PATTERN UPDATES

Alice's Tea party by Nendo, Tokyo based design company, this is what they say about it -
"This event was held at Ozone Living Design Center in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of English tea brand Lipton’s presence in Japan. We designed a cafe based on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland. We radically distorted the size of the long table and rows of chairs to heighten the room’s sense of receding depth, and did the same thing with the silhouettes of characters from the novel used as the pattern for the wallpaper. These details let us create a space that felt long and narrow, as though it was pulling in visitors. The scale of the installation changed just like Alice after eating the cake. We shrank some of the chairs so that visitors could barely squeeze into them, and enlarged others until visitors’ feet couldn’t touch the ground."

I just think the illustrative pattern is great and the monotone adds to the surrealness (if that's a word) of the whole thing.


San Francisco Zoo has done this brilliant feature where you up load photos of yourself in front of their animal pictures. Imagine this as wallpaper ! Hours of fun.


This is the Christopher Pearson, Laser etching by Vitrics, at terminal 5. Photos care of terminal5insider's photostream on Flickr



Oak Seasons, 2008
From the Etch Series
Christopher Pearson
Laser etching by Vitrics
3D modelling by Squint Opera
A British Airways Commission for Terminal 5
Curated by Artwise
photo © Alex Delfanne/Artwise Curators 2008

CHARLESTON HOUSE

This is a photo I took in the garden of Charleston House - I visited this weekend to see the paintings on the walls and creative expression of the Bloomsbury group. You can just see the windows of their studio - what a dream garden for inspiration !
Below are some beautiful photos, taken on this same visit by the very talented photographer Anna Leader - www.annaleader.com

I visited this weekend and this was one of my favourite pieces by Duncan Grant called "Clouds".

"la china"

This is the information I got to go with the Swap from Karen Barbé - as if it wasn't brilliant enough already !

"I wanted to choose all made-in-Chile things, which by the time being are really hard to find. I hope you can get that simple or modest feeling from the Chilean manufacture that I'm very nostalgic from. There's a green printed cotton named percala that was used to make the costume dresses for "la china" (the female partner of "el huaso" -typical characters from the central countryside- used when dancing "la cueca" -national dance-). No need to say that all local textile factories have broke, so finding some real and coarse percala in a shop is a rarity. Then, there's a shoemaker measuring tape. How it is used? No clue but found it nice. The bobbin lace made in Chile. Those zippers bought at an old bazaar that probably hasn't renewed its stock from decades. The butterfly crocheted by a woman who was selling them by the sidewalk. A Chilean flags tape. It's weird how I've denied all those items during my life and always been aiming for the imported or foreigner goods. But now that I'm trying to find my own design style I've realised what an important role they have played. I'm periodically raiding these popular neighbourhoods in search of other pieces I can save from falling into obscurity."

SWAPS

This is my first ever real life bloggers swap - basically what happens is you make a package of beautiful crafty bits spending max £10, some of your own work and swap them with another blogger that you like. It's so exciting to recieve a package in the post with and I actually really enjoyed getting together the package.


I swapped with http://www.karenbarbe.com/ brilliant textile designer in Chile. Here is her package of crafty bits. and below is what I sent to her. I can highly recommend swaps and I'm keent o do more if others are up for it . It's nice when internet/virtual-ness crossing into 'real' world.

SAMPLE PACKS

I am trying out some packaging for sample print packs.

MY LATEST DRAWING

NEW DESIGNERS

Abigail Borg my pick of the show with her beautiful Florence Broadhurst inspired floral wallpapers, excellent use of colour to modernise the style. - http://www.newdesigners.com
Kate Laskey and Jane Taylor from left to right respectively.
Val Hacking, Kate Heart, Maya Holiday from left to right respectively.

I GOT TAGGED !

I haven't been tagged before and I must say I've been trying to ignore it - but it's been niggling away at my mind. Last night I watched the Culture show on BBC two with my friend Fred (the same person that tagged me - I can't escape !). We were watched her friend and colleague Bishi who has now made it to my list. so here goes :-

1. Down in Mexico by The Coaster (from Death Proof , Tarantino does it again)
2. Tu vuo fa L'Americano by Renato Carosone - a spring classic I can't ever stop listening to.
3. All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople
4. On my Own Again by Bishi
5. Squeeze Me by Kraak and smaak
6. Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac
7. Bare Necessities by Bruce Reitherman and Phil Harris from The Jungle Book

A weird mix of influences, styles, old and new. Not sure what it says about me but that's what I'm listening to ?

Here's the small print of this tag -
The rules of the game as set by Simon Reynolds: “List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. 

BIG POST

A recent textiles graduate from the RCA Mary Crisp



Beautiful work by illustrator Andrew Holder



Packaging from Tord Boontje - this was sent to me from my friend so not sure where it comes from ?


Loads to post today as I'm looking around for inspiration and there's so much out there sometimes it's overwelling. It feels like everyones done your idea already and if not, I find myself asking if the world needs anymore 'stuff' in it ? I have decided to carry on regardless and put it down to researchers fatigue.