Sunday I took a trip 'up west' to Earls Court with my sister to have a look around the Top Drawer/Home London fair. After a ridiculous train journey typical of a Sunday 'service' we arrived and printed off our badges declaring ourselves as buyers (we are such frauds I know) and kicked off our afternoon in Top Drawer, trying to stick to a methodical sweep of the many aisles so we wouldn't miss anything. It was full of activity and it was fantastic to see some products that I've been admiring online lately such as Tamasyn Gambell's small but perfectly formed range of lampshades, cushions and notebooks.
After a much needed Tunnocks courtesy of family friend Anne at ArtPress, we ventured over to the roomier side of Home where my real interest lay. Shoreditch based SCP displayed Donna Wilson's cheerful folky trays and cosy pouffes. I can see myself putting my feet up on one of these in front of a log fire in a wood cabin far far away. Having just removed my Faroese jumper after chopping wood out back... I digress.
Onto Mini Moderns who have a lovely colour palette and mid century modern/Festival of Britain thing going on. Here's a neat stool of theirs.
Kiran Ravilious is a new designer to me. Her work seemed familiar and did indeed remind me of Eric Ravilious who lived and worked in my hometown of Eastbourne in 1920's-40's. Turns out Karin is married to his grandson and is inspired by Eric's wife Tirzah's work (coincidentally Tirzah was the name of my first cat - I am making some meaningless connections here but hey). She does block printed fabrics and wallpaper and has gone down the digital printing route for larger runs which was great to see as I feel like I am cheating a bit by not breaking my back screenprinting everything, but her digital prints looked so crisp and beautiful I decided it doesn't really take away from the final result (it's a shame my photo came out a bit blurred!). I think it's actually more environmentally friendly and less time consuming to go digital anyway, less water and waste. Combining hand printed and digital is a good way to mass produce and remain true to your art and tradition.
I didn't get a photo of Natasha Lawless' wallpaper Into the Wild but it certainly stood out enough for me to take note of her name. It was the most unusual and unique style at Home. It's always cool to see hand drawn clean lines in patterns.
Lastly, what a lovely pear from the classic Finnish Marimekko and some trademark bold colour in this pile of cushions. The green one snuggled in the middle is my favourite.
RSS Feed
