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.

Kai Samuels-Davies

We have just hung two tiny oils by Kai Samuels-Davies in our little dining room. We first saw them on the Cold Store stand at Tent, and were both really taken with the sensitivity and quality of the marks.

"His portraits focus on moments of solitude and self-reflection. Cinematic themes often arise in his paintings giving them a sense of being fragments of a larger framework of thoughts." - the Cold Store

 http://thecoldpress.com/

Kai is originally from New York, and now lives in Bodega Bay on the West Coast. His website has beautiful images of recent work, and also some very inspiring photos of his studio and environment - it seems a very long way away from East London!

http://kaisamuelsdavis.com/index.html

The painting above is called 'Of the Unconscious'. I really like the dreamy far-away feel...

...although it was actually the little milk glass which first caught our eye - it's so perfect - like a tiny detail from a Dutch still life. 

'So Long As Nothing Happens (i)'

Pont 13

This is my new favourite space - a 1920's ferry, which has been beautifully restored and converted into a wonderful restaurant, out on the docks in Amsterdam.

http://www.pont13.nl/Home.html

The feel is still very industrial, with lots of the fittings left intact. The light quality is wonderful - big wintery skies and views out onto the water. And there is a delicious lingering smell of woodsmoke from the huge stove.

The feel all around is of real working docks - no fancy marinas or designer houseboats here. A really inspiring place.

Constructivist Architecture

We went to the Russian Constructivist Architecture exhibition at the Royal Academy the other day - 

Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-1935

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/building-the-revolution/

There were all sorts of extraordinary buildings beautifully photographed by Richard Pare in their various states of crumbling delapidation. The sense of a new architecture for a new order must have been incredibly compelling and exciting for the architects who designed and the people who inhabited the buildings.

For me though, the most magical and ethereal images were of Schukov's towers. This is his radio tower in Moscow, built in 1920-22. It is so extraordinarily delicate and ghostly.

And these twin sentinals (sadly no longer standing) are electricity pylons, overlooking the Oka River, built between 1927 and 1929. They feel almost visionary in their grace and scale.

Kneading Bread

One of my favourite picture books is 'In the Night Kitchen' by Mauruce Sendak. I loved the night city-scape made up of kitchen implements, and was deliciously scared of the gruff bakers.

 

The other day Borja Garmendia from Pensando en blanco sent me a link to their lovely film about weaving and flour sacks. The baker in the film really reminds me of Sendak's bakers.

www.pensandoenblanco.com/prominent/87/03am-reg-bean-bag/

Inventory

The lovely folk at Inventory Magazine in Vancouver have given me a nice little write up on their blog. It is a really interesting magazine - looking at the stories and processes behind the things that they like. When I'm next in Vancouver their shop is top of my 'to do' list.

http://www.inventorymagazine.com/updates/eleanor-pritchard-woven-blankets.html

Another thing of Beauty

I've been collection photos of concrete car park mouldings for a while now. They are such beautiful exercises in perfectly balanced functional and decorative design. This one is on the side of the Tesco's on Bethnal Green Road.

And this is on Redchurch Street, just by Shoreditch House, on a very quiet Sunday morning.