colourliving

a little teaser

Happy friday everyone. It’s been a long week and the weather has been challenging. It’s friday, it’s sunny right now (at least for a moment). I have had a great few weeks and look forward to the next few weeks and what they have in store for me.

For a while now, i’ve been wanting to tell you the story of how the colourliving website was created. It was definitely a labour of love for me and i had lots of fun on the way. You have to wait for a few days while i prepare the post.

Meanwhile i wanted to say a huge thank you to all my readers, to all of those who take time out and leave such encouraging and wonderful comments. It means the world to me and i love every single one. I know how lucky i am to have a bunch of bloggers who are diverse, interesting and engage with every post and many of you i can call friends.  You all rock and i’m feeling very emotional as i write this. I hope you can tell how very greatful i am and how i look forward to bring you interesting and inspiring content.

I leave you with one of my favourite poems and wish you all a happy and fantastic weekend. xx

Do you have a favourite poem?

 

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meet hormazd narielwalla

Today i’m very honoured to introduce you to hormazd narielwalla, a collage maker working with tailoring patterns as his source materials.

I met hormazd a few weeks ago when attending a jotta workshop that he was running. We hit it off straight away. I asked to blog about him so he kindly invited me to his studio.

Tell me about your studies. I have a bachelor of arts degree in fashion from the university of wales in newport. I then did my masters in fashion enterprise at westminster university and am currently doing my phd at the london college of fashion. I’m very fortunate to have earned the only international rector’s scholarship from the university of arts london at london college of fashion.

What made you choose tailoring patterns as your source material? While doing my masters, the tutors told me that i will never design clothes. It’s not where my strength lies. I was doing a little military project and researching into uniforms at the national army museum. The curator suggested i call dege & skinner in saville row to actually see them make a suit. I plucked up all my courage and phoned them up saying i was doing my masters and could i come and see them. I finally got through to the director and he said i could have an hour of his time. I arrived all humble and asked simple questions like: ‘what’s the difference between military and civilian suit cutting?’ I was curious as i’m not a tailor and wanted to find out as much as possible. While there, i saw a big folder with tailoring patterns. Upon inquiry it turned out these were 30 years worth of patterns for one single customer who had deceased. I was hooked and asked whether i could have them. It took a lot of persuading and that’s how ‘dead man’s patterns’ was born.

So now you had the idea for your final piece for your masters degree? Yes, in 2008 i produced a limited edition (100) artist book called dead man’s patterns. It’s a design story inspired by bespoke patterns belonging to deceased customers. The book was sold in shops like the v&a, the library, paul smith, claire de rouen and the shop at bluebird and every copy was individually printed and hand bound. I’m very fortunate that the book was also acquired by several art collections around the world including the rare british modern collection at the british library. The only copy i have here in my studio for you to photograph is in japanese as the book was also sold in beams department store in tokyo.

So, after you finished your masters, what came next? I went to work for dege & skinner for 3 years. I assisted the shirt maker in random jobs until i put in a proposal to write michael skinner’s biography. I used patterns to tell the story. It took me 18 months to put together and michael edited it. It was written in conversation style and the saville row cutter was published in 2011.

You had tea with sir paul smith. How did this come about? Yes, sir paul invited me for tea and asked me to exhibit in his mayfair street gallery and so in 2009 i had my first solo exhibition. For a study on anansi i combined the patterns with western african folk tales. Some of these images have now become my branding and i’m also looking to publish and print another artist book. I’m looking into the costs of producing it since it is an expensive layout. I’ve got a prototype here. Would you like to have a look?

You’ve had other exhibitions? I’ve been fortunate to exhibit in various places since my first show in 2009. There’s harvey nichols, the modern pantry, an exhibition in athens, scope art fair in new york, the crafts council, sheridan & co, brighton open house art.

You’ve taken tailoring patterns and created various art pieces. How interesting. How will you progress?  When i first stumbled across the patterns i knew i wouldn’t make a suit out of them. I got interested in the shapes, the scribbling marks, the lines and punched holes. I started looking at them as pieces of art. For now i’m fortunate that dege & skinner still supply me with patterns from deceased clients. I’ve also started to look elsewhere and recently obtained a job lot of patterns on ebay. I’ve used many figurative designs in my work. Lately i’ve been working on sculptures of skulls. Unfortunately i haven’t got any here to show you. For my phd i’m creating a series of sculptures called love gardens.

The next image is something Hormadz played with while i was there. He was interested in the shadow the various patterns were making while i was using the light for my photographs.

Hormazd, thank you so much for inviting me to your studio and sharing your art and journey. I’ve been totally inspired. I will now, with your permission, take some more images for my readers.

For those of you who live in the capital or can get to london, homazd will be exhibiting at the other art fair from the 10th-13th may 2012.

I don’t know about you, but i am totally fascinated by hormazd’s interpretations of tailoring patterns. In fact, he’s looking to bring a new view to tailoring patterns by seeing them as beautiful historical documents. I hope you enjoyed this interview and got some inspiration out of it. For me, it made me want to go and do a masters or a phd in order to have time to explore and research a project in great depth. What did it do for you?

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the british library

Staying with the theme of books and often talking about the british library, it occurred to me that some of you might never have been. Of course, it is a must for any tourist visiting our shores but i know many people living in london and its surroundings who have never had the pleasure of being in this fantastic space.

I’ll start at the beginning shall i?

I have always loved books so when i first came to london i started exploring its libraries. One day i stumbled across the british library and immediately felt a sense of beauty, heritage and the knowledge that this is unique. In those days the british library was housed within the british museum. Fast forward to 1998 when the new building at st. pancras was formally opened by her majesty the queen.

You can find 13.5 million books, 2.5 million map items and 300.000 manuscripts amongst the collections. It is the world’s largest library in terms of total numbers of items. It’s a major research library and you can find many items from many countries in many languages and in various formats, like for example, in both print and digital.

There is so much to write about this building. I will be brief but tell you some interesting facts!

The building is one of the largest public buildings constructed in the uk in the last century. There are 4 basements underneath the main building and the piazza outside, making it the deepest public building in the uk. You’ll find 11 reading rooms providing over 1200 places for readers and more than 200 miles of shelving. Total floor area is over 1.2 million square foot on 9 floors above ground and 5 below. Wow, right!

The move from the british museum and other 10 buildings to the site in st. pancras took 4 years to complete and was the biggest book move in history.

I use the library quite frequently and find the business & ip centre invaluable for anyone wanting to start, run or grow a business. They have really good talks, workshops and seminars and i always come away with tons of information. I also like sitting in the wonderful reading rooms doing research or use one of the public spaces and the  restaurant to do some work. Of course, let’s not forget the wonderful exhibitions within the library.

Here is a little tour for you. We start with the outside gate, through the piazza and into the building. No one is allowed to photograph the reading rooms. I hope you enjoy some of it and that it might inspire you to take a trip when next nearby. Oh, btw, the last photogarph is a painting by patrick hughes. Have a look at this film which explains his reverspective paintings.

Do you like visiting libraries?

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printed books

There’s something about printed matter that has me going weak at the knees. Yes, i will admit, it gets my full attention every single time. Is it because i studied graphic design, is it because my hunger for knowledge is huge but coupled with the visual and tactile stimulation can send me over the edge? I am fascinated by this. Regular readers of my blog and people who know me well will be aware of my obsession with magazines.

Today i came across this article in the guardian entitled ‘magazines will always have a place on people’s shelves’.

I’ve been pondering this era of transition we are in with litho printed books versus digital printing versions versus ebooks for ages. All have their place and i believe there’s room for every medium. In fact, as an avid reader i feel spoilt that i now have a choice. Sometimes i love reading a newspaper or magazine on my iPad as it gives me the opportunity to interact in a way the printed version can’t. More often than not i will wait in anticipation for a magazine subscription to come through the letterbox or to go and browse in a bookshop for my next guilty pleasure. Those moments of making myself a cup of herbal or green tea and sitting down to absorb the beautiful pages, the smell, the touch and the feeling a printed book or magazine gives me is priceless. Also, i love taking my mt tapes and a pencil and scribbling notes and ideas while drooling over the pages. Don’t you?

And then there is amazon, the big bad wolf and yet it has changed the way we purchase and read books and made it accessible to all. Another reason i am a fan of amazon book selling is the fact they support the domino project. ‘The domino project is a new way to think about publishing. Founded by seth godin and powered by amazon, we’re trying to change the way books are built, sold and spread.’ I’ve bought quite a few of their books, some in printed format some online and wholeheartedly support them.

But what about design books? What about the visual aspects? What about bookshelves and libraries? One of my favourite places to research and do some work in is the british library. There is no place like it and everytime i’m there i feel so proud to be living in london only a throwaway from this incredible piece of heritage.

And then we come to the beauty of book covers and spines. People spend ages rearranging their bookshelves according to colour, height, subject matter, authors, alphabetical order etc. I love changing around the layouts of my bookshelves and trick myself by often having to search for a title because it has been moved by me. Crazy i know but fun and it makes me feel as if my bookshelves change constantly and each book gets some attention.

As a designer, i’m fascinated by the graphics, the fonts, colours, embossing and generally the whole layout of a book. In view of this i thought it might be fun to show you some snippets of my library and the patterns that are forming in the photographs. Some of you might be interested in the titles themselves. Others might enjoy a colour reference or combination. Inspiration comes from everywhere right?

I mentioned the idea of book cover painting to the ever so clever nicola and guess what i found in my inbox this morning? Yep, thank you for this fantastic link.

I am curious to know what you guys think of all this, your tendencies when reading books and magazines and your views in general? Any opinions out there?

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covent garden

While snapping pictures of the big egg hunt and realising that the sunny weather was going to disappear for the next few days, i made the most of hanging out in covent garden. An area close to my heart since i studied graphic design at central saint martins college of art & design back in the mid 80′s.

I went on a bit of a nolstalgic tour picking out places that stood the test of time while showing you around the area with some photos for pure inspiration. Let’s go.

This was the building in long acre i studied in, now sadly replaced by an h&m.

When i needed to escape from art college i went to the monmouth coffee shop in monmouth street which still exists and back then was my haven.

I loved nothing best than to go to the arthur beale shop to look for inspiration for college project work. A shop filled with everything nautical and everything that has to do with outfitting a sailing ship, sailboat or yacht. Hooks, cleats, stays and marlin spikes, the only metallurgy used is solid brass. It’s been around for over 100 years. A couple of years ago, when designing my terrace i used some of the yellow rope you see below.

Another favourite was freud, a design shop founded in 1986. They are now best known for their fans and their mackintosh furniture. Attached to the shop is the freud bar, a regular haunt for me back in the 80′s.

Then there’s neal’s yard remedies, a real revelation to me in my 20′s when i started to care about natural and organic products. They started life in 1981, with a focus on using natural herbs for health and beauty. Although i no longer use many of their products, i still turn to them from time to time and then feel transported back to my past.

And of course neal’s yard dairy, the wonderful cheese shop that was founded in 1979.

The following photo series is for inspiration and showcasing the vibrancy and different styles you’ll find in parts of covent garden.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of some parts of covent garden or at least got some colour or composition inspiration out of it.

Going down memory lane filled me with nostalgia. Any of you been recently feeling nostalgic?

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the big egg hunt

Many of you might have already heard of ‘the big egg hunt‘ that has been ‘hatched’ by elephant family and action for children for a record-breaking egg hunt across central london to raise money for these two causes. 210 uniquely crafted eggs, created by leading artists, designers, architects and jewellers have been hidden in 12 zones across the capital for over six weeks now. Annie from insideology found quite a few and kept us in the loop.

The egg hunt began on 21th february. 30 spectacular eggs were auctioned in a live auction on 20 march raising £667.000 for both charities. The rest of the eggs are being auctioned as you read this and bidding will close at 6pm on monday 9th april.

Earlier this week all eggs were collected and brought to covent garden piazza for the grand extravaganza on the easter weekend. In the spirit of things I zoomed down and braved the huge crowds to bring you some first hand pictures of some of my favourite egg designs.

The place was heaving with 100′s of people, all clicking away trying to capture their visit to covent garden and london. Most were running around with their i-spy-eggs guide trying to find and tick off as many eggs as possible. I tried my best to get some decent pictures but it was hard work. If you have kids and are in london over easter, go and have a look. Your kids will love you for it and it’s an egg hunt after all.

Which one is your favourite?

I wish you all a very happy easter weekend.

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spring in the city

Happy monday. Today’s post has been inspired by my friend holly. In her post about the benefits of plants in interior spaces there was a line that struck a cord with me: “nature doesn’t need us, but we need nature”. Holly has been commuting between the city and ‘the middle of nowhere’ and reflecting about ‘nature in the city’.

Yes, living in the city can sometimes make us forget how important it is to stop and look at nature. Commuting and working all hours can take its toll on people’s health and well being. There is so much early flowering right now that i wanted to show off london at it’s ‘blooming’ best. Here’s what you can find on street’s corners and in people’s drives. Admittedly, the areas i passed were rather nice but there’s green patches everywhere. We just have to look and connect with nature! In return, it will do it’s thing.

Fashion’s hottest trend right now is pastels and florals. If you look closely, it’s images like these that inspire the fabrics and textiles we are wearing this season. Can you see a link to interiors? 

How’s the beginning of spring treating you? Don’t you love the lighter evenings? Are you embracing nature while living in a city? Do you keep plants indoors or outdoors? Do tell.

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