Inventory blanket

Over the last few months, we have been working on a number of different one-off projects. One of my favourites of these has been the bespoke blanket we have woven for Inventory Magazine. Here are a couple of quick shots I took in the studio before packing them up to ship out.

 

It was a very rewarding project and Owen at Inventory was great to work with. I am really pleased with the outcome - a lovely chunky deep blue blanket - perfect for those Canadian winters.

The magazine is a great read - with really interesting pieces exploring the process behind the featured work. In their own words:

"Inventory was created as an extension of the culture and lifestyle we're a part of. We value products and clothing for more than just their appearance, admiring how they're made, by whom, and why."

The images for the article about the blanket were taken by James Pearson-Howes - I hope to post a few of these in the coming weeks.

Inventory are doing a 'store within a store' at Vitsoe in New York from the 3rd - 10th November, so if you are in that neck of the woods do pop along. Or, if you are in London or Tokyo, they have a concession store at the Dover Street Market.

http://www.inventorymagazine.com/

Elle Deco - Sweden

Just back from showing the blankets at Maison et Objet in Paris. We were showing in Hall 8 - Now Design a Vivre, in very good company.  Amongst my favourites were 'All Lovely Stuff' with their amazing drawing machines. Very clever, simple, witty design.

http://www.alllovelystuff.com/

Here are the Quails' s Egg and Scallop blankets looking very rustic in Swedish Elle

Three Beautiful Patterns

Things which caught my eye in Antwerp

 

Orange + Green & White

To my great delight I find that my blankets are listed as number 13 in the July/ August Monacle feature on '50 Things to Improve your Life' - tucked between number 12 - A Private Island; and number 14 - Toasties and Lattes at Doutour!

To celebrate here are a couple of very pleasing colour-echoes...

... a lovely orange against the David Tremlett mural at Tate Britain...

...and again outside Central Saint Martins....

...and this very satisfying Dunlop green flash combination...

...and again, in the railway carriage cafe on Deptford High Street.

Flour Folk

These lovely ceramic figures are above a shop front near Spitalfields. I guess it must have been a bakers originally. I really like the story of the process from flour to loaf - they have a feel of stations of the cross to me. The inscription reads P. Lindsey Clark 1926.

Waste Not

These images are from an amazing installation at the Barbican by Song Dong.The whole curve gallery is filled with thousands of objects collected and used by his mother during her lifetime.

"...A poignant meditation on family life and the artist’s own childhood during the Cultural Revolution, the installation comprises over 10,000 items collected by Song Dong’s mother, Zhao Xiangyuan, over five decades - ranging from a section of the family home, to metal pots and plastic bowls to blankets, bottle caps, toothpaste tubes and toys. The activity of saving and re-using things is in keeping with the Chinese adage wu jin qi yong – ‘waste not’ – a prerequisite for survival during periods of social and political turmoil. artist, Song Dong. A poignant meditation on family life and the artist’s own childhood during the Cultural Revolution, the installation comprises over 10,000 items collected by Song Dong’s mother, Zhao Xiangyuan, over five decades - ranging from a section of the family home, to metal pots and plastic bowls to blankets, bottle caps, toothpaste tubes and toys. The activity of saving and re-using things is in keeping with the Chinese adage wu jin qi yong – ‘waste not’ – a prerequisite for survival during periods of social and political turmoil..."

"Song Dong is known for his conceptual and often very personal performances and installations. For his London exhibition, Song Dong has developed a new iteration of Waste Not. First conceived in 2005, it remains of the utmost significance to the artist. Unexpectedly and tragically Zhao Xiangyuan died in an accident in 2009. Each time Song Dong remakes the work, assisted by his sister, Song Hui, and his wife Yin Xiuzhen, the entire family is brought together again. Memories are rekindled and personal family objects are rediscovered, bringing powerful emotions to the fore. "

 "Ultimately, Waste Not speaks of the strong bonds between family members and the power of objects to tell stories and shape our lives.

The installation invites you to intimately relate to their extraordinary life story..."

Text from the Barbican's website.

http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=12878

Co-Operative

Here is some lovely old signage for the Co-Op in Bradford on Avon. I love the way that the letters gently interrupt the scallop pattern underneath.

And also, a carved stone altar from an old Saxon church. The pattern is just like the traditional Welsh double-cloths.

'Rigor and Urbanity'

What a nice little write up in American Vogue for my Ziggerat blankets for Margaret Howell! Click through to image six from the link:

http://www.vogue.com/vogue-daily/article/editors-eye-february/

Nicholson + Mondrian

Yesterday we went to a new exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery exploring the relationship and mutual influence of Piet Mondrian and Ben Nicholson. Nicholson had visited Mondrian at his studio in Paris - a friendship that grew much closer when Mondrian moved to London from 1938-40.


http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/exhibitions/2012/mondrian-nicholson/index.shtml

For me, these two abstract paintings by Nicholson really stood out. They are both really beautiful studies in colour, proportion and composition.

John Berry - Ladybird

These illustrations by John Berry have been on my pin board for a while now. I really love the muted palette and the extraordinary compositions. They were painted for the Ladybird 'People at Work' series. These are from 'The Postman'.

"His pictures for the 20 books of the Ladybird People at Work series form a complete visual record of British industry in the early 1960s – an age of industrial prosperity where potteries, coalmines and car manufacture were flourishing, while obliging porters carried suitcases at railway stations and the only equipment a smiling customs officer required was a torch to shine into ladies' handbags."

- Cressida Connolly - see link below

These three are from 'The Roadbuilders'.

John Berry died on 10th December 2009 - there is a lovely obituary by Cressida Connolly in the Guardian:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/22/john-berry-obituary

Soldiers and Sailors

These beautiful mosaics are on the WWI war memorial in Ledbury, Herefordshire. I love the accuracy of the details - the insignia on the cuffs, and buckles on the belts.

A bit of mid-winter cheer

In this, the gloomiest, darkest bit of the year, here are a few images to bring some cheer. They are from Carter's Steam Fair - a wonderful fully working Victorian fun fair which turns up every now and then in our neck of the woods.