotel she’s opening this July in Mallorca: “Lawless—we’re going to be a lawless hotel. I can’t believe something like this doesn’t already exist. I just want to bring something for the creative generation that’s residing here—they need a brunch spot, you know? We’re in renovations now, we’re planting the farm to support the restaurant.”
On adjusting to island life: “For the first five years I couldn’t accept that this was my home. There are less options here than in the city. It’s a simple life, with the ocean and good food. Sometimes, the hot water doesn’t work, or the electricity. It’s real mountain life, off the grid style. But now I’m used to it, and I can’t ever imagine moving back to the city.”
On her changed definition of luxury: “Now, luxury is having a garden, having space, and not being around too many people. It’s not having to travel because you already live in a place that is a travel destination in itself”
Inside Kate’s rustic and cosy island home in Mallorca which she shares with her husband and son
Her first book AMOR is full of “Underwater merbabes, hot hazy landscapes and nudes printed on thick luscious paper with a Red fabric cover”. You can also check out the accompanying short film by scrolling down here (NSFW)
Her second book LA ISLA is a love letter to the sun-drenched, nature-filled lifestyle of Mallorca issued by Mirage (a project of Frank Rocholl and Henrik Purienne who we featured in Issue #013). Check out this interview with Frank about La Isla and its design process
On LA ISLA inspiration: “It’s the dreamiest images shot on the island of Mallorca, Spain and since I’ve been here for the last year I’ve been extremely inspired by this island and been finding every little beach, rock, girl to shoot. I want to show the beauty of a life with less and a life revolving around nature and the ocean”
Dive into Kate’s extensive photography archive here and the gorgeous work she shares on Instagram
A NEW SUMMER-ENHANCING PRODUCT
Vacation® Super Spritz SPF50 is a premium face mist sunscreen specially formulated with daily use in mind. It works well over makeup, fits neatly in your bag, and provides instantaneous hits of refreshment and protection wherever you may be - be it home, office or pool.
Get yours at Vacation.inc along with the celebratory Vacation® “Super Spritz” Business Mug Hot Beverage Receptacle on pre-order.
COMMUNITY CURATED: INTERESTING WEBSITES
Last week, our community shared what they’re working on right now. Check out the comment section filled with interesting endeavours of fellow Palm Report readers. Some honourable mentions:
☼ Living in hotels, this creative duo launched a post-pandemic research project pinpointing customer expectations vs experience.
☼ Kev is building Objet to help people enjoy a better relationship with objects.
☼ Rocky is working on Issue 11 of WARKITCHEN magazine which focuses on nutrition, gastronomy & lifestyle.
Hop in the comments this week as we discuss the guiding principles that help us live more fulfilling lives.
SUMMER-ENHANCING ART
EXHIBIT A: Pool 48 (2021/22) by Carl Miller • EXHIBIT B: Woman in Wind (2023) by Rob Browning • EXHIBIT C: Ford (2022) by Rob Browning
JOIN US
🌴 Tune in to our ultra-summer radio, Poolsuite FM, on iPhone & web
🌴 Follow us: @Poolsuite on Instagram & Twitter, plus @PalmReport on Twitter
🌴 Discover our Hour of Summer mixtapes on SoundCloud
🌴 Say hey, or drop leisurely content you’ve discovered in the comments below!
"70 Summers"
That's what we get if we're lucky.
Some get more, many get fewer.
Live them, and be kinder than necessary to others.
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
― Albert Camus